Starting with the Galaxy S7 series, Samsung ditched the IR blaster on its devices for good. So, has the company brought back the useful IR blaster on the Galaxy S10 or the Galaxy S10+?

Sadly, the answer still remains no. After first removing the handy IR blaster from the Galaxy Note 5, Samsung has not looked back and stuck to its decision of not including the IR blaster on its flagship devices despite many consumers complaining about the lack of it. There were rumors of Samsung bringing back the IR blaster on the Galaxy S9 series but that did not happen.

While it would have been understandable if Samsung did not include an IR blaster on the Galaxy S10e for cost reasons, it is disappointing to see the company not include one on the more premium and expensive Galaxy S10 and S10+.

It is likely that the data collected by Samsung pointed to the IR blaster being rarely used by previous flagship Galaxy owners. Thus, the company decided to remove the blaster and reduce its bills of materials. At this point, I can even confidently say that Samsung is going to skip the IR blaster on the Galaxy Note 10 later this year as well.

Samsung is not the only company that has decided to remove the IR blaster from its flagship devices though. While LG and HTC also included the handy IR blaster on their flagship devices a few years ago, they have all but abandoned it from their flagship devices launched in recent years.

Right now, if you want a flagship phone with an IR blaster, your only option is Huawei. The company includes an IR blaster on the Mate 20 Pro. And if you just want a phone with an IR blaster, Xiaomi includes one on its budget Redmi devices, with the Honor View 20 also featuring an IR blaster.