Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 leak claims ridiculous charging speed for a flagship

If you’re hoping that the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Galaxy Z Flip 6 might take a leaf out of the Galaxy S24 Plus and Galaxy S24 Ultra’s book and boost its charging speed, you better brace yourself for disappointment. Rumor has it that both phones will be sticking to 25W charging speeds once again.

This is according to leaker Ice Universe, who posted what looks like Chinese regulatory information about both phones on Twitter/X. That includes charging and power specs, and both phones appear to have a maximum power input of 3.3-5.9 VDC at 3A — or 25 watts.

This is disappointing news. The Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus managed to boost its maximum charging speed up to 45W this year, and it had some of us hoping that the incoming foldables might do the same. But according to these specs, that isn’t going to happen.

Unfortunately, that appears to be the trade-off you get when you buy a foldable phone. Ever since they first debuted, Samsung foldable phones have commanded a very high price tag — but without the same high-end specs you’d expect from the Galaxy S range.

Foldable users generally have to contend with less impressive cameras and smaller batteries, among other things, while also paying several hundred dollars more. Frankly, Samsung is going to have to do a lot better if it wants its foldable phones to stay competitive in the ever-expanding foldable phone market.

Improving the maximum charging speed would have been a small upgrade, but it would have been welcome nonetheless. Especially since Samsung’s foldables generally don’t last as long on a single charge. The Galaxy Z Fold 5 lasted 10 hours and 55 minutes in our battery testing, compared to the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s 13 hours and 9 minutes. So an option to quickly top up your reserves to get through a particularly intensive day could make a huge difference to your experience with the phone.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Galaxy Z Flip 6 are both expected to launch later this year, and word is we may see the duo arrive a little earlier than normal. That way, the rumor says, Samsung can get the announcements out ahead of the 2024 Olympics, of which Samsung is a major sponsor.

We won’t know for sure until Samsung actually confirms those details, though. So in the meantime be sure to check out our Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 hubs for all the latest news and rumors.

More from Tom’s Guide

• I just tried Apple’s new ‘Reasons to Upgrade’ tool to see if it could convince me to buy an iPhone 15
• Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 vs. Galaxy Z Fold 5: All the rumored changes
• Google Pixel 9 renders just leaked — and there’s a surprise third phone

Tom is the Tom’s Guide’s UK Phones Editor, tackling the latest smartphone news and vocally expressing his opinions about upcoming features or changes. It’s long way from his days as editor of Gizmodo UK, when pretty much everything was on the table. He’s usually found trying to squeeze another giant Lego set onto the shelf, draining very large cups of coffee, or complaining about how terrible his Smart TV is.