Samsung’s Galaxy Ultra phones seem ready to break the 5,000 mAh barrier

The Galaxy Ultra phones have a problem: their batteries. You might think that they get the job done, or that they’re good enough, but Samsung has been falling woefully behind its Chinese competitors, making its phones seem like poor value if you care about battery life.

That, finally, seems like it might be about to change. The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra continued the tradition of shipping with a battery capacity of 5,000 mAh, a tradition that has been alive since it first began in 2020 with the Galaxy S20 Ultra.

But now, two clues make me hopeful that, if not the Galaxy S26 Ultra, then Ultra phones that come after it will finally break past the 5,000 mAh barrier.

Galaxy S26 Ultra battery

Okay, perhaps the first clue isn’t really a clue, because reports coming in are claiming that the Galaxy S26 Ultra battery has finally crossed the 5,000 mAh mark. That is huge news, even if the battery upgrade itself might not be.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra will allegedly feature a battery capacity of 5,200 mAh. Now, I know, that’s hardly an upgrade. But, if nothing else, it at least shows that Samsung is finally beginning to turn its attention towards this matter at last. A 200 mAh increase is almost negligible, but it has technically crossed the 5,000 mAh barrier.

Many people like to bring up the fact that U.S. regulations are stopping these phone makers from equipping their phones with bigger batteries. While that is true, I don’t think such progress couldn’t be “helped along” if Samsung and Apple really wanted to invest the resources. As such, we’ve now come to a point where budget Chinese phones seem like better options than flagship Galaxy and iPhone models.

Nevertheless, let us move on to the second clue, which actually gives me a lot of hope.

Galaxy A07 and its 6,000 mAh battery

Samsung’s Galaxy A-series phones are its lowest-end budget phones, usually performing quite well in developing regions. The upcoming Galaxy A07 5G has a massive battery — relatively speaking at 6,000 mAh capacity — if a new certification is accurate, and it has left me quite puzzled.

On the one hand, Samsung bringing a bigger battery than its flagship phones to a budget offering is a bit peculiar. However, it certainly wouldn’t be the first time that a budget Galaxy phone is getting a new upgrade before the S-series flagships: remember the introduction of the punch hole display?

On the other hand, the certification being from Brazil could mean anything for the U.S. release. It is very possible that Samsung might release the Galaxy A07 with a 6,000 mAh battery in certain markets, while sticking to a smaller option for other regions, like the U.S. If the company is still restricting itself due to U.S. regulations, then this will definitely the case.



But there is also the glorious, albeit very wishful, possibility that Samsung is finally introducing batteries bigger than 5,000 mAh in its normal, everyday smartphone models. The Galaxy A07 5G might be the company’s test run in the U.S. with a bigger battery, before bringing this upgrade to its flagships sometime in 2027 or beyond.

If there was ever a time when it seemed possible that Samsung was finally moving past 5,000 mAh batteries, this feels like it. Regulations can always be worked around, I’m sure there are many ways to do so. Use multiple cells, perhaps, like on the Galaxy Z TriFold, which is also going to launch in the U.S. soon.

I might be hoping against hope here, but a man can dream. Thankfully, there are excellent Samsung and Apple phone alternatives on the market now, just in case the Ultra phones still stick to 5,000 mAh batteries.

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