For reasons that are unclear to everyone but Samsung, the Samsung Galaxy S22 has a smaller battery than its predecessor – coming in at just 3,700mAh, but it seems the company might be backtracking on that reduction for the Samsung Galaxy S23.
According to Digital Chat Station – a leaker with a reasonable track record – in a post on Chinese site Weibo (opens in new tab), spotted by Pocket Lint (opens in new tab), the Samsung Galaxy S23 will have a 3,900mAh battery. So that’s 200mAh more than the Galaxy S22, which isn’t a massive increase but would be a desirable one.
Even that won’t leave the phone with a particularly big battery. The Samsung Galaxy S21 has a 4,000mAh battery, and that’s around the level we’d expect from a small-screen flagship, but this at least would be a step back in the right direction.
The source additionally says that the Samsung Galaxy S23 will have a 6.1-inch 1080p screen – as expected, just like its predecessor – and that its fast charging will be “a little worse” than those of “domestic” – meaning Chinese – small-screen flagships.
They don’t specify what the charging speed is, but we’ve heard elsewhere that the Galaxy S23 will have just 25W charging, like its predecessor. Samsung’s phones tend to charge slower than most rival brands too, so this is no surprise.
Of course, none of this has been confirmed just yet, but it’s all in line with what we’d expect, based on the company’s past form, and suggests that once again the standard Galaxy S model won’t excel for either battery life or charging, though for the former it might be at least slightly better than the S22.
Analysis: battery upgrades for two out of three
Earlier leaks had already revealed the possible battery capacities of the Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus and Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, and while one of these is also reportedly getting a boost, the other isn’t.
A leak suggests that the Galaxy S23 Plus will have a 4,700mAh battery, which is 200mAh more than the Galaxy S22 Plus, so exactly the same capacity boost as the standard Samsung Galaxy S23 might be getting. Though similarly, that would still leave it with 100mAh less capacity than the Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus.
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, on the other hand, will apparently have a 5,000mAh battery, just like the Galaxy S22 Ultra, the Galaxy S21 Ultra, and the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra. So Samsung has at least remained consistent there.
That’s not unreasonable, as 5,000mAh is a fairly standard battery size for a large-screen flagship, we’d just like to see the company commit to bigger batteries in the standard and Plus models.
These leaks do at least point to a step in the right direction there, giving them a good shot at ranking among the best Samsung phones.