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Sony — who was a major player in bringing commercial lithium ion batteries to market — is looking to make a repeat performance for the next big breakthrough. Nikkei reports that Sony is currently working to commercialize lithium-sulfur battery technology. The technology could be ready as soon as 2020, according to sources.
Lithium sulfur technology is said to be able to hold 40% more power than a lithium-ion battery of the same physical size. That’s a very big improvement on paper, and we certainly wouldn’t mind being treated to that improvement in the types of consumer electronics we use today.
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Our first wish is that these batteries at least match the current standards in size, but there’s some thinking that Sony and other manufacturers could look to use lithium-sulfur batteries to significantly shrink the depth of their phones and make them thinner than ever before while maintaining current standards of battery life. That would be cool for those who think the 6.7mm to 9.0mm standard we have now is too thick, but the crowd of folks who simply want better battery life won’t be glad to hear that.
But with 2020 so far away it’s still too early to make conclusions on anything. Who knows how manufacturers will take advantage of this product? Saying you have the world’s thinnest phone is cool, but saying your phone lasts longer than any other on the market is also a very nice bullet point on the marketing sheet. Whatever happens, though, we’re just happy to learn that we’re nearing a much-needed improvement because these devices are only going to get more power hungry from here on out.
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