At the iPhone 12 event, Apple did its thing where it makes existing tech sound magical and makes everyone — including me and you, just admit it — want some of it. Whether it be the latest version of Gorilla Glass with a catchy name or a LiDAR sensor to provide Time of Flight data for the camera or any of the other new-to-iPhone features we all probably wanted at least one of them in our next phone.
For me, it was the MagSafe "stuff." Specifically that wireless charger we got to see.
I'm not that excited about credit card holders or car vent mounts that can stick to the back of an iPhone using magnets (How do They Work?). I can already have a cardholder or car mount via a case or some sticky pad on the back glass. But that charger though. Having a magnet kills the one thing bad about using a round flat wireless charging pad: putting the phone in the right spot without looking.
Now I've used plenty of great phones that charge wirelessly. For me, it's one of those must-have features that have to be there. We all have those. But because I'm that guy who never looks at what he's doing I have to use a stand-up charging cradle or I'll end up plopping down a phone in a position where it won't charge very well or won't charge at all. Apple is telling the truth; that does happen.
Imagine a world where you can use your phone while it's charging and not have to worry about busting the USB port.
But the real killer for me is the idea of using a phone while it's charging through a wireless pad. Magnets around coils (that science also isn't new, but it's also not easy to pull off) keeping a small charging pad in place looks to have the same cumbersome factor as using a phone while it's plugged in, but you're not gonna break a USB port with the magnets.
I know Samsung can do this. Samsung built the Nexus 10 which used a magnetic charging cable. Sony built that great big Xperia phone that nobody remembers the name of but people do remember the magnetic base doohickey for charging, and both were way better because of it. The bad part of those examples was the proprietary factor and how you had to have the exact right parts or it didn't work. And very few companies were willing to make third-party versions, so you didn't want to lose the cord that was in the box.
Using magnets to hold a Qi charger in place takes that crap away. We would be left with any company that wanted to include magnets in a small Qi pad able to do so, and if Samsung were the company to do it in a more open-ish way, companies would build those chargers.
If Samsung does it, every company will follow.
Look this isn't rocket science. Magnets aren't magical like Apple would want us to believe and magnetic "locks" on charging cables are old tech. It could be done by hobbyists even. So I know Samsung can do it. I also know that the Galaxy S30 (or S21 or S-9000 or whatever it will be called) is too far along in production for us to see it.
That doesn't make me want it any less though. Not one tiny magnetic bit.
A better overall phone, even if you don't care about the S Pen
The Note 20 Ultra is just an evolution of the S20 Ultra, but if you were considering the latter then that's perfect. It's less expensive and includes an S Pen as a bonus.
