GoKawiilKey takeaways:
Apple's iPhone 17 series has the fastest recharge speeds, with the iPhone 17 Pro getting the fastest overall
Samsung's Galaxy S26 Ultra has the fastest wired charging, thanks to its new 60-watt charging speed
Silicon-carbon batteries have faster charging speeds, but limited availability
CNET
For many of us, how long our phone lasts before dying is one of its most important features. Right behind battery life, however, we prioritize how quickly our phone charges when it's almost out of power. When I have a long day, am planning to go out after work or if I'm traveling with extended time out and about, being able to recharge my device as much as possible can mean the difference between it powering through to the end of the day or dying when I need it for my commute home.
I'm far from alone in that situation. In CNET's 2026 smartphone survey, 58% of respondents report frustrations with their phone's battery life, and 31% say their phone's battery doesn't hold a charge as well as it did when it was new.
Read more: Smartphone Owners Aren't Convinced to Upgrade for Foldable Designs and AI Integrations, CNET Finds
Fortunately, charging speed is one of the areas we've seen phones improve over the past few years. Faster wired charging speeds are appearing on handsets across all price ranges. The 2026 Samsung Galaxy A17 costs $200 and supports 25-watt charging, the same speed as the more expensive $900 Galaxy S26. The also-$900 OnePlus 15 supports 80-watt speeds.
Wireless charging has also made gains, thanks to the wider adoption of the Qi2 standard on phones, with speeds up to 15 watts, and Qi2.2, which can go up to 25 watts. Some phones even have embedded magnets (think the iPhone and MagSafe) to properly line up your phone so they can achieve these speeds -- a far cry from the early days of wireless charging, when if you didn't position the phone just right, it wouldn't recharge at all. While wired charging remains more efficient and faster, these newer wireless charging speeds can still provide a decent bump in power when your phone is running low.
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