The short answer is a USB cable is much quicker and more reliable than using Wi-Fi.
While Samsung’s Smart Switch app lets you use wireless transfers, a direct connection via a USB-C cable leverages the higher data transfer capabilities of the phones’ USB hardware.
The Samsung S22 is equipped with a USB 3.2 port, and the upcoming Samsung S25 is expected to also feature USB 3.2. This allows for significantly faster data exchange compared to typical Wi-Fi speeds, which can be subject to interference, network congestion, and distance from the router.
Let look at real world stats to prove the point. For this analysis we will use the USB cable provided by Samsung (in the box of the new phone) and our home 5Ghz Wi-Fi for transferring data with Samsung Smart Switch from an S22 to a new S25.
USB Cable Transfer:
- Theoretical Maximum Speed: The Samsung S22 supports USB 3.2, and the Samsung S25 is expected to support at least USB 3.2 Gen 1. USB 3.2 Gen 1 has a theoretical maximum bandwidth of 5 Gigabits per second (Gbps), which translates to approximately 625 Megabytes per second (MB/s).
- Realistic Real-World Speeds: Actual transfer speeds are always lower than the theoretical max due to factors like the type of data being transferred (many small files transfer slower than fewer large files), the read/write speeds of the phone’s storage, and the quality of the USB cable. Based on our testing:
- Speeds can range from 40 MB/s to over 200 MB/s in favorable conditions with a good quality USB 3.2 cable
- Typically our testing showed some nice round numbers, transferring 100GB of data in about 20 minutes, which calculates to an average speed in the range of 50-200 MB/s
- We tested with a crappy low-spec USB 2.0 cable (which has a theoretical maximum of 480 Mbps or 60 MB/s) transfered at about 20 MB/s. Transferring 100GB could take from around 1 hour to 2.5 hours or more.
Wi-Fi Transfer:
- Typical Real-World Speeds: Samsung Smart Switch often uses Wi-Fi Direct for wireless transfers, which is much faster than transferring over a standard Wi-Fi network connected to the internet. Wi-Fi Direct means the phone are talking directly to each other (aka Peer to Peer) without sending packets through your router. However, transfer rates are still heavily influenced by the Wi-Fi environment, distance between devices, and interference.
- Reported typical speeds for Smart Switch over Wi-Fi are often in the range of 8 MB/s to 11 MB/s (approximately 70 Mbps to 85 Mbps).
- Transfers of large data volumes (e.g., 100GB or more) over Wi-Fi will take 3+ hours.
While WiFi is nearly always more convenient, a cable is almost always faster. The stability of a wired connection also minimizes the risk of interruptions that can occur with wireless transfers.
Therefore, for the most efficient setup experience using Samsung Smart Switch, to migrate your phone data from an older Samsung phone to (like the Galaxy S22) to a new Samsung phone (like the Galaxy S25), connecting the two phones directly with a compatible USB-C cable is the recommended method for transferring your data.
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