Updated March 30: article originally posted March 28.
The Samsung community is looking forward to this summer’s launch of the new Galaxy Z Fold 6, but the flagship foldable looks set to disappoint many over its choice of battery charging technology.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 (Photo by Christoph Dernbach/picture alliance via Getty Images)
The details come from the latest certification documents issued by the Chinese government. The paperwork lists the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and a small 25W charger. The model number matches the 25W charger bundled with many of Samsung’s current products.
The same batch of documents also confirms the Galaxy Z Fold 6 will also ship with the 25W charger.
While this alone does not confirm that the two folding handsets' maximum rated charging will be limited to 25W, the recent Galaxy S24 not only shipped with the 25W charger but also has a battery similar to that expected in the Galaxy Z Flip 6. With the S24 limited to 25W charging, I’d expect the Z Flip 6 to follow that trend.
Thankfully, the larger S24+ and S24 Ultra are rated for 45W charging, and the larger handset can be fully charged from empty in around 90 minutes. Last year’s Z Fold 5 was limited to 25W; given the flagship status of the Z Fold 6, I hope the Z Fold 6 will be rated at 45W.
Nevertheless, if the Galaxy Z Fold 6 does offer this faster level of charging, it will only be available to those who own or purchase a larger and more powerful charger.
Samsung Z Fold phones on display (Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Update: Saturday March 30: This disappointment in the lack of new battery technology will contrast with the Galaxy Z Fold 6 display. Reliable tipster Ice Universe offers new details on the cover screen, which is expected to be wider, reducing the stretched aspect ratio.
While it may not be as wide as rival devices such as the OnePlus Open and Honor Magic V2 (which are the devices I would say are closest to the standard smartphone size on the cover screen), a wider cover screen on the Z Fold 6 will go a long way toward positioning the foldable as a regular smartphone that happens to fold instead of a technical solution with many compromises.
This means any features that fall short of flagship expectations, such as fast charging, will be more visible.
