Charger for S22 (regular, not Plus or Ultra). Do I have to use a 25W-45W charger?

[sirhawkeye64]

So I was told at the Verizon store that I got my S22 at that I needed to use a 25W charger with the phone (and not an older 10 or 15W charger).  Is this true?  I know that a higher-wattage charger means faster charging, which is not as concerning to me, but the salesperson also mentioned that he had seen cases where using a lower-wattage charger over a long period of time (several recharge cycles, over say a few months or a year) was causing some people's batteries to swell.

This sort of doesn't make sense to me.  I could understand if someone was using a low-power 5W charger (5V/1A) or using something that was outputting too much wattage to the phone (say beyond 45W) and that could cause the battery to either expand or have issues, but I've never heard of say a 15W charger causing battery problems after several months of use, only that a 15W charger might take twice as long to charge as a 25W.

I also ask this because I have a few portable phone battery chargers and they only output 5W or 10W in most cases, and the same for many car chargers that only put out 10 or 15W.

[Neo001 · Accepted solution]

Hi,

A lower wattage charger should not harm the battery. It will only take longer for your phone to charge fully.

Also, using a 25 or 45W charger does not mean that the phone is charged at 25/45W for the whole charging duration. The wattage reduces as the battery gets charged.

Lastly, the wireless chargers from Samsung are capped at 9 and 15W.

Basically, no issues in using a lower W charger, just use original block and cables.

[Glenntech]

No I don't think the sales person was correct with what they were saying.
I use low wattage charging most of the time, and have never had any problems.
They were probably trying to sell you more items.
I slow charge most of the time as it seems to keep my batteries going for ages.
Faster charging will put more heat into the battery. Slower charging doesn't get that warm so doesn't heat the battery up too much preserving it.
I only use fast charging if I need to top up quickly.
If you want to use lower wattage chargers, then you should be perfectly fine.
It just takes a lot longer to charge up, that's all

[sirhawkeye64]

OK thanks for clarifying.  This what i sort of thought (now obviously a power adapter that was "unregulated" and put out more than 45W then I could understand potential damage, or an extremely low output say 1W but this is never really the case with USB as it's at least 5W (5V/1A from most chargers).

I'm OK with the charge time . I did buy a 25W charger but it was only $20 so it's not a huge deal.  My biggest concern was with my car which only outputs (I think) 10W, and my USB power brick which will do about 15W.

[sirhawkeye64]

Yeah I don't think so either the more I think about it.  I mean over-voltage where it puts out too much power (beyond 45W) then I could understand, but I was always told that the wattage listed on most chargers is a maximum, and that the device will draw as much as it needs, up to the limits of the charger (as the charger--if it's a good quality one--shouldn't allow a device to draw more than it's design/rated for).