- Some third-party magnetic cases seem to interfere with the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra’s S Pen stylus
- This is supposedly not a problem with official cases
- Samsung plans to develop a more advanced S Pen in the future, and maybe it won’t have this problem
The Samsung Galaxy S26 series has only just launched and potential issues are already being raised as it appears that third-party magnetic cases may not play well with the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra’s S Pen.
Leaker Max Jambor has shared a screenshot showing a warning that pops up when attaching a third-party magnetic case to the phone. As you can see below, it says that “magnets in accessories can interfere with your S Pen’s signal,” potentially leading to connection or writing issues.
It’s unclear whether or not this is a problem with all third-party magnetic cases, and unsurprisingly, it doesn’t seem to happen with Samsung’s official magnetic cases, according to Phandroid, but it’s still a concern, and might make you think twice before buying a third-party option.
notification on S26 Ultra using a third party cover with magnets pic.twitter.com/XuoLBg1EaK26 February 2026
This interference may at least partially explain why the Samsung Galaxy S26 series does not have built-in magnets, although the technology exists and can be found in the Google Pixel 10 series.
A more advanced future
But there is some hopeful news on that front, as in an interview with Bloomberg (via SamMobile), Won-Joon Choi, Chief Operating Officer of Samsung MX (Mobile Experience) said “we are working on a more advanced technology within the S Pen to come up with a new screen structure so that the penalty for having the S Pen is less. The S Pen will continue to be one of the core technologies.”
While they were light on details, SamMobile speculates that these changes could mean that there is less interference with magnets – it’s certainly possible that this interference is part of the “penalty” mentioned here.
But if this requires a new screen structure, we’re not going to see this new S Pen sold for the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra. Rather, it would accompany a future phone.
But perhaps that means the Samsung Galaxy S27 Ultra or another model could have both an S Pen stylus and built-in magnets, and at least it looks like Samsung is committed to the S Pen.
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