Loss Of Attraction: I Tried Using MagSafe Accessories With The Galaxy S25 Ultra

Ryan Haines / Android Authority

You shouldn’t have to make sacrifices if you spend $1,300 or more on a new phone. Spending big bucks on something like the Galaxy S25 Ultra should afford you the freedom to use it to its fullest potential, from the S Pen to the four cameras to the sweeping 6.9-inch display. Unfortunately, there’s just one problem: Samsung’s top-end flagship is Qi2 Ready.

Why is that a problem? Well, I spent enough time with the previous Galaxy S24 Ultra to know that it didn’t play nicely with magnets — which are pretty crucial to Qi2 support. I remember picking up a Mous case, all excited that I’d be able to use my magnetic Peak Design wallet, only to find out that it rendered my S Pen mostly useless — I couldn’t draw, write, or tap on areas where the magnets lined up.

But if Samsung is going to encourage Qi2 compatibility, maybe that means something has changed. Instead of putting the magnets in its latest flagships, it put them into optional phone cases, so maybe it knows something that I don’t. Perhaps it’s found a way to make the S Pen more compatible with magnetic accessories. As always, there’s only one way to find out — it’s time to put some MagSafe accessories to the test on the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra.

New magnets, old challenges

Ryan Haines / Android Authority

Before I could start attaching and detaching accessories, though, I had to solve a different problem: I didn’t want to buy a new Galaxy S25 Ultra case. Why would I spend money on a way to attach accessories if my suspicions were correct and those accessories would limit the rest of my Galaxy S25 Ultra experience? So, I did what any cautious tech enthusiast would do, and I wedged my expensive phablet into the wrong case.

Alright, that’s only half true — I put my Galaxy S25 Ultra into a MagSafe-compatible Galaxy S24 Ultra case from Moment. It’s not a perfect fit, thanks to the flattened side rails and thicker camera rings, but I figured it would be close enough to serviceable without making me spend any extra money, and I was right. The Galaxy S25 Ultra fits well enough that I still have access to both the S Pen and charging port, which is all I needed for the rest of my experiment.

Samsung’s magnetic cases aren’t the problem, it’s the magnetic accessories.

Also, for control’s sake, I should point out that the Moment case doesn’t interfere with the S Pen. You can add whatever magnetic case you’d like to the Galaxy S25 Ultra, and you should be just fine, thus the Qi2 Ready recommendation. Instead, it’s the accessories that you then attach to that case that might cause issues — the wallets, chargers, and other things that make your life easier. So, let’s grab a few and see what sticks.

Anker 637 Magnetic Charging Station

Ryan Haines / Android Authority

Up first is the accessory that I was most worried about: a magnetic charging stand. I’ve had Anker’s 637 Magnetic Charging Station since I reviewed it a few years ago, and it’s always come in handy for putting an iPhone into StandBy mode at the edge of my desk. It’s become so ubiquitous on my desk that I sometimes forget about it. But, to put the Galaxy S25 Ultra through its main Qi2 test, I would have to give my iPhone 16 a break.

So, I pulled it off and slotted Samsung’s massive flagship in its place — sideways, of course, so I could still get the S Pen out of the bottom. Then, I opened up a blank note sheet and started to scribble. I scribbled up and down, left and right, looking for any obvious dead spots, and there weren’t many. I only noticed one little section of the display where the Galaxy S25 Ultra refused to play ball, and even then, I could scribble over it if I tried hard enough.

Perhaps more exciting is that my Galaxy S25 Ultra charged the entire time. Given the imperfect fit of the case, I wasn’t sure if it would make enough contact with the magnetic coil, but it maintained Fast Wireless Charging speeds (which are faster than mere Wireless Charging speeds) the entire time.

Peak Design mobile wallet with stand

Ryan Haines / Android Authority

With my main fear out of the way, it was time to move on to an accessory that I use every day. Actually, I’m onto my second Peak Design mobile wallet, only because I put my original green one through enough dirt and sweat that it’s not as pretty looking anymore. This time, though, I decided to see what would happen if I took the Galaxy S25 Ultra out of its case. After all, we know it works with an imperfect fit, but what happens if the magnets are right up against the panel of Gorilla Armor 2?

Unfortunately, the answer is nothing. If you put a magnetic accessory right up against the back of your Galaxy S25 Ultra, you can kiss S Pen support goodbye — temporarily, of course. Although my phone was able to detect the fact that my S Pen was no longer in its slot, and it was also able to pick up each time I tapped the display with that stylus, it couldn’t then register those taps as coming from the S Pen, which meant that none of the buttons responded. I couldn’t draw, write, or swipe through the settings menu.

Worst of all, the positioning of the magnets in the Moment case meant that if I tried to use my wallet, it would block the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s bottom telephoto sensor, which is a trade I’m not willing to make.

Why does the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s S Pen still have this problem?

Ryan Haines / Android Authority

After testing the two magnetic accessories I use most often, I can confirm that the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s S Pen still hates magnets. Nothing has changed since the previous generation, and I didn’t expect it to, despite the Qi2 Ready certification. You can use your S Pen or magnetic accessories — you just can’t do both at once.

I’ll give Samsung a little credit, though, since it’s upfront about the fact that magnets might interfere with your S Pen. As soon as I set my Galaxy S25 Ultra on the Anker 637 for the first time, it gave me a pop-up warning in my Now Bar, letting me know that there was a chance my S Pen wouldn’t work — not a guarantee, but a chance. Once I found out that it was more than a passing chance, I decided I also wanted to know why that was still the case.

Even though it’s Qi2 Ready, Wacom’s EMR technology still has limits.

Following just a little bit of research, I have my answer. Right now, Samsung’s S Pen relies on electromagnetic resonance (EMR) technology licensed from Wacom — the people who make excellent tablets for drawing. Well, Wacom’s EMR uses a small coil at the tip of the S Pen to generate an electromagnetic field, which then interacts with sensors in the display designed to detect such a field.

Unfortunately, because the field coming out of the S Pen is very tiny, any other magnet close by will be strong enough to counteract the stylus itself, thus knocking the entire setup out of balance. It’s not all bad news, though — you can get around the magnetic interference with a thick enough phone case, you just then also wind up making a large phone even larger, which may or may not work for you.

If it does, go ahead and embrace your magnet-powered future. For me, though, I’ll happily wait another generation in hopes of getting proper Qi2 support next year.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra

100x zoom • Big battery • 7 years software support

Samsung’s best for 2025

Simply put, this is Samsung’s very best phone in 2025. The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra is a 6.9-inch QHD+ device with 12GB of RAM, 256GB+ of storage, embedded S Pen, and the overclocked Snapdragon 8 Elite SoC. The key upgrade over the lower S25 models is a 200MP main camera and 100x Space Zoom.