What you need to know
- A Redditor shared their modding experience of attaching a 30,000mAh battery to a Galaxy A32 5G.
- The device could, in theory, hold a week's worth of charge over the day-and-some-change 5,000mAh battery it originally features.
- The large battery took around seven hours to charge.
Someone modding a budget Samsung phone's battery can either be plain curiosity or a case of too much time on their hands.
A Redditor posted an Imgur collection of how they modded a Samsung Galaxy A32 5G with a 30,000mAh battery that they quaintly named the "Samsung BrickPhone" (via 9to5Google). The user swapped out the original 5,000mAh battery the A32 originally features with six Samsung 50E 21700 cells, bringing its size to 30,000mAh.
Looking through their photo collection, it isn't the most graceful execution, and the end result is something out of a post-apocalyptic movie. The Redditor was sure to mention that with six 50E cells, the Galaxy A32 went up in weight to at least a pound (imagine that). The phone also reportedly took around seven hours to fully charge the 30,000mAh concoction.
The original 5,000mAh battery that the Galaxy A32 5G launched with isn't bad despite only featuring 15W charging. The Samsung-offered battery could easily last over a day before needing a cycle on charge. However, if something like this were to hit the market, consumers could see around a week's worth of life before needing another charge (in theory).
But before getting too excited, as 9to5 points out, this 30,000mAh battery is a serious cause for concern — even the TSA would be involved. The largest battery size allowed on flights is 27,000mAh, so this modded device would have to shed a few cells if it's looking to soar.
The experiment also yielded confusion for the Galaxy A32 as the Redditor stated the device displays its battery charge as 1% despite being fully charged. Also, they've included USB-A and USB-C ports on the welded addition to charge up two other devices if they want to beside the battery. The modded A32 can also be charged using a USB-C, Lighting port (Apple), and MicroUSB with fast charging.
OEMs have consistently tried to improve the efficiency of phone batteries without delving too much into size. A 5,000mAh battery is already the height of what many are willing to do, as the Galaxy S23 Ultra features one, alongside 45W fast charging. The latest flagship Ultra device can deliver around two days' worth of battery life.
On the flip side, we have OnePus which, through a consumer survey, showed more interest in delivering swifter charging speeds with a phone battery that can efficiently use the power over a large size.
