Samsung phones have long been slower to charge than most rival handsets, and it doesn’t look like that is going to change with the Samsung Galaxy S22 range. In fact, if anything the gap could widen.
While smartphone makers like OnePlus and Xiaomi are pushing charging speeds ever higher, Samsung might stick with 25W for the entire Galaxy S22 range. That’s the same speed as the Samsung Galaxy S21 range and most of the Samsung Galaxy S20 range – with the exception being the Galaxy S20 Ultra, which actually supports faster 45W charging.
We’re basing this on a new certification listing from China’s 3C agency, spotted by a user of Weibo (a Chinese social network) known as WhyLab. The listing includes the model numbers SM-S9080, SM-S9060, and SM-S9010, which are believed to belong to the three expected phones in the Galaxy S22 range, and for all three it lists 25W charging.
- These are the best Samsung phones
- Will there be a Samsung Galaxy Note 22?
- Check out the best wireless chargers
We would however take this with a pinch of salt, as while the leaker supplied a screenshot of the listing, this could easily have been faked.
Plus, the listing itself refers to Samsung’s existing 25W charger, so it could simply be saying that the phones are compatible with this, but not ruling out the possibility that they also support faster charging when paired with another charger.
Indeed, we’ve previously heard rumors that the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra would support 45W charging, with an earlier leak suggesting the company was even exploring 65W charging. So we wouldn’t count out higher speeds yet, but even if the S22 Ultra can charge at more than 25W, it looks unlikely that the base Samsung Galaxy S22 will be able to.
Opinion: Samsung needs to speed up
If the Samsung Galaxy S22 range really only supports 25W charging then in 2022 that’s just not good enough, and even 45W wouldn’t be great.
For comparison, the OnePlus 9 supports 65W charging, the Xiaomi 11T Pro supports 120W charging, and Xiaomi is even working on 200W charging. Oppo, Sony and others also have the latest Samsung phones beat for charging speeds.
Really the only significant companies that don’t are Apple and Google, two big names that also need to speed up. The iPhone 13 series features 20W charging, while the Google Pixel 5 features 18W (but the Google Pixel 6 series may beat that).
But they’re not all Samsung is competing with, and given how much its Galaxy S phones cost, we expect cutting-edge technology, not charging speeds that felt sedate several years ago.
- Want to keep in touch? Sign up for TechRadar's daily newsletter
Via Phone Arena
