It understandably took a few years for Samsung to get back on the horse, but the company is finally read to push the limits of battery life yet again. Announced today at an event in Brooklyn, the Note 9 presents a considerable jump in battery capacity over its predecessor, jumping 700mAh to a beefy 4,000mAh. That’s the biggest ever for the line.
The on-going Note 7 saga did have some upsides for the company, forcing its hand into launching one of the industry’s most comprehensive battery testing procedures. Naturally, that eight-point battery test was a centerpiece of today’s big event, noting that while the company was pushing the boundaries yet again, it’s still doing its due diligence.
The last several Galaxy device launches opted not to make battery a priority, focusing instead on things like camera AI, while keep capacity more or less the same.
“What we want to do is a tempered approach to innovation any time,” Samsung’s director of Product Strategy and Marketing told TechCrunch ahead of the event, “so this was the right time to increase the battery to meet consumer needs.”
Samsung’s internal testing are still in place here, along with with some third-party testing from organizations like UL. By waiting long enough to push the limits, the company has pulled off an impressive feat — turning its misstep into good. While the on-going issue would have been enough to take down a lesser company, the phenomenon didn’t make a dent in the hardware company’s bottom line.
Waiting a couple of years has allowed the company to put the whole thing in the rearview mirror, while positioning itself as one the industry’s most thoughtful and cautious manufacturers. All that and the device gets an admittedly impressive 4,000mAh battery, which should more than get you through the day.