Samsung’s Galaxy S20 device lineup has become the first to receive USB certification for their support of the Programmable Power Supply (PPS) and USB Power Delivery (USB PD) 3.0 standards, the USB Implementers Forum announced today. It means that the phones should have no problem working with third-party fast chargers, so long as they’re also certified, and capable of providing the specific current and voltage required by the handset.
In order for fast chargers to work as intended, they need to deliver power at the specific voltage and current required by the device, and both the charger and handset need to be able to communicate. If they can’t do this, the charger and phone will default to a lower charging rate. The USB-IF fast-charger certification is meant to show that the S20 series can fulfill its end of that bargain.
The S20 and S20 Plus will support fast charging up to 25W, and the S20 Ultra will support fast charging up to 45W. You’ll still need a capable charger, but those should become more common as fast-charging tech advances. Last year, Samsung released two new USB-C power delivery (PD) controller chips for power adapters, which support up to 100W-charging and meet USB-PD 3.0 specifications, delivering the optimum power for each device.
The S20+ and S20 Ultra will be available in the US on March 6th. Samsung promises the phones will include more 5G support and an impressive camera setup. The batteries start at 4,000mAh in the S20 and only get better from there. The screens support HDR10+, have even smaller camera cutouts than predecessors and come with refresh rates as high as 120Hz. On top of those features, the USB-IF fast-charging certification is a nice bonus.
