Why doesn't the Galaxy S26 series have built-in magnets for wireless charging?

When Samsung made its phones Qi2 Ready last year, many people expected the company to introduce Qi2 support with built-in magnets in the Galaxy S26 series. While Samsung increased wireless charging speeds on the Galaxy S26+ and the Galaxy S26 Ultra, neither device includes built-in magnetic alignment for Qi2 accessories. This decision has baffled many users.

Samsung has now explained why it chose not to include wireless charging magnets in the Galaxy S26, Galaxy S26+, and Galaxy S26 Ultra. A company executive told us that Samsung’s internal research showed that 83% of Galaxy users already use a protective case for their phones. As a result, the company decided to integrate magnetic rings into official cases instead of embedding them directly into the phones.

Samsung MX Chief Operating Officer Won-Joon Choi stated something similar to The Verge. He said that the company preferred to use the internal space that would have been taken by magnets for other things, such as making the devices thinner or accommodating larger batteries.

Although Samsung did not bring bigger batteries to the Galaxy S26+ or Galaxy S26 Ultra, it did make design refinements. The Galaxy S26 Ultra is the company’s thinnest Ultra model yet, measuring just 7.9mm thick. It is also 4 grams lighter than the Galaxy S25 Ultra, weighing 214 grams.

Many users argue that modern smartphones are already thin and light enough. Some say they would rather see that internal space used for larger batteries, built-in Qi2 magnets for better accessory compatibility, or larger camera sensors instead of further reductions in thickness.