- Samsung is reportedly adding authentication chips to its Galaxy A series of smartphones
- Security chips help distinguish safe, genuine batteries from counterfeit third-party replacements
- They also make the lithium recycling process much smoother
Samsung could be making quite a big change to certain Galaxy Phone models – the Korean tech giant is tipped to add security chips to batteries starting next year.
The report comes from The Elec, which says the new security chip batteries will roll out to around 50 million devices, starting with Samsung’s low-end and mid-range Galaxy A series (which make up the bulk of Samsung’s smartphone sales). It would be the first time the company has added a layer of security to its phone batteries, but the company has yet to confirm anything.
According to the report, the chips will be manufactured using the 28-nanometer melting process of Samsung Electronics, using VIA PUF (physically unclonable function) technology to create unique identities for each one. It is believed that Analog Devices in the US (ADI) and ICTK in South Korea will split the supply of authentication chips.
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So what is the reason behind this? Well, there are a few, but the main goal is to put an end to fake replacement parts that destroy your devices.
If your smartphone battery is at the end of its life, it is safer to get a new one by going through the official repair services of Samsung, so you know that you will get a replacement from the company itself. However, some users find it more convenient and cost-effective to choose a third-party replacement service, but the quality is not always guaranteed.
For one, these types of batteries are not always built to the quality standard you get with those manufactured by Samsung itself, which can pave the way for further battery problems and even lead to fires while charging or in use. So, these embedded authentication chips not only identify genuine Samsung batteries from dodgy, but could be the only component that prevents your home from going up in flames.
Reinforcing quality and security is a no-brainer, but there is also a sustainability element to battery authentication chips. The use of chips makes it much easier for repairers to review battery usage history, allowing them to customize the lithium recycling process based on the condition of individual batteries, rather than recycling batteries with different characteristics using the same method.
If the reports are on the money, Samsung’s authentication chips should arrive around the same time as the new EU regulations come into effect. From February 2027, the EU will require phone manufacturers to fit ‘easily removable’ batteries, but as Gagadget.com notes, there is also the EU Battery Regulation 2023/1542.
What this means is that from February 2027, industrial and EV batteries must have digital battery passports for identification purposes. Although this applies to vehicles and not smartphones (yet), it seems that Samsung is getting a head start, preparing for a potential law change.
Unlike Apple, which began integrating authentication chips in 2018 with the launch of the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and iPhone XR, this would be the first time Samsung introduced similar technology to its own smartphones, so it’s been a long time coming, to say the least.
As mentioned, Samsung has yet to comment, but we’ll update this story if and when we hear more.
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