The 45W charging speed of the Galaxy S22 Ultra is just slightly quicker than the 25W

Samsung’s newest cellphones, like the previous generation, do not include a charger in the package, forcing buyers to purchase one separately. Of course, Samsung has its own chargers to upsell you, but can you use an old charger with your new smartphone? After all, you’ll save money this way.

45W Charging Capabilities

As a refresher, Samsung’s Fast Charging 2.0 standard allows the Galaxy S22 Plus and Galaxy S22 Ultra to charge at a faster rate of 45W. This is an increase from the previous year’s 25W charging. Using the first-generation Samsung Fast Charge protocol, the standard Galaxy S22 provides the same 25W charging as the S21 series. Both protocols, however, employ the USB Power Delivery PPS specification, a worldwide standard that Samsung adopted for the Galaxy S21 series, which means that a wide range of third-party chargers will function. It’s only that this year’s power level is different.

The short version is that any USB PD PSS plug that can deliver the needed 45W of power will work. This includes, but is not limited to, the official Samsung plug. However, because these phones need more power than last year’s models, an old Galaxy charger won’t be able to charge them at full speed. The normal Galaxy S22, on the other hand, will continue to charge at maximum speed with a charger compatible with any Galaxy S21 series smartphone and any USB PD PPS compliant plug capable of delivering 25W of electricity. You may also use any 18W USB Power Delivery connector, as well as chargers that support Qualcomm Quick Charge and Samsung’s Adaptive Fast Charge standards, to charge the phones.

Is Samsung’s 45W Charger Faster?

It’s likely that you already have a charger that can charge a Samsung Galaxy S22 smartphone quickly. The real question is how quickly it will happen and if it will be worthwhile to upgrade to a newer connector to achieve better speeds. To help you decide, we gathered plugs that support the different available standards and timed how long it takes to charge the Galaxy S22 Ultra’s large battery. For the sake of clarity, we’re going to keep track of the time until the phone indicates it’s at 100%. Here are the outcomes.

• 62 minutes with 45W USB Power Delivery PPS
• 69 minutes with a 25W USB Power Delivery PPS
• 91 minutes with 18W USB Power Delivery
• Qualcomm Quick Charge takes 92 minutes to charge.
• Adaptive Fast Charging by Samsung — 98 minutes
• 135 minutes on a standard 5V USB charger

The newest PPS chargers offer a significant boost in charging time over ordinary USB Wattage Delivery and earlier Quick Charge standards, in the range of 20 to 30 minutes depending on the power. If you were planning to utilize an existing charger, either would be a good upgrade. Similarly, 25W or 45W PPS charging is a significant advance over the previous Samsung Adaptive Fast Charge standard, and much more so when compared to the regular USB 5V charging offered by all outlets, laptops, and other devices. What’s the bottom line? The best option is to use a USB PD PPS charger.

The newest PPS chargers offer a significant boost in charging time over ordinary USB Wattage Delivery and earlier Quick Charge standards, in the range of 20 to 30 minutes depending on the power. Faster charging means lesser interruption when performing tasks such as sharing SMS backup. If you were planning to utilize an existing charger, either would be a good upgrade. Similarly, 25W or 45W PPS charging is a significant advance over the previous Samsung Adaptive Fast Charge standard, and much more so when compared to the regular USB 5V charging offered by all outlets, laptops, and other devices. What’s the bottom line? The best option is to use a USB PD PPS charger.

However, there isn’t much of a difference in the results from the 25W and 45W US PD PPS chargers. In reality, we timed the Galaxy S21 Ultra’s full charge in as little as 66 minutes in 2021, so the results appear to be similar. It’s pointless to upgrade to a more powerful model if the difference in charging time between the 45W and the 25W plug is only six minutes.

Further testing reveals that charging using the 45W connector achieves all battery milestones faster than charging with the 25W socket, although the margins are razor-thin. We’re talking about a 3- to 4-minute gap to reach 50%, which is nearly a margin of error. This is because the peak power of the 45W option is only maintained for a minute at most. The phone charges at 30W for most of the yearly cycle, which, although still more powerful than the 25W charger, is not as significant as the marketing suggests. In reality, a 30W PPS plug may provide the same continuous charging power as a 45W type, resulting in about the same charging time.

Summing Up

Although the Galaxy S22 Ultra’s charging timings aren’t disappointing, we’re concerned that the switch to 45W charging doesn’t provide more bang for your buck. It’s difficult not to get the impression that the phone’s charging is only 45W in name in order to look more competitive with competing devices’ more absurd charging power levels. Samsung’s more cautious method, on the other hand, is better suited for long-term battery health, something that many super-fast charging phones cannot promise.

Lastly, the Galaxy S22 Plus and Ultra benefit from somewhat quicker charging, it isn’t a game-changer. Unless your charging system is many years old, the switch to 45W isn’t enough to justify an upgrade. If you need a charger for your Galaxy S22 series phone, see our buyer’s guide below.