It's time to stop defending slow charging speeds

Android Authority

24-07-2025

Robert Triggs / Android Authority
We're fast approaching the launch of the new Pixel 10 series and iPhone 17, and the one thing I'm really dreading is another year of sluggish charging speeds.
While Google's Pro XL model has gradually increased its charging power to a level close to Samsung's Ultra, the smaller, more popular flagship phones in the US are stuck charging below 25W. Compared to their fast-charging Chinese counterparts, such as the 80W OnePlus 13, these supposed flagships feel positively archaic.
If you want some numbers, the Galaxy S25 takes 77 minutes to fill up, the Pixel 9 takes 85 minutes, and the iPhone 16 takes agonising 107 minutes — the OnePlus 13 does it in 35. Even 30 minutes on the plug will leave you with less than 60% battery on all these phones. Of course, those are smaller models in their respective series, yet even the more powerful 37W Pixel 9 Pro XL takes 77 minutes to full. This can all feel agonisingly slow — especially when you're in a hurry.
When you're in a hurry, fast charging is an indispensible tool.
Of course, if you predominantly charge your phone overnight, then whether it takes over an hour or just 30 minutes to fully charge makes absolutely no difference. However, there usually comes a time in all of our lives when we need a far quicker top-up.
I often forget to charge my phone overnight, leaving me with just a few minutes to spare before dashing out the door. I've also lost count of the number of times I've quickly grabbed an outlet before boarding a long flight. It's times like these when fast charging becomes indispensable, with just five or ten minutes on the plug enough to give you 25-40% of a full charge.
Once you have it, you can't live without it, and I want all my future phones to be just as capable of getting me through these touch-and-go moments.
Fast charging without compromise
Robert Triggs / Android Authority
Ah, but doesn't fast charging kill long-term battery health? Well, there's some truth to this; high currents and hot temperatures can accelerate battery degradation, causing a cell to lose its charge-carrying capacity faster than it would under ideal charging conditions.
However, this isn't a terminal problem. High current charging is mainly limited to early periods in the charging cycle, when voltage stress is lower. We've tracked countless models where advertised 100W rates apply for barely a minute, and modern phones ease off the power once temperatures spike. Likewise, limiting high power levels to short periods prevents excess heat.
Intelligent settings can give us fast charging and long-term battery health.
In reality, today's high-power phones tend only to make a slight difference to long-term battery health—certainly not so drastic that it cuts its lifespan by half. Still, this trade-off can make fast charging a tough choice for well-informed consumers, but it doesn't have to be that way.
You can always charge speedy phones with slower plugs, but some modern smartphones come with built-in fast charging toggles. Samsung has included these options in its settings menu for years, and you'll find a similar smart charging option on the latest OnePlus and OPPO models. Ideally, far more phones should offer users fine-grained control over their charging preferences, in addition to the now commonplace 80% charging limit.
Robert Triggs / Android Authority
But perhaps the best idea I've seen recently is HONOR's boost notification, which pops up when you put your phone on charge. The idea is elegantly simple: prompt the user to press for higher power levels and less regard for heat, ensuring faster charge times if they're in a hurry. Or do nothing and default to slower, more battery-friendly power levels if you're charging at your desk or overnight.
Between configuration settings and notification prompts, it's clear that we can have the best of everything without any trade-offs: Longevity-conscious settings for desk and overnight charging with quick top-ups for those times we urgently need more juice.
These features are already here, at least in part, on some top-tier smartphones. Now it's time for brands to bring everything together and make them mainstream. That means you Apple, Google, and Samsung. Really, there's no excuse for sluggish charging other than cutting costs on lower-end batteries and budget charging circuits, neither of which is forgivable in phones starting at $800. It's time to stop making excuses.