Why no magnets in Galaxy S26? Samsung R&D chief explains

It’s the case problem.

Magnet rings have changed my life. I grip and mount and satisfyingly snap awesome accessories on and off my phone all day. Even Samsung sells neat ones, like these folding magnetic mirrors. But unlike Apple and Google, Samsung refuses to put the magnets inside the phone.

Why? I asked Samsung’s Won-Joon Choi, the executive in charge of both R&D and operations for Samsung’s mobile business. He says the added thickness of magnets is a bad tradeoff to make, because you’re just going to buy a case anyhow.

“About 80 or 90 percent of people are using a case, and cases with magnets are very popular these days,” he tells me.

Samsung would rather use that extra height to give the phone a larger battery or make it thinner, he says.

That doesn’t mean Samsung isn’t looking into magnets. “We’re still doing a lot of research to make sure we don’t have any sacrifice inside the phone; when we actually achieve that, we’ll integrate,” he says.

Personally, I disagree with Choi’s premise. I want extra battery and magnets, and I’m willing to sacrifice thinness to get it. Phones are thin enough already, except for the ones that fold.

And if Samsung took charge of the magnets like Apple, and replicated Apple’s standard pattern and strength, maybe the magnet case I use with my Galaxy S25 would properly and firmly hold onto magnetic battery packs without them rotating in place. Since there’s no magnets inside my phone, I’m at the mercy of casemakers.

But I get it. Why make the tradeoff if someone will pay for a case anyhow? Seems like we need to ask Apple and Google why they chose differently.

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Posted Friday 27 February 2026 at 12:02 pm AEST (my time).

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