Updated

Updated · ZDNet · Jun 16

ZDNET Test Finds Samsung S26 Ultra Tops 60W Charging as OnePlus 15 Misses 120W Claim

Updated

Updated · ZDNet · Jun 16

ZDNET Test Finds Samsung S26 Ultra Tops 60W Charging as OnePlus 15 Misses 120W Claim

Q: With charging speeds proving misleading, what is the one true metric consumers should use to compare phones?

The best single metric is real-world battery endurance: how long the phone lasts in normal use between charges. The ZDNET tests show why headline wattage is a poor guide. The OnePlus 15 advertised 120W but never got close, peaking at 46W, while the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra slightly exceeded its 60W claim and still delivered the best full-charge result at under an hour. In other words, peak wattage says little about the experience most users actually get. For charging, the most useful supporting number is not advertised watts but measured time-based results, such as how much charge a phone gains in 30 minutes or how long it takes to go from near-empty to full. Those figures capture the full charging curve, including the slowdown that happens as batteries fill and heat rises. CNET’s 30-minute tests, for example, gave a clearer comparison than marketing claims alone. But if consumers want one metric that matters most day to day, it is stamina. A phone that lasts longer on a charge is more valuable than one that advertises extreme charging speeds it rarely sustains. Battery life also reflects the things that actually determine usability: battery size, chip efficiency, display power draw, and software optimization. So the practical question is simple: how long does the phone last in your kind of use, and how much charge can it recover in 30 minutes? Those two real-world figures are far more trustworthy than peak charging wattage.

3 articles · Updated · ZDNet · Jun 16

Three-phone testing found the Galaxy S26 Ultra and iPhone 17 Pro Max briefly exceeded their rated charging speeds, while the OnePlus 15 peaked at just 46W against an advertised 120W.
Anker third-party gear outperformed some OEM chargers, charging both the Samsung and OnePlus faster than their bundled or branded alternatives.
Under an hour was enough to fully charge the Samsung from empty, compared with just over an hour for the OnePlus and more than 90 minutes for the iPhone.
5,000mAh-to-7,300mAh batteries still spent most of the session well below headline wattage, with Samsung averaging about 3% per minute for the first 60% and the other two around 2% for the first 50%.
The results suggest advertised fast-charging numbers can overstate real-world performance, especially for OnePlus, whose former charging edge appeared diminished in this test.