For the past few weeks I've been timing how long it takes my S4 to charge with different combinations of charger and cable (my wife thinks I'm nuts). I've done multiple runs per charger/cable combination, discarded any outliers, and come up with a set of summary data which is available here.
My conclusion is that the combination of charger and cable that you use can make a significant difference to charge time. I found that the cable used makes the most difference to charging, rather than the charger. However it's generally not the individual component that matters, it's the combination. For example using the Samsung charger and cable that came with my phone was the slowest charge combination I tried, but using the Samsung cable with a Belkin charger almost tripled the charge rate, and using the Samsung charger with a Monoprice cable almost tripled the charge rate.
The monoprice cable I have charged consistently fast with every charger. The Samsung cable was highly variable. The Belkin cable was between ok and quite good depending on the charger used.
Wireless charging with the aftermarket combination I use is right in the middle of the pack, around half the speed of the best wired charger.
TLDR: if you want to charge your phone quickly use a monoprice cable and any charger you like.
References:
- Belkin Dual Charger
- Anker Charger
- Monoprice cable: think it's this link (mine's around 1.5m). I got from another GZ member so not sure model. It has written on it "High speed 2.0 cable revision 28AWG/2C E232694-B AWm Style 2725 30V VW-1 V124".