The Galaxy A56 may get one of the S24 Ultra’s top features

By Andy Boxall Published November 20, 2024

A person using the Samsung Galaxy A55. — Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

Samsung may be ready to change one of the long-standing negatives about its otherwise desirable Galaxy A5x series phones — the charging speed. For the Galaxy A55’s replacement, currently expected to be called the Galaxy A56, Samsung may introduce 45-watt charging speeds, a big increase over the current 25W charging, according to a report originating in China.

The source is an official-looking certificate from the Chinese government’s Quality Certification Centre (CQC) which is responsible for ensuring devices sold in China meet the required standards. The phone is listed as the SM-A5660, and seeing as the Galaxy A55’s model number is the SM-A556, it’s not much of a stretch to assume we’re looking at details of the unreleased Galaxy A56. Apparently, the phone’s maximum 10V/4.5A system equates to a 45W charging speed.

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This would match Samsung’s fastest phone charging option available, and is known as Super Fast Charging in its marketing. The Galaxy S24 Ultra currently supports 45W charging, and in our test, a compatible charger and cable recharged the phone’s 5,000mAh battery in about 70 minutes. The Galaxy A55 has 25W charging and it takes about one hour and 25 minutes to fully charge its own 5,000mAh battery.

While this will be a significant boost in usefulness for the Galaxy A56 compared to the Galaxy A55, Samsung still lags behind other reasonably priced smartphones in charging speed, such as the OnePlus 12R. Its 80W charging system takes just 30 minutes to recharge the battery. However, Samsung uses the widely supported USB Power Delivery charging protocol, making it easier to buy different chargers, while OnePlus uses a proprietary protocol to enable its fast charging.

This year, Samsung released the Galaxy A55 around April, so we should expect its sequel to arrive around the same time in 2025. What’s more intriguing is what this could mean for the Galaxy S25 series. Will Samsung standardize 45W Super Fast Charging across its entire smartphone range, or will the S25 Ultra get a charging speed boost to further separate it from the base models? We will find out in 2025.

Former Senior Mobile Writer

Andy has written about mobile technology for almost a decade. From 2G to 5G and smartphone to smartwatch, Andy knows tech.

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