Tests reveal Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra’s 45W super fast charging is a disappointment

Logically speaking, it would be right to expect a phone charging at 45W to reach full charge faster than at 25W? Well, that doesn’t seem to be the case with Samsung’s brand-new Galaxy S22+ and S22 Ultra. Despite touting 45W charging capabilities, it seems that the phones charges at the same rate as a 25W would.

This claim was made by GSMArena who tested both phones with 3 chargers. These chargers were Samsung’s 25W and 45W power delivery (PD) chargers with programmable power supply (PPS) standard, and a 65W PD charger with no PPS support from a third-party manufacturer. GSMArena did not mention the manufacturer of the third-party charger.

The phones were put through two tests, starting with a 30 minutes charge from 0%.

After 30 minutes on the charging cable, the Galaxy S22 Ultra equipped with a 5,000mAh battery is charged up to 61% with the 25W charger and up to 60% with the 45W charger. The 1% difference shows that both chargers are charging the Galaxy S22 Ultra at the same rate despite the 20W extra output from the 45W charger. Meanwhile, the third-party 65W charger does 65% charge in the same time period, which is a mere 4-5% extra.

Meanwhile, the Galaxy S22+, despite having a smaller 4,500mAh battery, only manages 62% charge in 30 minutes with the 25W charger and up to 64% with the 45W charger within the same time frame.

The second test measured the charge time from 0% to a full charge. In this test, both Galaxy phones took around the same time to charge regardless of the charger, separated by mere minutes.

For the Galaxy S22 Ultra, despite the 65W charger leading by 5% over the 45W charger at the 30-minute mark, it takes longer to reach full charge at 1 hour and 2 minutes compared to 59 minutes on the 45W charger. The 25W charger completes the full charge at 1 hour and 4 minutes, which is just 5 minutes after the 45W charger.

As for the Galaxy S22+, the 45W charger tops up the phone in 1 hour and 1 minute, while the 25W charger finishes a minute later at 1 hour and 2 minutes. Moreover, the S22+ and it’s smaller battery takes 2 minutes longer to reach full charge than the Galaxy S22 Ultra with a 45W charger. Based on this outcome, it seems that the Galaxy S22+ is charged at a slower rate than the Galaxy S22 Ultra despite having the same 45W Super Fast Charge support.

From the results, it is obvious that the new flagship models are not taking the full advantage of the 45W fast charging capabilities as it isn’t significantly faster than the 25W charger. But, these results are not exclusive to GSMArena as SamMobile also reported a similar result. Now, the charging level and rate will differ from device to device, but we can compare the charging trend from both reviewers.

As it turns out, SamMobile reported that the 45W charger was only ahead of the 25W charger by at most 6% when charging the Galaxy S22+. What’s more surprising is that by the 45-minute mark, both 45W and 25W chargers were at 89% and the 45W charger fully charged the Galaxy S22+ just 30 seconds ahead of the 25W charger.

The Galaxy S22 Ultra displayed slightly more separation between the 45W and 25W charger. At the 30-minute mark, the 45W charger was ahead by 9% over the 25W charger, but by the 1-hour mark, the 45W charger was only leading by 2%. The 45W charger did manage to fully charge the Galaxy S22 Ultra first, but only by 4 minutes. Despite being ahead of the 25W charger, the difference is too small to justify paying extra for the 45W charger.

Based on the conclusion from both reviewers, it looks like the 45W charging on the Galaxy S22+ and S22 Ultra does not offer a clear benefit over 25W charging. Now Samsung is not misleading the consumer because according to SamMobile, Samsung claims the 45W charger can get the Galaxy S22+ and S22 Ultra to 50% in 20 minutes which it does. But the fact is that the 25W charger only takes an additional 3 minutes to reach 50%.

So my suggestion would be to get any PD charger rated for 25W or above as it will provide, more or less, the same charge time as Samsung’s official 45W charger. A 25W PD charger from Samsung will cost you RM79 but you can get a cheaper option from third-party manufacturers. If you’re interested, Samsung’s official 45W PD charger retails for RM199, but if you got it for free with our code, good for you.

Even with a 45W charging capability, Samsung is still behind the industry, especially the Chinese smartphone manufacturers. OnePlus’ 65W Warp Charge can take its phone from 1% to 58% in just 15 minutes while full charge is achieved in 39 minutes.

Xiaomi, on the other hand, equipped the 11T Pro with a 120W charge capability that can top up its 5,000mAh battery in an acclaimed 17 minutes. Xiaomi achieves this by adopting a dual-cell 5,000mAh battery which consists of two 2,500mAh batteries. The batteries are connected to two charge pumps which are responsible for maintaining an optimal ratio of voltage and current. To gain a higher wattage, the pumps are able to lower the voltage and increase the current, overcoming conventional voltage limitations.

So why is Samsung not introducing its own crazy charging speed? Well, if I had to guess, firstly, after the whole issue with the Galaxy Note 7’s battery spontaneously catching fire, Samsung might be playing it safe in the battery department. Secondly, charging the battery at a higher wattage typically degrades the battery faster, so it would seem like Samsung is choosing to prolong battery life over rapid charging speed. Until the Galaxy S22+ and S22 Ultra, the only two other Samsung smartphones that supported 45W charging were the Galaxy Note10+ and Galaxy S20 Ultra.

Let us know in the comments if fast charging times matter to you.

[SOURCE]