A phone that lasts a week on one charge? Honor is reportedly preparing a 14,000mAh battery

If your phone is at 15% every evening and a power bank lives in your bag, this one is for you. On November 3, Digital Chat Station, one of China's best-known tipsters, said on Weibo that Honor is preparing a new battery of 14,000 to 15,000mAh.

The problem: the battery doesn't make it to the evening

Today's phones are more powerful than ever: brighter displays, 5G, gaming and 4K video. All of it drains the battery.

For years most flagship phones stayed around 5,000mAh. A bigger battery meant a thicker, heavier phone, so you had to choose between a slim, light phone and a big battery.

What we know about the new battery

According to Digital Chat Station:

• Capacity will be between 14,000 and 15,000mAh.
• The battery has reached trial production.
• Honor expects the phone to last up to a week on a single charge.
• The phone's weight and thickness will not be excessive.
• The phone's name is not known yet. It could be the Honor Power3 or Win RT3.
• Launch is expected next year.

The same tipster reported in June that the battery was at the NPI (New Product Introduction) stage, so the project is moving forward.

The solution: silicon-carbon batteries

The trick is in the materials. Standard lithium-ion batteries use graphite in the anode. Silicon-carbon (Si/C) batteries mix silicon into the carbon.

Silicon can hold far more lithium in the same space, so a battery of the same size can store more mAh.

Silicon's weakness is that it swells while charging. Blending it with carbon limits that swelling and keeps the battery safe.

A real example: Honor Win RT2

This is not just a dream. On October 21, Honor announced the Win RT2 with a 12,070mAh silicon-carbon battery, yet the phone is only 8.5mm thick and weighs 238g.

What is still unclear

• This is a report, not an official Honor announcement.
• "A week" depends on use. Heavy gaming or video recording will cut it short.
• A bigger battery takes longer to charge unless charging is fast, and the charging speed has not been mentioned.
• Honor's Win and Power phones have mostly been sold in China so far. It is not clear if or when they will reach Iraq and Kurdistan.

What it means for you

Big batteries are the new race between brands. This week alone, the vivo V80 FE was listed online with a 7,000mAh battery, a number that used to appear only in niche phones and now shows up in mid-range models.

If you are buying a phone now and battery life matters to you, ask whether it uses a silicon-carbon battery. That type packs more mAh into the same size.