After the Galaxy Note 7's battery-related woes, there's been understandable interest in the cells used in Samsung's upcoming Galaxy S8 series. Recent rumors have pegged the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus as having 3,000mAh and 3,500mAh cells respectively, in what would be a small reduction in battery capacity compared to the GS7 edge. And now it appears there's photographic evidence to back up these claims.
The image above was retrieved from Chinese social network Weibo by SamMobile, and it reveals a few crucial details:
- The part number, EB-BG955ABA, is consistent with the expected model number of SM-G955 for the larger GS8.
- The battery is manufactured by Samsung SDI in Vietnam.
- The manufacturing date is marked as February 21, just over a week before the GS8 was reported to have entered mass production.
- Its capacity is clearly marked as 3,500mAh.
There has been speculation that Samsung is playing it safe with a smaller battery — both in terms of size and capacity — after the Note 7 debacle, which would be understandable. On the face of it, a 3,500mAh cell seems a little on the small side for a 6.2-inch phone, but given the new taller 18.5:9 aspect ratio being used, the screen area of the GS8 Plus should be more in line with a 5.7- or 5.8-incher. It's also worth noting that the GS8 is expected to use new CPUs built on a 10nm process, which should offer greater efficiency than previous designs. The GS8's new RBG SuperAMOLED display is expected to offer power savings too, compared to earlier panels.
Ultimately, numbers can only tell us so much about capacity — we'll need to wait until we have the GS8 our hands sometime in April before we'll know how its battery life measures up.
