Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends
Most flagship smartphones can get you a full day of regular use, and while manufacturers have managed to pack
big batteries
In slim phones, the expectation of a comfortable two-day battery life isn't the norm. What has helped tremendously is the acceleration of charging a smartphone. Samsung has been lagging behind the competition with its charging speeds for a number of years, but not anymore. With the
new Note 10 Plus
, Samsung has equipped it with a 25W charger in the box for fast charging.
How does it measure up to some of today's most popular phones? We pitted the Note 10 Plus against that
OnePlus 7 Pro
, that
Galaxy S10 Plus
, that
Google Pixel 3 XL
, and the
iPhone XS Max
to see which phone charges the fastest.
The telephones
But first, let's break down the setup for the test and the phones. For all of these devices, we used the cable and adapter that came with them. They were discharged to zero percent, and the test started at exactly the same time for all of them. If you want a brief introduction to how fast charging works,
check out our explainer
.
Among the brands here, OnePlus is best known for its fast and proprietary
Warp Charge Technology
, available on the OnePlus 7 Pro. It requires the brick and cable included in the box, and OnePlus claims that just 20 minutes of charging "is enough power to get you going".
From left to right: OnePlus 7 Pro, Galaxy S10 Plus, Note 10 Plus, Google Pixel 3 XL, iPhone XS Max.
Next is the Galaxy S10 Plus, which supports Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0 (2015 onwards) and it should take less than two hours to fully charge the device. Then there's the Google Pixel 3 XL, which supports the open standard USB Power Delivery 2.0 supported. An 18W adapter is included in the box and Google claims you can get "up to 7 hours of battery life in 15 minutes".
The iPhone XS Max comes with a standard adapter and Lightning cable in the box — nothing flashy here. You can buy an 18W adapter and USB-C to Lightning cable separately to roughly power the iPhone fully charge in an hour and a half
will cost you $50
.
Finally, the Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus comes with a 25W charger that supports Power Delivery 3.0, and Samsung claims it should charge the phone in about an hour. If that's not enough, you can use a . to buy
45W charger
for $50 for even faster charging.
The test
We regularly checked in on all the phones at different times, but noted the percentage of each at the 10 minute mark, the 30 minute mark, as well as the 45 minute mark. After that, we simply logged when each phone was fully charged became.
At 10 minutes:
OnePlus 7 Pro: 25%
Galaxy S10 Plus: 14%
Galaxy Note 10 Plus: 21%
Pixel3XL: 18%
iPhone XS Max: 6%
The OnePlus 7 Pro took an amazing lead, getting a quarter of the way in just 10 minutes. But the Note 10 Plus was quickly behind. The iPhone XS Max comes last at a disappointing 6%.
At 30 minutes:
OnePlus 7 Pro: 59%
Galaxy S10 Plus: 39%
Galaxy Note 10 Plus: 68%
Pixel3XL: 45%
iPhone XS Max: 16%
Just 20 minutes after our first check, the Note 10 Plus is clearly in the lead - almost 10% higher than the OnePlus 7 Pro. It leaves all other phones in the dirt. The iPhone XS Max only stands out by its lag.
After 45 minutes:
OnePlus 7 Pro: 82%
Galaxy S10 Plus: 57%
Galaxy Note 10 Plus: 91%
Pixel3XL: 63%
iPhone XS Max: 24%
The Note 10 Plus is on the home stretch with only 9% remaining until full. This is where the charging speed for many of these phones starts to slow down. There's usually a quick burst when the battery dies, but the speed wears off.
The end results
That's all the times we've checked in for all the phones. Now let's take a close look at how long it took each phone to reach 100% from zero.
OnePlus 7 Pro: 1 hour and 14 minutes
Galaxy S10 Plus: 1 hour and 43 minutes
Galaxy Note 10 Plus: 1 hour and 2 minutes
Pixel3XL: 1 hour and 49 minutes
iPhone XS Max: 3 hours and 28 minutes
The Note 10 Plus is the clear winner, taking just over an hour to fully charge. The OnePlus 7 Pro isn't far behind, with a respectable 1 hour and 14 minutes charge time. Interestingly, the Galaxy S10 Plus beat the Pixel 3 XL down the stretch, although the Pixel had the edge for most of the race. However, the difference between the two isn't dramatic.
What's dramatic is how long it took to charge the iPhone XS Max. 3 hours and 28 minutes with the included cable and adapter is just not acceptable for a phone that costs more than $1,000. If you have an iPhone, you should she
Buy the fast charging adapter
and cable as soon as possible.
Samsung is finally at the forefront of fast-charging technology in its smartphones, and now we're even more excited to see what the 45W charger can do for the phone when we get our hands on it. It's worth noting that we saw even faster charging have that
Oppo Find X Lamborghini Edition
It took just under 35 minutes to go from zero to 100 percent. Unfortunately, I didn't have the phone to hand for this test, and it's not sold in the US either
For more information on the Note 10 Plus, see our
in-depth review
.
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