Fast charging without the official charger, does it work or not? In our test of the Samsung Galaxy S23, we noticed that the 3900 mAh battery took quite a while to recharge. So yes, Samsung’s “fast” charging is very slow compared to Xiaomi or Oppo. But it goes further than that. We therefore tested charging the Galaxy S23, S23+ and S23 Ultra with an official Samsung charger and a third-party charger. And the result will surprise you.
Not All Chargers Are Created Equal
One of the big flaws of the Galaxy S23 (test), Galaxy S23+ (test) and Galaxy S23 Ultra (test) is fast charging. The basic S23 only accepts a recharge of 25 watts maximum. And even the Galaxy S23 Ultra, one of the most premium high-end smartphones on the market, only accepts 45 watts.
In our Galaxy S23 test a few months ago, it took 1h55 for the battery to go from 0 to 100%, which is incredibly long. To conduct this test, my colleague had used a UGreen Nexode 45W charger. Samsung does not provide an official charger with its smartphones, so we used a third-party charger.
As the model name suggests, the UGreen Nexode 45W recharges with a maximum of 45 watts, via the universal USB Power Delivery 3.0 standard. It is equipped with the GaN II technologies which allows for more compact chargers thanks to more efficient chips that overheat less.
The Samsung Galaxy S23’s power adapter (which isn’t even included) really shouldn’t be any smaller. / © NextPit
Several users found the charging time to be too long. We therefore asked Samsung to provide us with the official EP-TA800 blocks, recommended by the manufacturer as an optional additional purchase. We also ordered the EP-T4510.
We tested the EP-TA800 charger on the Samsung S23 Plus and S23 Ultra. These two models can be recharged with 45W instead of 25.
Well, the result still surprised us a bit:
Samsung Galaxy S23 charging test
| Charger UGreen Nexode 45W | Charger Samsung EP-TA800 | |
|---|---|---|
| After 5 minutes | 3 % | 9 % |
| After 20 mins | 14 % | 37 % |
| After 30 mins | 21 % | 56 % |
| After 60 mins | 44 % | 95 % |
| 100% recharged | 1h55 | 1h12 |
If you want to make a rough estimate, a standard USB PD 3.0 power adapter takes almost twice as long to fully recharge. However, Samsung Samsung assures that third-party chargers should be able to achieve the same charging time as official products.
These values lead me to believe that Samsung purposely delivers these smartphones without a charger to make some money on the sale of separate accessories. I picked up the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra and the corresponding official Samsung power adapter today.
Indeed, during his test of the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, my colleague Antoine had used the Ugreen Nexode 140W charger. Its recharge test values were just under 50% after 20 minutes and 100% battery capacity after just over an hour.
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra Charging Test
| Charger Samsung EP-TA800 | |
|---|---|
| After 5 minutes | 12 % |
| After 20 mins | 40 % |
| After 30 mins | 51 % |
| After 60 mins | 89 % |
| 100% recharged | 1h23 |
Here, the original Samsung charger charges slower than the UGreen charger. So that eliminates my first suspicion that Samsung is deliberately slowing down the charging speed.
For me, the subject is not quite closed yet and I will take advantage of the following week to check other charging scenarios. At least, as long as we have the Samsung Galaxy S23 trio at the editorial office.
Have you tried the experiment on your side? Have you seen big differences with official charger and third-party charger?
