The Galaxy S21 is its first phone without a charger, and Samsung overcompensates

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The Galaxy S21 is its first phone without a charger, and Samsung overcompensates
Currently, the fastest-charging phones are all from the top Chinese brands, like the 120W charging power of the Mi 10 Ultra, or the 65W fill-ups of Oppo Find X2 Pro and the OnePlus 8T. It's not as simple as upping the power output, of course, as the battery has to have the respective chemistry, and the phone the suitable charging circuitry for that ultrafast charging session, too.

In that train of thought, a new Samsung EP-TA865 charger has been making the rounds for a while, and raised the speculation that at least the Galaxy S21 Ultra could land with a 65W charger, boding well for the possibility of 5000mAh battery fill-ups in less than an hour. It has now reappeared in the TUV certification database, indicating an imminent launch.


So far so good, but, subsequently, the Galaxy S21 series codenames started appearing next to lesser chargers, and the phones even shipped without bricks in the box, while even the 45W charging support that was listed on the S20 Ultra has now gone from the S21 Ultra's info.

That's not to say that the new series can't be topped up with faster chargers than the 25W one Samsung packs with the Note 20 Ultra, just that using Samsung's top 45W brick that costs $50 barring any promos, won't charge the phone that much faster. We clocked a bit over an hour of charging for the 5000mAh battery of the S21 Ultra, even with the 25W charger, which is a very respectable number to begin with.
hoursLower is better
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
1h 8 min
Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra
1h 8 min
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G
0h 59 min
Samsung Galaxy S21
1h 10 min
Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max
1h 58 min
Samsung Galaxy S20 FE
1h 28 min
OPPO Find X2 Pro
0h 39 min
OnePlus 8
1h 3 min

Make of it what you will but either the expensive S21 models like the Ultra support faster than 25W charging with the respective Samsung-certified brick, or the company intends to launch a 65W charger for something else entirely.

We hope it's the former, but will keep our ear to the ground regarding exactly where will the Samsung EP-TA865 charger land. In the meantime, below are the best fast chargers you can currently buy for your Galaxy S21, S21+, or S21 Ultra phones.

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