Galaxy S26 series might be thicker than last year, Qi2 magnets still rumored [Gallery]

Ben Schoon | Nov 10 2025 - 7:10 am PT

Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy S26 series was expected to be quite thin compared to past generations, but new rumors are clarifying that this probably won’t be the case, while also revealing the “Plus” model that just rose from the grave.

As a quick recap to what we’ve heard around the Galaxy S26 series thus far, Samsung’s next flagship lineup was expected to get an updated design that was much thinner than prior generations. The base Galaxy S26 – previously known as the “Pro” – was said to be just 6.96mm thick. That’s still a fair bit thicker than the Galaxy S26 Edge’s rumored 5.5mm design – although that phone is probably dead now – but also thinner than the Galaxy S25’s 7.2mm chassis.

Now, things are being revised.

Android Headlines claims that Samsung has moved to a new base Galaxy S26 design, its third prototype, which measures in at 7.24mm thick. That’s a hair thicker than the Galaxy S25, which was 7.2mm thick.

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Similarly, the publication has also published images of the Galaxy S26+ that was once thought to be dead. The leak shows the device in an orange color copied from the iPhone 17 Pro, but that color has only been rumored for the top-end Ultra model, so take its presence here with a grain of salt – it’s probably just an “artistic choice.”

The new leak reveals a device that measures 158.4 x 75.7 x 7.35mm, also a hair thicker than the 7.3mm Galaxy S25+.

Coincidence? Probably not.

While a sketch that leaker Ice Universe posted is said to be one of Samsung’s other prototypes, it still shows support for Qi2 magnets, implying that Samsung is still planning on adding the functionality that it’s so clearly regretting not implementing sooner, especially now that Google’s Pixel 10 series ended up being the first major Android adoption of the standard. The use of Qi2 magnets inherently makes phones a little bit thicker, at least for now, so these minor bumps in thickness to the Galaxy S26 and Galaxy S26+ can probably be attributed to that – hopefully.

As for the Galaxy S26 Ultra, details are unclear. Last we’d heard, that device would be a bit thinner at 7.9mm. That still seems feasible with Qi2 in the picture, but with a bigger battery and other upogrades in store, plus these rumored changes to the rest of Samsung’s lineup, don’t be surprised if there’s another rumor about the Ultra being thicker too.

Samsung previously asked customers if they’d sacrifice a thinner design for the sake of Qi2 magnets, and it seems we’re about to see exactly that.