No Upgrade: Galaxy S26 Ultra Sticks With 5000 mAh Battery Despite Rumors

The data from the Chinese Center for Quality Certification reveals the battery capacity of Samsung’s upcoming flagship smartphone. Some customers are likely to disappoint the values ​​listed in the entry.

Disappointment for Samsung fans

Since the beginning of July, new rumors about the upcoming Galaxy S26 Ultra have appeared. For example, the cell phone should receive a revolutionary display. At the same time, Samsung finally says goodbye to the iconic design of his flagship. The first tangible information is now available for the smartphone’s battery, for which there were also some speculations.

An entry for the S26 Ultra has appeared in the Chinese Quality Certification Center (CQC) database and provides numbers for the capacity of the built -in battery. The entry with the number 2025010915805756 shows two batteries with the model numbers EB-BSD948aby and EB-BSD948ABE, which are intended for the upcoming flagship with the model number SM-S948. The batteries are listed with a nominal capacity of 4855 mAh with a voltage of 3.9 volts and should be marketed with a typical capacity of 5000 mAh.

The certification through China’s Quality Certification Center confirms what many Samsung fans had feared. The S26 Ultra will receive another 5000 mAh battery, just like the five previous models of the Galaxy series since the Galaxy S20 Ultra from 2020. Rumors about an increase to 5,500 mAh or even more have proven to be wrong.

Design before capacity

So Samsung stays with his line in recent years. Instead of increasing the battery capacity, the manufacturer is more likely to focus on a slimmer and lighter design. The Galaxy S26 Ultra should be less than eight millimeters thick, while the current S25 Ultra still measures 8.2 millimeters. This decision reflects Samsung’s focus on premium aesthetics and handling, which can also be found in the S25 Edge.

In order to achieve a higher capacity without thicker housing, Samsung would have to rely on a battery that consists of several 20 Wh’s large cells. While silicon-carbon batteries could solve this space problem with a higher energy density, there are still concerns about the lifespan of such batteries. This technology is already used by Chinese manufacturers such as Xiaomi and Honor, but Samsung is more reluctant to implement.

Faster loading than compromise

As ‘compensation’ for the unchanged battery capacity, the Galaxy S26 Ultra is intended to support faster shops. Instead of the previous 45 watts, the new flagship could load up to 65 watts. This improvement would make it possible to load the battery from zero to 80 percent in about 30 minutes, which would be a significant saving of time compared to the current 60 minutes for a complete load.

While Chinese competitors such as Oppo and Xiaomi are already installing batteries with 7000 mAh in thin housings, the iPhone 16 Pro Max from Apple can be found with a 4685 mAh battery. Samsung positions itself in midfield and mainly relies on software optimizations and efficiency improvements by the new Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 processor from Qualcomm.