Five Ways to Make Your Phone Charge Faster

Putting a little extra juice in your phone before you leave your house in the morning could mean the difference between the device powering up at the end of the day or not. But several factors affect the recharge rate, and you may not know them all.

However, go through the tips here and you can be sure that your phone always charges as quickly as possible.

Use a wired power source

For starters, you’ll charge your phone much faster if you plug it directly into a power source rather than putting it on a wireless charger. Wireless charging offers a lot of convenience and is gradually getting faster and faster when it comes to charging rates, but wired charging still has a long way to go.

Take the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, for example: you get a maximum charging rate of 45W with a wired connection and 15W with a wireless connection via Qi2. This means the handset will take around three times longer to charge its battery via wireless charging. The figures for other handsets are similar.

Wireless charging: convenient but not so fast.
Credit: Google

Not only is wireless charging slower, it’s also generally less efficient, with more of the energy supplied to the phone being lost as heat (due to the way electricity is converted to a magnetic field and vice versa). With a cable and a plug, charging is faster and healthier for your battery.

Wired is the way to go if possible, and what you plug your phone into also makes a difference. Wall outlets are very efficient for charging rates, while everything else is less so: options like laptop USB ports, USB hubs, and outlets that you might find on other gadgets like monitors won’t provide as much power.

Use the right cable and charger

Many phones these days don’t come with a charger or cable in the box, but they will have a fast charging standard and maximum charging rate associated with them if you check the specs. You then need to find a charger suitable for that charging rate, as well as a cable that won’t slow anything down.

If you look at iPhone chargers made by Apple and for sale in its store, there are 20W, 35W and 60W options, and the latter will power your handset the fastest. You should also look for any mention of USB Power Delivery (PD), although this is included on almost every charger you’ll find at this point.

Not all charging pads are equal.
Credit: Apple

We’ve written in-depth about USB-C cables and charging pads before, and these will again show a charging rate with them (or at least they should). You need to make sure that each link in the chain is delivering power at the maximum rate your phone can handle if you want to fully recharge as quickly as possible.

It’s safe to use whatever cables and chargers you have for laptops, tablets, and other gadgets with your phone (the handset will have built-in safety features to keep it from consuming too much power), but for best results you’ll generally want to stick with what comes in the box or the officially approved option.

Do not use your phone while it is charging

There are a few other tricks you can try if you want to maximize loading speed. Think about how much power your smartphone uses while it’s actually charging: If you’re constantly scrolling through social media feeds, watching videos, and playing games, you’re using up valuable battery life while charging.

If you can, put your phone down and leave it alone while it charges. You may want to turn off the always-on display to make things a little better. For even better results, put your phone in airplane or low power mode, or turn it off completely while it’s charging (those notifications can wait).

Airplane mode can help speed up charging speeds.
Credit: Lifehacker

Monitor your phone’s temperature

Due to battery chemistry and built-in protections in modern handsets, charging speeds slow down if your phone gets too hot or too cold. Keep your phone away from sunny windowsills or freezing bathrooms while it’s charging to optimize charging speed.

It’s a good idea to remove any case around your phone while you’re charging it, to reduce the chances of the battery temperature rising another notch, and it’s also worth checking your phone’s USB-C charging port to make sure it’s free of dust and lint. Even a slightly imperfect connection can affect loading speeds.

Monitor loading speed

No matter how you charge your phone, Android and iOS let you keep tabs on how quickly the battery is charging. If you have a Pixel or Galaxy phone, keep an eye out for the charging message at the bottom of the lock screen: it tells you how quickly your phone is charging and how long it will take before you reach a full charge.

For most Android devices, you can get more information by opening the Battery page in Settings, although the details you get here differ between devices: you should see whether fast charging is enabled or not, and perhaps an estimate of how long a full charge will take, but you generally won’t get an actual wattage reading.

Charging notification on a Pixel.
Credit: Lifehacker

With iPhones you can visit Battery in Settings for information on how the battery is charging. While there isn’t much information here, you can get an estimate of how long a charge will take, and you’ll see a “slow charger” message if your iPhone can support a faster charging rate than the connected charger offers.

There are several Android apps that measure charging rate. Ampere is one of the best: it’s free, with additional features (like widgets and notifications) available for a fee. Note that you need to multiply the current by the voltage and then divide by 1000 to get the power. Unfortunately, there is nothing comparable on iOS: the few applications that exist seem outdated and/or unreliable.