How long does a full charge take?

Samsung’s new foldable phones for 2023 have landed and it’s hard to look away from the phone that has improved the most — the Galaxy Z Flip 5. Right from the outset, it gains a larger 3.4-inch cover display, an upgraded hinge, and powerful processing hardware. But battery innovation is one aspect in which Samsung is known to be more conservative. So has the South Korean giant improved the Galaxy Z Flip 5’s charging speed at all? Here’s everything you need to know.

The Galaxy Z Flip 5 supports Samsung’s Super Fast Charging technology, which is just another name for USB Power Delivery PPS. The latter is an open protocol, which means any manufacturer can adopt it. And luckily for us, the market is now filled with adapters that support this protocol. You don’t need a Samsung-branded adapter to charge the Galaxy Z Flip 5 at the fastest speed possible.

Samsung says that the Galaxy Z Flip 5 can accept up to 25W of charging power. Of course, that doesn’t mean the phone will continuously draw 25W from the adapter. The fastest charging takes place when the phone’s battery is completely flat and it then slows down over time. This is why Samsung claims the Galaxy Z Flip 5 can achieve 50% of charge within 30 minutes. However, the phone will take more than double that time to fully charge up to 100%.

If you’re wondering how the Galaxy Z Flip 5’s charging setup compares to previous generations, it’s rather straightforward. Samsung has left the power-related specs completely unchanged from last year’s Z Flip 4. Moreover, the battery size hasn’t changed at all so we’re expecting very similar top-up times as well. That said, you’ll notice a significant improvement in the charging speed department if you’re upgrading from an earlier Samsung clamshell like the Galaxy Z Flip 3. That could only handle a maximum charging power of 15W, far below average for a premium Android smartphone.

As for wireless charging, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 supports the maximum 15W afforded by the open Qi standard. Once again, though, this remains unchanged compared to last year’s model. But if you’re one to change phones every year, it’s a noticeable step-up from the 10W of the Galaxy Z Flip 3.

The Galaxy Z Flip 5 also retains support for reverse wireless charging. However, with a maximum power output of just 4.5W, it’s not practical for topping up anything beyond accessories like wireless earbuds.

We’re still conducting our tests on the Galaxy Z Flip 5, but in the interim, we can make some educated guesses about its charging speed. In our review of the Galaxy Z Flip 4, we noted that the phone took anywhere between 75 and 80 minutes to fully charge up. So as long as you use a 25W USB PD PPS charger, the Galaxy Z Flip 5’s battery will take just over an hour to go from empty to full.

As a side note, you may notice different charging times depending on the room and battery temperatures. For best results, we’d recommend charging the Galaxy Z Flip 5 (or any smartphone) in cooler environments. Failing to do so will result in much longer charging times and also negatively affect battery health in the long term.

Like most high-end Android smartphones, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 does not ship with a charging adapter in the box. So if you don’t already own one, we’d recommend picking up Samsung’s first-party 25W Super Fast Charging adapter. Apart from that, any other USB PD PPS-compliant charger will work just fine too.

When using a wireless charger, we found that the previous-generation Galaxy Z Flip 4 charged in a much more leisurely 90-100 minutes. That should hold true for the Galaxy Z Flip 5 as well, although we’ll update this article once we’ve completed our tests. Once again, though, wireless charging pads equipped with a cooling fan will yield better results. You’ll also want to look for ones that support 15W Qi wireless charging as many top out at just 7.5 or 10W.

Unfortunately, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 doesn’t break any records for the fastest charging times in the smartphone industry. That said, it still manages to hold its own in the US foldable market where Samsung doesn’t face all that much competition. Here’s a quick look at how the Galaxy Z Flip 5 holds up against its rivals like the Motorola Razr Plus in terms of charging performance.

As you can see in the above table, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 takes an acceptable amount of time to fully charge up compared to most of the competition. However, it definitely trails behind some of the fast charging innovation coming out of companies like Oppo, OnePlus, and even Motorola. Huawei’s limited-release P50 Pocket clamshell also takes just under an hour to fully charge up with its 50W brick.

Having said that, Samsung’s charging setup certainly won’t hold you back much unless you’ve already experienced faster top-ups elsewhere in the Android smartphone market. We can only hope the South Korean smartphone maker gives the clamshell’s power setup some much needed attention in future generations.