Far too focused on making the
Galaxy S26 Ultra the absolute best Android phone money can buy in 2026, Samsung might be leaving the other two members of its next super-premium handset family without a key upgrade over this year’s
Galaxy S25, S25 Plus, and
S25 Edge that the
S26 Pro and
S26 Edge badly need to keep up with Apple’s almost surprisingly advanced
iPhone 17 lineup.
25W is not a very “Pro” number, Samsung!
In case you were wondering if the Galaxy S26 Pro would earn its pompous moniker with big improvements over the “regular” Galaxy S25, the inside information revealed by PhoneArt (aka @UniverseIce) on X right after the iPhone 17 roster’s launch event suggests that’s not going to happen, at least as far as charging technology is concerned.
Yes, the S26 Pro and S26 Edge are disappointingly tipped to support up to 25W charging speeds, keeping that mediocre (by 2025 high-end standards) figure unchanged from the S25, S25 Plus, and S25 Edge, as well as the S24 and S24 Plus and a whole bunch of previous entries in the Galaxy S line.
Believe it or not, even the 2020-released Galaxy S20 and S20 Plus were capped at 25 watts, with the S10 and S10 Plus the year before only supporting 15W charging tech. That means that hardcore Samsung fans have been waiting for another upgrade in this department for about half a decade now, and according to the latest word around the street, the wait isn’t going to end in early 2026.
Just how bad is that number, though?
Whether you’re a Samsung lover or a hater, I’m going to give it to you straight – 25W is bad, at least from a public perception standpoint, and especially after this week’s introduction of the iPhone 17, 17 Pro, and 17 Pro Max.
While Apple never explicitly advertises its products’ charging speeds the way Android device manufacturers do, the official spec sheets of those three new iPhones include charging time estimates for use with 40W adapters “or higher.” That suggests their charging support stands at or around 40 watts, which would represent a major enhancement over the “vanilla” iPhone 16’s 20W top speed, for instance.
A comparison between the Galaxy S26 Pro and S26 Edge’s newly rumored numbers and those of the OnePlus 13 or 13R, meanwhile, is obviously a lot easier to make. Those charging speed monsters support mind-blowing 100W and 80W technology respectively, mind you, while Google’s Pixel 10 Pro and 10 Pro XL stand at 30 and 45W respectively.
Of course, these are all theoretical specs that need to be compared in actual real-life use to gain relevance, which is where our tests come in. In our comprehensive Galaxy S25 review, the 6.2-inch handset went from 0 to 54 percent battery capacity in half an hour while requiring an hour and 22 minutes for a full charge, with the OnePlus 13 going from 0 to 100 percent in just 43 minutes.
The 27W charging-capable iPhone 16 Pro Max, however, disappointed by needing no less than one hour and 42 minutes to get a full tank of gas, so you should probably wait for our iPhone 17, 17 Pro, and 17 Pro Max reviews before criticizing Samsung too harshly.
How reliable is the rumor?
Look, I’m not a professional social media leaker with any knowledge of Samsung’s inner workings, but my experience as a PhoneArena writer has made me pretty competent at sniffing out phony “inside info.” And let me tell you, this smells fake from a mile away.
Now, I have no idea if the Galaxy S26 Pro is meant to radically improve the “vanilla” Galaxy S25 (as the name suggests) rather than simply replace it, but I’m pretty sure the S26 Pro and S26 Edge will at least prove (heavily) superior to the S25 Fan Edition in pretty much every conceivable way. So, yeah, I’m skeptical (to say the least) that this particular piece of gossip will prove accurate.
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