Samsung Galaxy S8 First Smartphone to Support USB Power Delivery, Quick Charge and Fast Charge

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Published 14 May 2017

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The Samsung Galaxy S8 might be filled to the brim with top-notch specs and internals, but it still comes with fast charging support that Samsung had first debuted with the Galaxy S6 in 2015. While fast charging does help in charging the Galaxy S8 quickly, it’s no match for Quick Charge 3.0 or OnePlus Dash Charge.

Fast charging is Samsung’s own take on Qualcomm’s Quick Charge technology. Both technologies work in a very similar manner. And while Samsung has not officially confirmed it, one can use a Quick Charge-compatible charger to quickly charge the Galaxy S8 –and previous flagship Galaxy devices — as well. Since newer iterations of Quick Charging are compatible with older versions as well, this means that you can use a Quick Charge 3.0 or 4.0 charger to fast charge the Galaxy S8 as well.

As if that was not already enough, with the Galaxy S8 coming with USB-C, Samsung has also gone ahead and included support for USB Power Delivery (USB-PD) on its latest flagship handsets. Samsung does not officially advertise USB Power Delivery support on the Galaxy S8 for some reason. However, if you use a USB-PD charger like the one Google bundles with that of the Pixel, you will still be able to enjoy fast charging speeds on the handset.

Now, while USB Power Delivery on the Pixel XL pulls 18W of power, the Galaxy S8 will only pull 15W of power irrespective of which charger you use: Quick Charge 3.0/4.0 or USB-PD. So, the charging speeds are going to be the same.

Nonetheless, since the Galaxy S8 (and S8+) do support USB Power Delivery, you can go ahead and buy power banks and chargers that support USB-PD. This way, when you upgrade from the Galaxy S8 to a newer device down the line, you will not be stuck with a QC 2.0 charger that will not be supported by most devices. Plus, USB-PD is bound to become more popular and will be supported by a variety of other consumer devices as well.

While every other OEM in the smartphone market is working on implementing faster charging methods on their devices, Samsung is perhaps the only company to ensure that its smartphone works with all popular fast charging methods out there.