Just three weeks ago, I wrote about how I am impressed by the short time the Galaxy S20 Ultra's 5,000 mAh battery needs to charge using the bundled 25W charger. Well, it seems like my awe wasn't meant to last. The Galaxy S20 Ultra's battery no longer goes from 0 to 100 percent charge in an hour, and it looks like the most recent update is to blame.
Charging time went from a mere 60 minutes to around 80 minutes
Right now, my S20 Ultra takes around an hour and 20 minutes to charge from a fully depleted battery. That's a considerable increase from the speed I was getting before the last international update (there's been another one that's only available in China) messed things up. Yes, that update also introduced the annoying green tint on the phone's display that has somewhat ruined the awesomeness of the 120Hz refresh rate.
We've heard that Samsung is preparing a software update with a fix for the green tint, but we haven't heard that it will do anything to fix the slower charging. In fact, the slower charging doesn't seem to be a widespread issue. However, I notice complaints in the Samsung Members app that the Galaxy S10+ and Galaxy Note 10+ are charging slower after the One UI 2.1 update, so while it might not be a problem for everyone, it does seem like Samsung is mucking up a lot of things with its updates these days.
These updates need more testing before they hit the air
The coronavirus pandemic and the resultant work-from-home measures are probably to blame, at least partly, and it makes me wonder if Samsung should stop releasing updates at this time and wait for things to start getting back to normal. Or, you know, keep these updates in the oven for longer before rolling them out. After all, there's no use pushing out updates with multiple problems to your $1400 flagship, or even the $899 Galaxy S20 ($999 if you're getting the 5G variant).
Unless, of course, the reduction in charging speed is a “feature”. After all, the Galaxy S20 series also heats up easily, at least on the Exynos variants, and the slower charging could be one way Samsung wants to mitigate the heating issues. I don't know, and we can only wait and hope that Samsung will be fixing everything with the next software update for the Galaxy S20 lineup while not letting any new problems slip through.
Have you noticed a drop in charging speed on your Galaxy S20, S20+, or S20 Ultra after the last update? Noticed any other issues? Sound off in the comments!
