Galaxy S23 Ultra’s ’15W’ wireless charging is 33% slower than last year – Ars Technica

Samsung’s really slow charging speeds have been caught again and they don’t meet people’s expectations. This time it is the wireless charging of the Galaxy S23 series, which is slower than the older Galaxy S22 phones, according to new tests from PhoneArena. The site compared the wireless charging of all three models — base, Plus, Ultra S22 and S23 — and came to the conclusion that “all three new members of the Galaxy S23 series charge way slower than the Galaxy S22 series according to our tests.”

The worst model to come out of the test is the flagship Galaxy S23 Ultra. The S23 Ultra and S22 Ultra both have 5,000mAh batteries and 15W wireless charging, but even with official chargers, the new phone appeared slower. The S22 Ultra took 1 hour and 58 minutes to fully charge via the wireless charger, while the S23 took 33 percent longer: 2 hours and 37 minutes. Not only does a full charge add an extra 39 minutes, either, the phone shows an overall drop in charge rate that’s never reflected in Samsung’s spec sheet.

The basic changes and the Plus model year after year are less significant since they also come with increased battery capacities, so naturally, the new models will take longer to charge. For the record, the two cheaper S23 models add 200mAh of battery capacity and another 15 minutes of wireless charging time. This isn’t the same massive drop seen in the S23 Ultra.

Some people like to speculate that fast charging can be detrimental to battery longevity, but at this point, we have years of empirical evidence in the market that shows these concerns are unfounded. Companies like Oppo/OnePlus and Xiaomi have been shipping fast charging solutions for several years now, and you won’t find a group of people claiming that fast charging ruined battery life. Fast charging requires heat management, so companies manage the heat! It is no problem to measure the temperature of the battery and act accordingly. For wireless charging, some chargers include a fan to help dissipate heat while charging. Presumably, the S23 Ultra has some heat dissipation issues that lead to slow charging speeds.

There is nothing “fast” about the 15W wireless chargers that Samsung has issues with. The fastest commercial wireless options are 50 watts. Samsung — and Apple and Google — are all behind on the latest charging technology you normally get from Chinese manufacturers. That’s a shame because fast charging, and especially the ultra-fast wired options, are changing the way you use your phone. You don’t need to charge the phone overnight when you can quickly charge it in a few minutes.