This Galaxy S20 guide explains to you everything you need to know on charging Galaxy S20 battery: two ways to charge Galaxy S20, how to use USB charging, how to use wireless charging, typical charging time for Galaxy S20, S20+, and S20 Ultra. The guide also answers questions you may have on charging Galaxy S20 battery.
Charging Galaxy S20 battery is identical on Galaxy S20, S20+, and S20 Ultra. The only difference is that Galaxy S20 Ultra supports 45W super fast-charging; while Galaxy S20 and S20+ only support up to 25W.
No, it is unnecessary to charge Galaxy S20 battery for 8 hours for the first time.
You can disconnect the charger once the battery is fully charged.
The old textbook may teach you to charge the new battery for 8 hours. It is outdated.
When you open the Galaxy S20 box, the battery level on your Galaxy S20 should be normally around 50-60%. You can use the phone immediately.
In some regions, Samsung does not offer a 1-to-1 exchange. You have to power on the phone on the spot to check the phone before you leave the counter.
You can charge Galaxy S20 battery in two ways:
In Galaxy S20 box, a 25W charger and a USB-C cable are included. You can use them to charge Galaxy S20 battery.
Of course, you can use other wall chargers, power banks, or USB hub to charge Galaxy S20. But the charging speed may be affected. For example, if you use a USB port on your PC or laptop to charge Galaxy S20, you may find it is too slow.
Galaxy S20, S20+, and S20 Ultra all support Quick Charge (QC) 2.0, USB Power Delivery (PD) 3. As explained in this guide, all three Galaxy S20 models support super-fast charging. Galaxy S20 and S20+ support up to 25W charging, and S20 Ultra supports up to 45W.
Please note, Samsung only bundled a 25W wall charger for all three Galaxy S20 models.
Wireless charging (up to 5w), fast wireless charging (up to 7.5w), and fast wireless charging 2.0 (up to 10w) are all supported on Galaxy S20, S20+, and S20 Ultra.
Samsung did not include a wireless charger with Galaxy S20.
When charging the Galaxy S20 battery with USB charging or wireless charging, the status icon in the status bar does not differ.
By default, there is an audible charging sound when you connect the Galaxy S20 to a charger. You can disable the charging sound in Settings — Sounds and vibrations — System sound/vibration control — charging, as explained here.
You may follow these steps to charge Galaxy S20 battery with a USB cable.
It is important to know the multi-function port on Galaxy S20 is a USB-C port. So, you can only use a USB-C cable (the one in your Galaxy S20 box) or a USB-C to USB-A cable to charge Galaxy S20 battery.
Do NOT use the old micro USB cable directly on Galaxy S20. It may damage the USB-C port on Galaxy S20 because the size and pins are different for a USB-C port and a micro USB port.
As shown below, you can plug the other end to the USB-C port at the bottom of the Galaxy S20.
The USB-C connector is symmetric. So, you can plug it without worrying about the upside or the downside.
You should avoid using Galaxy S20 heavily (e.g., play games) when it is being charged.
If possible, you should let the battery be fully charged. There is no notification LED on Galaxy S20; you have to check the charging status on the lock screen.
Please note 100% does not mean fully charged. You may still need to wait one or two minutes from 100% to fully charged.
If Protect battery is enabled (you will see this new feature in the Android 12 update for Galaxy S21 after updating Galaxy S20 to Android 12), Galaxy S20 stops charging automatically once the battery level reaches 85%.
Wall chargers are not able to turn off themselves automatically. It is better to unplug the wall charger or shut off the power supply to the charger if it is convenient to do so.
You can use any Qi-certified wireless charging pads to charge Galaxy S20 battery.
Please note, each wireless charging pad may require a different wall charger (power adapter) to function as expected. For example, the fast wireless charging 2.0 pad requires a 25w wall charger. If you use a 15W wall charger to power it, it will not function properly.
Some thick cases or covers may affect wireless charging. But all official Samsung Galaxy S20 covers (e.g., Galaxy S20 LED View/wallet cover, Clear View/S-View cover, LED back cover) work with wireless charging without any issues, and you do not need to remove them when using wireless charging.
To charge the Galaxy S20 battery with a wireless charger, you may follow these steps.
As mentioned, you need to use the bundled power adapter/wall charger to power the wireless charging pad.
Most wireless charging pads have one or more LEDs indicating the status of the pad. You need to make sure the wireless charging pad is ready.
You need to place Galaxy S20 on the centre of the wireless charging pad as shown below.
As explained in the Galaxy S20 layout, the wireless charging coil is located near the centre of the Galaxy S20 back.
Some third-party Galaxy S20 covers or cases may affect wireless charging. If this happens, you can try to remove the case or cover and try again.
Once the Galaxy S20 battery is fully charged, the wireless charging pad will shut off the power supply to the phone automatically. And it will NOT charge the phone again unless you remove and put back the phone.
So, if you use wireless charging to charge Galaxy S20 battery overnight, you may find the battery level is not 100% in the next morning. This is normal.
With the bundled 25w super-fast charger in Galaxy S20 box, the typical charging time (from less than 5% to 100%) is:
So, with the same charger, Galaxy S20 Ultra charges the fastest, although the battery is the largest (5000mAh).
