Smartphones

OnePlus’ New Phone Borrows Tech From an EV Giant To Make It a Battery Beast

The Ace 3 Pro’s Glacier Battery raises the bar.

by Jackson Chen
A white OnePlus smartphone with a triple camera setup on a reflective surface, partially illuminated...
OnePlus / Weibo

OnePlus is doing its best to get rid of battery anxiety with its new Glacier Battery.

The smartphone maker will reveal its upcoming Ace 3 Pro, which features the new battery tech with a 6,100 mAh capacity that can still fit in a slim smartphone frame. That’s no 94-day battery but it beats its own OnePlus 12 which runs off a 5,400 mAh battery.

With that much capacity, the Glacier Battery can last up to two days on a full charge, according to OnePlus. Besides the longevity, the Glacier Battery works with OnePlus’ 100W fast charge capability, letting it go from one to 100 percent in 36 minutes. If you don’t have a half-hour to spare, a five-minute quick charge will give you enough battery life to game for two hours or doomscroll for 3.5 hours on TikTok, according to OnePlus.

Combining OnePlus’ fast charging tech and the Glacier Battery should mean you’ll never be stuck with a low battery.

OnePlus / Weibo

More Charge, Smaller Size

Normally, more battery capacity means a larger size. However, the Glacier Battery manages to be even smaller than the already-compact 5,000 mAh batteries we see in smartphones like the Samsung Galaxy Ultra S24 or the Google Pixel 7 Pro. Still, OnePlus’ new battery doesn’t have as much charge as the Unihertz Tank which has a 22,000 mAh battery. On the other hand, the Ace 3 Pro doesn’t look like a brick.

The Glacier Battery may have more capacity, but it can fit into the slim Ace 3 Pro.

OnePlus / Weibo

Getting into how the Glacier Battery is special, it uses a silicon carbon anode design that was made specifically for high-performance smartphones. This new battery formula can accommodate more energy density than the lithium-ion batteries that most smartphones use nowadays. OnePlus worked with CATL, which is known for developing EV batteries for brands like Tesla, Ford, and Volvo, to develop the Glacier Battery. Just as we saw CATL propel Chinese EVs to the top of the market, we could be seeing a similar pattern of a competitive edge when it comes to smartphones.

Big Reveal Next Week

As previously mentioned, OnePlus’ Glacier Battery will make its debut with the upcoming Ace 3 Pro. The smartphone maker plans to fully reveal the Ace 3 Pro on June 27, when it will be available to Chinese customers shortly after. While the cost hasn’t been set yet, rumors point to a starting price of 2,999 yuan, or around $415.

It’s not confirmed if the Ace 3 Pro is slated for a U.S. release, but considering the Ace 3 is rebranded as the OnePlus 12R for stateside customers, there’s a good chance that the Pro version does the same. Either way, OnePlus’ Glacier Battery should serve as a warning shot to the competition. We don’t expect people to ditch their iPhones or Galaxy smartphones for an Ace 3 Pro anytime soon, but a bigger battery and better charging never hurts.

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