With the Galaxy S26 Ultra, Samsung introduced a number of battery and charging updates. We noticed a slight increase in battery size as well as wired and wireless charging speeds.
After years of fan complaints, Samsung’s latest flagship is finally upgrading wireless charging to 25W. This was a notable jump from 15W, the standard in the Premium range. But it seems reaching those speeds might be harder than expected.
So what went wrong?
According to a Redditor, wireless charging on the S26 Ultra depends heavily on specific chargers, cases, and orientation. This means that if you don’t meet these requirements, most users may never reach the full 25W wireless charging power. So Samsung didn’t lie to you and it’s not a hardware problem. it’s all about compatibility.
A function that works… with conditions
While the Galaxy S26 Ultra supports 25W wireless charging, it lacks full native Qi2 magnetic alignment. Without these built-in magnets, S26 Ultra owners will need to purchase a compatible charger and brick, as well as a case with the correct magnet orientation. In the post, the Redditor talks about how his S26 Ultra with Dbrand case never reaches the advertised wireless charging speed of 25W and maxes out at 15W.
But switching to the official Samsung case brought full speed back. This suggested that the problem was not with the phone or charger itself. And it seems that the problem may be due to magnetic alignment and positioning. An official response from dbrand further explained that even small deviations could result in the phone not hitting that 25W speed.
In other words, your charging experience can vary greatly depending on the case you use, the charger you use, and the exact positioning of your phone. None of this means that the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s 25W wireless charging doesn’t work. But there’s a catch. The real-world experience may require a little more trial and error than most users expect.
