One of the trends I noticed at IFA this week is that some companies are moving towards semi-solid-state batteries for portable devices, rather than using silicon-carbon, as we’ve seen in many Android phones coming out of China.
While the unique selling points of silicon-carbon are higher capacity in a smaller footprint and the ability to keep the battery cool, semi-solid-state takes a different approach.
The main advantage of using a semi-solid-state battery is durability. Batteries are actually pretty fragile. If you drop your phone and dent it, you could seriously damage the battery, but that’s not the case with semi-solid-state batteries. In fact, some companies are claiming you can drive a nail through these batteries, and they won’t puncture. They are also less likely to catch on fire. While lithium-ion batteries are highly flammable, semi-solid-state batteries have very high thermal resistance.
On top of those clear advantages over lithium-ion, semi-solid-state also has a higher density, similar to silicon-carbon. This makes it an all-around winner. More capacity, more durable — these are the things we need in our next battery pack.
Vention and Belkin are showing off semi-solid-state batteries at IFA 2026
At IFA this week, at least two brands were showing off semi-solid-state batteries. Belkin has a couple of models: one that is MagSafe and a larger one that isn’t. Both use a display on the batteries to show you the charge percentage and are semi-solid-state. Belkin is actually claiming that you can drive a nail through it without puncturing the battery, which is mighty impressive. I’ll have to take their word for it; I don’t need to take any chances with a possible spicy pillow.
Vention has also announced a few semi-solid-state batteries in its H series. The Vention H Series is fairly thin at 6.9mm and houses a 5,000mAh battery. It comes in two sizes. One is the traditional MagSafe battery we all know and love; the other is a shorter one designed for foldables like the upcoming iPhone Ultra.
I was actually able to snag the very first review unit of the Vention H Ultra (the foldable battery), and used it at IFA for a couple of days this week with the Galaxy Z Fold 8. Since the Galaxy Z Fold 8 has vertical cameras, whereas the iPhone Ultra has rumored horizontal cameras, the battery doesn’t quite sit flush with the back of the phone as you’d expect. I’m assuming Vention designed this for the iPhone Ultra, not for other foldables like the Galaxy Z Fold 8.
More on the Vention H series later, but for now, I think it’s important that we look for semi-solid-state batteries in whatever we buy. Safety is definitely very important when it comes to batteries, particularly ones that we hold in our hands, put in our pockets, and sleep next to.
