Hey, Samsung homeowners, I do know you’re confused AF about which GAN charger to purchase in your shiny new Galaxy S24 Ultra or Galaxy S23 Ultra flagship telephone. Luckily, I’ve additionally been in pursuit of the identical objective of quick charging my Galaxy, and right here’s what I realized.

I miss included chargers

Remember once you paid for a telephone and obtained one of the best charger within the field? Those days are sadly lengthy gone to “save the environment,” however that additionally implies that most shoppers who don’t have a contemporary charger are left alone wandering by way of a forest of hundreds of confusing charger choices.

Be confused

Frankly, I’d be stunned for those who weren’t confused by find out how to get your Samsung telephone to truly use the quicker “Super-Fast Charging 2.0” mode for the reason that circumstances to get there aren’t very easy in any respect.

I might solely discover mentions of it in two sentences on Samsung’s web site, the place it says: “For super-fast charging, you must have a charging cable that supports adaptive fast charging with a capacity of 45W – 45W TA + 5A cable (E-marked),” and: “You will also need a 45W Travel Adapter. Super-fast charging will not function with a standard charger. We recommend using the USB Type-C, 5A charging cable that comes with the 45W charger.”

If you’re purchasing for a third-party charger and cable, Samsung’s steerage gained’t be of a lot use both. Even worse, Samsung’s description doesn’t point out the totally different variations of Super Fast Charging, which contributes to the confusion. I’ve discovered chargers on Amazon that point out 45 watts and Samsung Super Fast Charging, however a better take a look at the specs reveals they may max out at 28 watts, not Super-Fast Charing 2.0’s 45 watts.

So sure, it’s complicated AF.

Gordon Mah Ung

Gordon Mah Ung

Gordon Mah Ung

Most USB-C chargers gained’t be quick both

You might purchase the OEM Samsung 45-watt Travel Adapter and name it day, however few folks will need to shell out $50 for the corporate charger which is type of clunky and ugly subsequent to at this time’s svelte GAN chargers. I additionally advocate that for those who determine to go the factory-charger route, be cautious of counterfeits, which frequently goal the confused Samsung Travel Adapter charger consumers.

I think about that the majority unassuming shoppers gained’t purchase the Samsung charger since extra highly effective 65-watt or 100-watt chargers are so low cost and should be simply as quick, proper? Unfortunately, no. In truth, among the many dozens of USB-C chargers I’ve, none of them will cost the highest Samsung telephones at their quickest charges. None. Not the 100-watt items, not the 65-watt items, not the 45-watt items.

Gordon Mah Ung

Gordon Mah Ung

Gordon Mah Ung

Even a complicated USB-C charger will not be tremendous quick

Last summer time, I purchased a 45-watt GAN charger looking for lighting up the magical “Super-Fast Charging 2.0” message on my Galaxy S23 Ultra. That charger, an Elecom CW-102 supported the non-obligatory Programmable Power Supply portion of USB-Power Delivery, which I had assumed can be sufficient to achieve 45 watts. Unfortunately, it seems it actually wasn’t sufficient and the utmost cost price even with PPS help was slightly below 28 watts. At least that’s what it’s restricted to now. I swear that final summer time plugging within the Elecom charger would set off the “Super-Fast Charging 2.0” indicator but it surely now not does. So both I imagined it, or current updates to the telephones have disabled the indicator on the Elecom charger. And since I didn’t do the complete testing final summer time I’ve no proof it labored aside from my reminiscence of seeing “Super Fast Charging 2.0” on the display.

You want 4- to 5-amp PPS help

Although my Elecom CW-102 helps PPS, it seems that its PPS profile of three.3 volts to 21 volts at 2.25 amps isn’t supported by Samsung’s Super Fast Charging 2.0. You can see proof of that within the graph beneath, which recorded the Elecom charging the telephone together with a 5-amp cable maxing out at about 26 watts.

PPS is a complicated possibility for USB-C Power Delivery chargers that interprets into quicker, cooler and extra environment friendly charging on telephones that help it.

That’s what introduced me to Anker’s 313 Ace 45 watt charger. It’s a GAN charger, so it’s very compact and has folding prongs. More importantly, it has a PPS profile of three.3 volts to 11 volts at 5 amps, which is the magic sauce that Samsung flagship telephones require for max cost charges. Looking at Samsung’s OEM 45-watt Travel Adapter charger, it incorporates a PPS profile of three.3 volts to 11 volts at 4.05 amps, which is just a bit lower than the lower-priced and extra compact Anker 313.

As you possibly can see within the chart beneath in blue, the Anker 313 will cost the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra at roughly 42 watts, or a few 61 p.c improve over the Elecom that’s restricted to three amps.

Gordon Mah Ung

Gordon Mah Ung

Gordon Mah Ung

You want a 5-amp cable

The last ingredient you’ll have to cost your flagship Samsung at its most price is a USB-C to USB-C cable rated for five amps (we have a roundup of cables you should consider.) For our testing, we primarily used a 6.6-foot Cable Matters cable rated for five amps and 240 watts that I’m within the means of reviewing.

I’ve learn reviews that some cables state they don’t help Samsung’s quickest cost charges even when they’re 5 amps, however I doubt these claims are appropriate. Samsung itself says 5 amps with an eMarker are the one necessities for the cable.

All USB-C to USB-C cables rated for five amps are required to have eMarker chips (a elaborate ID chip) whether or not they’re older 100-watt or newer 240-watt variations.

To test that declare, I additionally examined a $9 Anker 10-foot, 100-watt USB-C to USB-C cable on the Anker 313 and my Galaxy S23 Ultra and had no issues hitting the identical 42 watts because the shorter Cable Matters cable.

What occurs for those who use a plain USB-C cable with out an eMarker? All USB-C to USB-C cables with out eMarkers can attain 60-watt cost charges — greater than the 45 watts the Samsung telephones want — however as they’re restricted to a most of three amps, they may stop the charger from utilizing the 4-amp or 5-amp PPS profiles which is required for the Samsung telephones, and can throttle it to 26-watt cost modes.

Is it value it?

So is it value it? That relies on how you utilize your telephone. In my case, my journey was largely to unravel Samsung’s complicated charging requirements and I’ll admit, I’d be high-quality with my a lot smaller Anker 511 Nano 30-watt charger over the marginally bigger 313 mannequin.

That’s as a result of more often than not, the utmost cost price gained’t be used except the telephone is beneath a 25 p.c cost state. At cost states above 25 p.c, you’ll nonetheless exceed the 26-watt restrict of a generic USB-C Power Delivery charger however as a substitute of 42 watts, you’ll largely cost at 35 watts to 30 watts. I’m simply not that type of consumer.

If, nevertheless, you’re the type of heavy consumer that usually runs the telephone down to six p.c and must fuel it up proper freaking now, it’s value it.

Using the Anker 313 and 5-amp cable, I might go from 1 p.c to 25 p.c in 10 minutes and attain a 50 p.c cost in about 20 minutes. The whole cost time to close full is mainly an hour with a number of minutes of sluggish charging on the finish, which all gadgets do to restrict battery injury; that sounds much less spectacular, however I’d argue that the quick cost charges are much more vital when the telephone is close to empty and it’s good to tank it up as quick as attainable — not when the telephone is at a 75 p.c cost. It all relies on how you utilize your telephone.

One last benefit of getting a stupidly quick charger setup means I don’t have to fret about carrying a heavy battery pack round anymore since only a few minutes at an outlet will get me sufficient juice to final the remainder of the day.

Gordon Mah Ung

Gordon Mah Ung

Gordon Mah Ung