OnePlus has consistently prioritized battery life and fast charging in its smartphones, and the OnePlus 13 continues this tradition. However, the OnePlus 13 distinguishes itself by incorporating Silicon Carbon battery technology, a feature noticeably absent in Samsung’s latest Galaxy S25 series. This, along with superior charging speeds, presents a compelling case for Samsung to reconsider its approach.
Silicon Carbon Batteries: A Leap Forward
OnePlus, following the lead of its sister company Oppo, has embraced Silicon Carbon batteries, offering significant advantages over the traditional lithium-ion batteries found in Samsung devices. Silicon Carbon technology enables denser batteries, providing more capacity within the same physical dimensions. A 5,450mAh Silicon Carbon battery, for example, boasts the same size and thickness as a 5,100mAh lithium-ion battery. Moreover, at lower voltage levels (3.5V), the Silicon Carbon battery retains a substantially higher capacity compared to its lithium-ion counterpart.
This translates to a tangible difference in real-world performance. The OnePlus 13, with its 6,000mAh Silicon Carbon battery, delivers two to three hours more screen-on time and significantly longer standby time than the Galaxy S25 Ultra, which features a 5,100mAh lithium-ion battery. While the S25 Ultra’s software optimizations may improve battery life over time, the initial disparity is significant.
Superfast Charging: Where OnePlus Excels
Beyond battery technology, OnePlus continues to outperform Samsung in charging speeds. While Samsung offers 45W charging, this peak speed is sustained only briefly, with charging rates slowing down as the battery nears full capacity. The Galaxy S25 Ultra takes approximately 67 minutes to fully charge, a marginal improvement over the Galaxy S22 Ultra.
In contrast, the OnePlus 13 supports 80W charging in the US (100W with a 240V supply), enabling a full charge of its 6,000mAh battery in just 39 minutes. When standardized for mAh/minute charging speed, the difference becomes stark: 153 mAh/minute for the OnePlus 13 compared to 75 mAh/minute for the Galaxy S25 Ultra. This highlights a significant performance gap that has persisted, and even widened, over several generations of devices.
Wireless Charging: Another Area for Improvement
While Samsung pioneered wireless charging in flagship phones, its technology has stagnated. Although the S25 Ultra supports the Qi2.1 standard, it requires a specific case and still lags behind OnePlus in wireless charging speed. With a compatible case, the OnePlus 13 achieves wireless charging speeds that surpass the S25 Ultra’s wired charging performance.
The Need for Evolution
The OnePlus 13, alongside other competitors, showcases the advancements in battery and charging technology. Samsung’s current approach, while historically cautious, appears increasingly outdated. With competitors like OnePlus and Honor offering superior performance, Samsung needs to prioritize innovation in battery and charging technology to maintain its competitive edge in the flagship smartphone market. The fact that the mid-range Galaxy A56 is rumored to offer the same 45W charging as the flagship S25 Ultra further underscores this need for evolution.
