Samsung Galaxy phones are bestsellers, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they are the best at everything they do. While devices such as the Galaxy S25 Ultra are a pleasure to use, in my time as a phone reviewer, there is one thing about Samsung phones that is noticeably inferior to rivals such as OnePlus, Xiaomi and Oppo – and that is charging speeds.

The S25 Ultra can charge at up to 45W wired and 15W wirelessly, which is considerably slower than the OnePlus 15’s 120W wired and 50W wired capabilities. The OnePlus can charge faster wirelessly than the Samsung can wired, which is all the more embarrassing for Samsung when the S25 Ultra costs £1,249, £350 more than the OnePlus 15.

Even more pitiful is the base £799 Galaxy S25, which has 25W wired speeds.

According to reports from Android Authority, Samsung could be working on an improvement to the charging speeds of the Galaxy S26 Ultra, which is expected to launch in early 2026.

Clues have been uncovered in the code for One UI 8.5, which is the as-yet-unreleased next version of Samsung’s Android software.

Samsung brands its 25W chargings speeds as Super Fast Charging and its 45W speeds as Super Fast Charging 2.0. Leaked code contains references to “Super Fast Charging 3.0”, which it is thought refers to possible 60W wired speeds that could be coming to the next-gen S26 Ultra.

Android Authority also spotted references in the One UI 8.5 codebase to “Super fast wireless charging”. This is not displayed on any current Samsung phone when it is charging wirelessly, with the S25 Ultra’s top-of-the-Samsung-line 15W wireless speeds referred to as “fast wireless charging”.

It’s thought the new step up would see the S26 Ultra gain 25W wireless charging. But even if it gets that plus 60W wired speeds, the firm would be lagging behind OnePlus.

In fact, the Google Pixel 10 can charge at 30W wired and 15 wirelessly, the Oppo Find X9 Pro at 80W wired and 55W wirelessly, and the Honor Magic 7 Pro at 100W wired and 80W wirelessly.

The Oppo and Honor phones here have adopted newer silicon-carbon battery tech, which are more energy dense and so can pack more mAh into the same size batteries as the lithium-ion tech still used by Samsung and Google.

These charging improvements may point to Samsung’s ongoing caution about battery technology ever since the Galaxy Note 7 crisis of 2017, which saw the Note 7 recalled and ultimately cancelled after its batteries caught fire.

Samsung has since lagged behind competitors in both battery size and charging speeds.

All of this of course comes with the massive caveat that although charging speeds on phones are improving, hardly any phones in the UK now come with a charger in the box, meaning anyone wanting to take advantage of their new gadget’s zippy top ups will have to fork out more cash for the right fast charger.