Samsung turns Galaxy phones into keys for Volkswagen electric cars

The car key is becoming another item that smartphones want to push out of your pocket. Samsung has added Wallet Digital Key support for Volkswagen electric cars, allowing a compatible Galaxy phone to be used instead of a physical key.

According to Samsung, the solution covers the Volkswagen ID.Polo, ID.Cross, ID.3 Neo, ID.4, ID.5, ID.7 and ID.Buzz. The feature began rolling out to European users on 18 August, and Estonia is also on the list of supported countries.

The phone can stay in your pocket

In the most convenient case, the driver does not even need to take out their phone when approaching the car. On supported Galaxy models, the Samsung Wallet digital key uses UWB, or ultra-wideband technology, allowing the car to detect the phone nearby and provide hands-free access.

UWB has an advantage over conventional Bluetooth in its more precise positioning. The car does not merely need to know that the correct phone is somewhere nearby; it can also assess its location. For a digital key, this matters for both convenience and security.

Not all supported Galaxy phones offer UWB, however. Samsung uses NFC as an alternative. In this case, the phone must be brought close to the car's corresponding reader point, much like making a contactless payment. NFC can be used to unlock and start the car. Samsung also supports the Remote Key Entry function, through which the driver can, among other things, open the tailgate.

The digital key can be shared with another driver

One disadvantage of a physical key becomes apparent when several people use the car. A digital solution makes this considerably more flexible.

Samsung Wallet allows the owner to share the digital key with other users and manage their permissions from the phone. Access can later be removed if necessary. This suits both multiple drivers in one family and situations where temporary access to the car needs to be granted.

The key is stored in Samsung Wallet, and Samsung uses the Knox security platform to protect it. Samsung says the solution meets the EAL6+ security level, while a digital key can be remotely locked or deleted through Samsung Find if the phone is lost or stolen.

This is an important difference compared with a simple manufacturer-specific remote-control app. The purpose of a digital key is not simply to send commands from the phone to the car over the internet, but to replace the physical key in everyday use.

An older ID.4 will not become a digital-key car through a software update

This is the most important limitation in Samsung's announcement. Seeing a model name on the list of compatible cars is not enough.

Digital Key works on Volkswagen ID. models produced on or after 27 April 2026, running ID. software 6.0.1 or later, and equipped with “Preparation for Digital Key”. Samsung states directly that older cars are incompatible due to the lack of required hardware.

Therefore, a software update alone will not automatically make an ID.4 or ID.5 compatible with Samsung's digital key. The car must leave the factory with the relevant hardware.

This limitation is quite significant in the European used electric-car market. The ID.4, ID.5 and ID.7 have been on sale here for years, and most cars currently on the road will be excluded from the new feature because of their production date.

Galaxy compatibility starts with surprisingly old phones

On the phone side, the selection is considerably broader. Samsung lists various models from the Galaxy S20, S21, S22, S23, S24, S25 and S26 families among devices compatible with the digital key, along with several Galaxy Z Fold and Z Flip models, the Note20 series and selected A-series phones.

Here too, a distinction must be made between general Digital Key support and UWB support. For example, not all Galaxy models supporting the digital key include UWB hardware. An NFC-based key may therefore work on a phone that does not enable hands-free UWB access.

Samsung's solution is not Volkswagen's only step away from the physical car key. The more significant direction across the automotive industry is the growing availability of digital keys across phone platforms and car brands. For the driver, this ultimately means that, alongside the carmaker's separate app, one central phone wallet can manage payment cards, documents and the car key.

For Volkswagen, Samsung's addition primarily makes the system more practical for Galaxy users. There is no revolution here; competitors have offered phone-based car keys for years. However, step by step, the digital key is becoming less of a curiosity among costly options and more of a feature that buyers of new cars will soon take for granted.