Fresh Samsung Galaxy S22 series leak brings bittersweet charging speed news
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Following this week's reveal of the sharpest product renders yet and seemingly complete spec sheets for all three main Galaxy S22 variants, you might be wondering what is even the point of Samsung holding a presumably glamorous Unpacked launch event on February 9.
After all, we already know everything there is to know about the impending S22, S22+, and S22 Ultra, price tags and delivery dates included, right? Well, wrong. Not as in wrong about the specifications, prices, and the rest of the details revealed so far, but wrong about there being nothing left to find out.
For instance, if you looked closely at the detailed specs disclosed by German publication WinFuture earlier this week, you may have noticed the battery section was actually incomplete. While fast charging support was obviously listed for all three high-end phones, the top speeds the Galaxy S22 family is expected to achieve were curiously left out.
So how fast will the S22, S22+, and S22 Ultra charge in the end?
Pretty darn fast, at least as far as the two larger models are concerned, which will apparently come with 45W support. That would represent a very solid improvement from the 25W speeds offered across last year's Galaxy S21 lineup, with the notable exception of the "vanilla" S22, confirmed today to retain its predecessor's exact wired charging capabilities.
No battery speed upgrade for the regular Galaxy S22.
Today's information, by the way, comes from a European certification body (via Nashville Chatter Class), so while we're not entirely sure if it was supposed to go public already, it's almost certainly legit.
The odd part is these freshly disclosed numbers seem to directly contradict (at least in part) what came out of China all the way back in October. Separate from the possibility that the entire Galaxy S22 family would be capped at 25W charging speeds, another theory gained traction in recent months, calling for the 45W upgrade to stay exclusive to the Ultra model.
Now it looks like both the S22+ and S22 Ultra could offer faster charging than their little brother, which is still a tad disappointing to hear for prospective buyers of the compact Galaxy S22, but it's much better than what was initially predicted for these high-end handsets.
Galaxy S22 series charging vs the competition
Assuming this new info will indeed prove accurate (and ubiquitous), you'll probably find the following comparison useful the next time you're thinking of purchasing a "premium" new mobile devices:
- Galaxy S22 - 25W
- Galaxy S22 Plus and S22 Ultra - 45W
- iPhone 13 and 13 Pro - 23W (unofficial)
- iPhone 13 Pro Max - 27W (unofficial)
- iPhone 13 mini - 18W (unofficial)
- OnePlus 10 Pro - 80W
- OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro - 65W
- Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro - 30W
- Xiaomi 12 Pro - 120W
- Xiaomi 12 - 67W
- Huawei P50 and P50 Pro - 66W
- Sony Xperia 1 III - 30W
- Motorola Edge X30 - 68W
- Oppo Reno 7 Pro - 65W
- Vivo Iqoo 9 Pro - 120W
- Realme GT2 Pro - 65W
Okay, so the first thing you're likely to notice is that 45W charging doesn't actually eclipse a lot of Samsung's current rivals in the heavyweight division of the smartphone world. But the Galaxy S22+ and S22 Ultra are guaranteed to beat even the iPhone 13 series numbers that Apple doesn't advertise, and in many markets, we're fairly certain that's all that Samsung cares about.
The Xiaomi 12 Pro is one of the world's fastest-charging smartphones.
Beating Google is a nice bonus, of course, with the likes of OnePlus, Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo, and Realme looking way too advanced in this particular department to catch up with anytime soon.
Theoretical speeds don't always translate perfectly into real-world charging times, mind you, as proven by the 45W-supporting Galaxy S20 Ultra. The 25W-limited S21 Ultra was in no way inferior when using the same 45W Samsung brick, so hopefully, this year's upgrade will make a real difference for end users.
Speaking of bricks, there's about a zero chance that Samsung will sell the S22 Plus and S22 Ultra with blazing fast chargers in their retail box, so be sure to take that into account when preparing your spring tech spending budget.
Things that are NOT allowed: