Charging speeds have escalated dramatically — 67W, 80W, even 120W and beyond. The numbers are real but often misunderstood.
Why chargers are not interchangeable
Fast charging needs the charger, cable and phone to agree on a protocol. If any part does not match, everything falls back to a slower universal speed. This is why a friend's 80W charger might charge your phone at 18W — nothing is broken, the two just could not negotiate the faster protocol. USB Power Delivery is the open standard supported broadly; proprietary standards hit their headline speeds only with their own charger and cable. If you want one charger for several devices, buy a good USB PD charger.
The advertised speed is a peak, not an average
A phone advertising 80W does not draw 80W throughout. It charges fastest from 0 to 50 percent, slows from 50 to 80, and crawls from 80 to 100 to protect the cells. This is why 0-to-50-in-15-minutes claims are accurate while a full charge takes much longer. The taper is deliberate — charging a nearly full battery quickly generates heat and wears it.
Does fast charging damage your battery?
Modern implementations are engineered to be safe, with heat management and charge curves that limit wear. But heat is what degrades batteries, and faster charging produces more heat, so over years a phone always charged at maximum speed will show somewhat more degradation. For most people the convenience outweighs this. If you keep phones four or more years, slow-charging overnight and fast-charging only when needed is a reasonable compromise.
How much speed do you actually need?
- Charge overnight at home? Anything above 30W is plenty — you are asleep either way.
- Top up before going out? This is where 60W and above genuinely helps.
- Travel with limited sockets? Fast charging helps, but battery capacity matters more.
A larger battery with moderate charging often serves better than a small battery with extreme charging.
Practical points
- Check whether a charger is included — several brands no longer ship one.
- Keep the original cable; proprietary charging usually needs it.
- Buy certified chargers only — uncertified high-wattage ones are a genuine safety risk.
- Enable optimised charging to reduce time spent sitting at 100 percent.
