Why I charge more flexible than raw speeds every time

Regular Android Authority Readers will know that I am a sticker for the excellent battery life through high -speed charging. And through it, I don’t necessarily have to be better, the battery also needs to be cool. Instead, one of my first requirements for any phone who claims to be compensated quickly is that it will have to be able to see what plugs you have. It is not good for anyone to be proud of 100W charging with a particular plug, just enter the juice for your power banks when you need it.

Fortunately, brands are improving the support of the most common standards of charging. However, especially big names are holdout. Apple has been set on all 25W charging with stubbornness, as Samsung has non -ultra flagships, while Google’s Pixel 9 Pro XL needs a rare protocol to hardly achieve 37W power levels.

The poor may be hard, but these brands are hardly excellent, especially compared to the Xiaomi 15 ultra, which fixes everything in my test. That’s right, before the proprietary cables and the plug house, Xiaomi’s latest handset now charges fast with anything practically. But you do not need to spend a little luck to get the phone’s maximum compensation, even if you can get your hands on it too. That is why I am pleasantly surprised to find out how much cheaper OnePlus 13 handles my charging gontel.

As a cables and USB plug storage, I have a wide range of different models around my home. Some are proud of the latest USB PD PPS standards, some are more classic USB PD 3.0, and I still have some USB-A ports that float around it that play different old Quick Charging standards. I am always interested in seeing how the phones perform with all these options and not their best, often brand -related plugs. One Plus 13? It passes with flying colors.

As you can see in the table above, you will still get the fastest results with a specific sproed plug – though 65W is far from the highest power level in the market today. However, a rapidly standard USB PD PPS Plug will almost thanks to the about 45W strength you will completely meet you at a long time. The difference of twelve minutes is not much.

Even with a low power 30W PPS plug, full time remains under an hour, which is faster than some rival flagship charge in their fastest order. That’s how I am charging the phone. My cloning sproed plug lives firmly in his box. I am charging One Plus 13 with the same power PPS bricks that receive my laptop, headphones, pixels and more. I can well imagine that I am not alone in this exercise.

The old standards are less quick, but it can be expected. The speed of USB PD 3.0 to 150 minutes is slow but hard to be unusual. Many phones charge 18W from these ports, some less, and some rare will last up to 27W. A USB-A-based instant charge 2.0 port is equally slow, but 18W is not better than anything. Nevertheless, the good news is that whatever speed you can provide you with a modern USB PD PPS charger, you will get a reasonable speed of up to 45W, and at least old plugs, which will give consumers a lot of plenty of wall plugs and, fast, power bank.

If One Plus is not your thing, Samsung Galaxy S25 ultra is also a great phone to charge help – even if it is not so fast and its price is high. It will manage 45W, PD 3.0 more than 24W, and 15W at the Old Quick Charge Port through PPS. This is a solid range, ensuring that you will receive at least a little faster than any plug. It is just a shame that the rest of the series does not charge so quickly.

This brings me to my last point: We have seen that widespread charging support can be achieved in very expensive flagships. OnePlus 13 performed the same feat in the cheaper package, and it is time to charge more affordable phones quickly and globally.

Hopefully, Samsung’s rumor will come forward and move on to 45W Galaxy S25 per Apple, Google, and others in its affordable classes. Of the big three, Samsung is also moving the limits with Galaxy A56 5G, and is surpassing many other budget models that rely on proprietary fast charging or live with something slow. We’re getting there, slowing down but of course.

Of course, it is easy to accelerate the game of WhatsApp and minute numbers, and you would be fine to highlight that charging is not just about speed. Heat lithium -ion is a silent killer of batteries, and even the best smart charging algorithms cannot repeatedly counteract the long -term effects of high watts top ups. Many phones now enforce stage charging-soon the blasting power, then decreases by 80 % in the past-but just as their ambiguous power claims, not all brands are transparent, how it affects long-term battery health.

This is espectively important as upgrades incresingly push-two-to-the-thear cycle, strertching to turn to Four, final, or event. A battery, which may be reduced by aggressive charging, can eliminate 80 % of health in less than two years, which can reduce your phone’s useful age and potentially increase e -waste. That is why moderate support for moderate speeds like USB PD 3.0 and PD PPS is not just about facility-it is also about giving users more charging choices. If you can plug at a slow but hard -working slow rate to keep battery health safe, if this is a concern. For example, you can choose 20, 30, or 40W charger or power bank and know that it will only work – some phones are there, but many are not yet.

Here are really three reservations, then: the convenience of buyers in the use of current plugs, reducing plugs and cable e -waste, and giving consumers a maximum choice about power levels, which they feel relieved. Finally, charging flexibility is not just a nervous special sheet bonus. This is a improved life in the real world. Whether you want to get up quickly before you go out, charge more softly overnight, or keep using a pre -scattered plug around your home, a wide multi -standard support makes it possible.

So when it is a temptation to give the winner the fastest phone crown, we should probably appreciate the people who pay us how we want, when we want, and what we already have. This is the user’s first point of view that protects your wallet, extends your phone’s life, and reduces drawers’ clutter-or even future landfill.