Samsung‘s latest flagships come with the same charging speed rating as the 2022 models. The Galaxy S23+ and Galaxy S23 Ultra charge at a maximum speed of 45W, while the base Galaxy S23 model tops out at 25W. However, the new phones still appear to charge faster than their respective predecessors.
A charging speed test by the YouTube channel TechDroider shows that the Galaxy S23 Ultra charges from 0 to 75% in 30 minutes with a 45W Samsung power brick. The handset charges fully in less than 52 minutes. Similar tests from last year, shortly after the Galaxy S22 series debuted, showed that the Galaxy S22 Ultra reached only 60% charge from 0 with Samsung’s 45W charger. It took almost an hour to go from 0 to 100%. Both generations of Ultras pack a 5,000mAh battery.
By the looks of it, Samsung has optimized its charging algorithms and related tech this year. The company certainly needed to work on it. It has been reluctant to go above 45W speeds while rivals are breaching the 150W mark. It’s not to say that the Korean firm should go with the flow, but its 45W charging isn’t much faster than 25W. Last year, the Galaxy S22+ and Galaxy S22 Ultra took just a few minutes less to charge fully with a 45W power brick compared to 25W.
Samsung seems to have made some much-needed improvements this year, though we haven’t seen a side-by-side charging speed comparison between the two generations of Galaxy S flagships. But going by this result, the Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23+ may also be getting as charging boost. These two models come with slightly bigger batteries (200mAh more than last year). It would be a step in the right direction even if they take the same amount of time to charge fully as their respective predecessors.
You can bypass charging on the Galaxy S23 series
The Galaxy S23 phones have another nice trick when it comes to charging. The latest Samsung flagships allow you to altogether bypass charging and feed the input power directly to the processor. This helps reduce heat and protects battery health. The feature is available as part of Samsung’s Game Booster service. It’s called Pause USB Power Delivery. Once enabled, your phone will not use the battery while gaming. It will draw power directly from the charger (only if you have more than 20% charge). This feature works with any charger that supports USB PD (Power Delivery).