The charging time for Galaxy S20 (4000mAh) and Galaxy S20+ (4500mAh) is very close.
As discussed in this guide, Galaxy S20 Ultra supports 45w super-fast charging.
But using the official Samsung 45W super-fast charger (this one), we could only reduce the total charging time about 10-15 mins.
It seems the Galaxy S20 Ultra benefits from the 45w charger significantly when the battery level is lower than 40%.
First, it is NOT necessary to turn off fast charging, super-fast charging, or fast wireless charging.
The impact of fast charging on the battery lifespan is very, very marginal.
If you want, or if you only charge Galaxy S20 battery overnight, you can disable fast charging, super-fast charging, and fast wireless charging.
You can also turn off wireless charging based on your schedule.
In Galaxy S20 Settings, tap Device care.
As shown below, in the Device Care page, tap Battery.
In the battery page, tap Charging, as shown above.
Please note, you also need to access this page to customize and switch power mode for Galaxy S20.
Now, you can find Galaxy S20 charging options, as shown below.
You can use an individual switch to enable or disable:
Again, normally, it is unnecessary to turn off any of them.
For fast wireless charging, you have more options to turn it off based on your schedule.
Tap Fast wireless charging, as shown below.
As shown above, if fast wireless charging is on, then you can choose a time window to turn it off automatically.
During this time window, fast wireless charging will be turned off. Wireless charging will slow down to normal speed (up to 5w). It will then take about 4-6 hours to fully charge Galaxy S20.
The purpose of disabling fast wireless charging, in this case, is to reduce the fan noise from the wireless charging pad. When fast wireless charging is activated, active ventilation is needed to “cool down” the charging pad. Such noise can be annoying if you use the wireless charger in the bedroom at night.
A1: Yes, you can use Wireless PowerShare when charging Galaxy S20 battery through USB charging.
Obviously, you cannot use wireless PowerShare when using charging Galaxy S20 through wireless charging. There is only one set of wireless charging coils.
You may check this guide on how to set the battery limit for wireless PowerShare, and this guide on how to use Wireless Powershare on Galaxy S20, S10, and Note 10.
A2: No, it is NOT necessary to drain the Galaxy S20 battery completely.
The old school textbook taught this technique for ancient batteries to help battery calibration. But for current smartphone battery, it is not needed. The sensors inside the battery and phone can gauge the battery level accurately without relying on the point of 0%.
Actually, you should try to avoid such a battery drain.
If you frequently let the battery drain completely, it is harmful to many electrical components and sensors inside Galaxy S20.
A3: No, you should not. It may create unnecessary wears on the battery.
You should charge Galaxy S20 battery when you need to. You can estimate whether the battery is enough before you can access the charger.
A4: No, you should try to charge the battery to fully charged if possible.
Some experts (there some so many such experts) claimed it can extend the lifespan of the battery if you charge it to 70-80%. This is nonsense. There is no scientific research supporting this claim. The cited research is for ancient batteries.
A5: Yes, it is safe. It is not necessary to get up in the wee hours to unplug the charger.
Of course, it is a good habit to disconnect the charger once the phone is fully charged only if it is convenient to do so.
For USB charging, the trickling current will NOT damage the battery or affect the lifespan of the battery noticeably.
For wireless charging, the wireless charger will shut off the power output automatically when the phone is fully charged.
If you have any questions or encounter any problems related to charging Galaxy S20, S20+, and S20 Ultra, please let us know in the comment box below.
The community will help you get the answer.
If you have any questions on Galaxy S20, you may check other Galaxy S20 guides:
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View Comments
can I use my s20 and play games while charging?
You can. It is also safe because Galaxy S20 can regulate the charging power based on the temperature and other conditions.
But it is NOT recommended to play heavy games for a long period while charging the battery.
why is my s20+ full battery(100% batttery) indicates at device care that i Just have 10hours 40 m left ? but my father s20 ultra has 24 hourz indication when it is at 100% battery. does adding 500mAh in battery does making this huge difference or my devicd care indication is wrong?
It is normal.
The estimation depends on many factors, including usage history, apps used, performance mode settings, display settings (resolution, brightness, refresh rate), accessibility settings, and battery status. The capacity of the battery is only one factor.
Also, the estimation is just indicative, and not accurate.
i just thought it is weird because my mom's phone (samsung a70) has "1d left" according to device care when it is at 100%. I was conscious thinking Im the only one who has this indication (10 hrs only) at my s20+ .
Yes, the estimation is sometimes misleading. Galaxy S20 should offer at least 4-5 hours of screen-on time (SOT).
So can i confirm, if i have a new S20 ultra note samsung phone, i just got to charge it to full once i unbox it and can use it immediately. There is no need for me to charge it for 8 to 12 hrs? I was asking my local shop and they told me to charge it for 8 to 12 hrs once i unbox it and before i switch it on. But the phone is already at 58% when i unbox it. My new phone is fully charged within 1 hr (i have not switch it on yet)
Yes, you can use the new phone immediately. It is NOT necessary to charge the battery for 8 hours.
Normally, you should not let the battery lower than 5%. it is also not necessary to "top up" the battery to full unless you need it.