Samsung’s next-gen foldables continue to come together through various pre-announcement leaks. The latest rumors claim that the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Galaxy Z Flip 4 will keep the 25W charging that Samsung has put in many of its phones since 2019.
The leak comes from a Chinese 3C certification (via GSMArena) that puts charging at 9 volts and 2.77 amps which, when rounded, indicates that the phones support up to 25W of power. Also listed is the USB Power Delivery spec that tops out at 15W, potentially meaning that the phones will adapt to charge slower when the phones might not need peak charging speeds.
Samsung still includes a charger in the box in China, so these specs only potentially confirm the power of the charger, not necessarily the top speed supported by the phones. We’ve seen some phones from Samsung in the past go up to 45W of charging with the brick that Samsung will happily sell you.
25W fast charging isn’t abysmally slow, but it does pale in comparison to what we're seeing from some Android competitors. So, while Xiaomi is offering blazing 120W charging, Samsung is stuck just barely above iPhone territory at 25W.
As we approach the typical launch window for the anticipated new foldables, we’ve seen numerous other leaks about design changes, battery expectations, and upgraded cameras. Leaks pointing to a built-in S-Pen have also surfaced, but there is conflicting information out there about whether or not it will be included.
Analysis: quit toying with us, Samsung
Samsung’s charging strategy has been, shall we say, unpredictable. In 2019, the Note 10 Plus debuted the company’s first 45W charging phone, but a 25W charger was instead included in the box. It was still an increase from the 15W charging Samsung typically offered back then and, for its time, was pretty quick. The 45W charging brick, however, costs $50, which is a hefty price to pay for what turned out to be a mixed bag of results.
See, we covered GSMArena’s initial testing of the 45W brick on the new Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, and reiterated how strange it was that at almost double the wattage, the phone charged just negligibly faster. Then, we tested the brick ourselves and found that it did, in fact, work as advertised.
As the flagship foldables in Samsung’s lineup, we’d expect their charging capabilities to match that of the S22 Ultra, and would think it strange if they don’t.
Is Samsung trying to preserve long-term battery health on the expensive foldables, or was fast charging simply not very high up on the priority list? Will we see 45W charging actually supported once the phone is announced? That remains to be seen, but we’re not sure how long Samsung's foldables can stay in 2019 when it comes to fast charging.
