Charging speed of the S20+ under varying conditions
I'd like to share an interesting observation with respect to charging phones in hot weather conditions.
There was a recent update that screwed up with the charging speed of the S20 Ultra. A good friend asked me to check if I'm facing and issues with my S20+ because both phones run the Exynos SoC.
It was around 12.30 pm yesterday and I completely drained my phone to 0% and switched off. My room's ambient temperature was quite high (Say around 34-35*C) because it directly faces the sun. The phone was running hot from the time the charging started and the charging speed actually reduced.
For example, Earlier it used to take 30 mins to reach 55%, but this time, it could only reach 50%. And a full charge took 77 minutes instead of the usual 71 minutes.
I blamed Samsung instinctively but knew that it couldn't be the case for some reason because the difference was actually negligible. Immediately, I googled whether warm temperatures can cause a reduction in charging speed and I wasn't disappointed; from throttling your phone, battery drain, and increase in charging time, warm temperatures does it all.
So today, I decided to test it once again in a fairly cool environment. I switched on the room air conditioner and set the temperature to 24*C.
Here are my readings,
10 mins - 22%
20 mins - 41%
30 mins - 56%
40 mins - 72%
50 mins - 86%
60 mins - 92%
70 mins - 100%
This was my original charging speed (cross-checked with youtube videos also).
Unfortunately didn't make note of the readings when it was hot except for 30 mins (50%) and the full charge was 77 minutes instead of 71 minutes.
Also, the phone did not heat while super-fast charging, so the lower temperature did help in controlling the temperature of the phone.
Test conditions :
1. Using Samsung's original 25w charger
2. Phone switched off
3. Battery speed charging test from (0-100%)
4. I did not use any phone case. The phone was in its birthday suit.
So here's what I learned,
1. During Summer, see if you can remove your phone's case; during charging and also while using it. It can help with faster heat dissipation thereby improving battery life.
2. While charging your phone, make sure you keep it on a hard surface and not on your blankets, bed, or pillows (all these can trap heat and make your phone hot).
3. I've also come to understand all our phones or at least the flagships are designed to run efficiently at cooler environments. (You get the idea, right? CEOs, VPs who are inside an air-conditioned cabin all day long. Okay, okay, even employees who work at the lower level or even BPO employees, technically they also stay inside AC cabins or rooms all day long). I remember reading about this when the Samsung S4 was launched in 2013) when there were too many complaints about the phone overheating.
4. End of the day, just try not to keep your phone in a warm environment. As much as possible, charge it and use it where it's relatively cooler.
P.S. I know the above scenario is a very idealistic setting, but yeah, just try!
