Metal generally doesn't get magnetised, only alloys that contain fair amounts of iron, cobalt or iirc nickel do so. All of those are fairly tricky to make parts out of for this application and they are also quite heavy and since cellphones need to be light those won't be present in significant chunks. But if you find yourself having a magnetic phone you could try to degauss it, would be interesting to see what happens.
I will offer an alternative view. I don't own any flashlights with magnets in them, and I never will, because I not only carry credit cards, but also building access cards for work and my apartment building. I would not get any benefits from having a magnet in my flashlights that are worth the costs to me of damaging one of those access cards, or my credit cards.
I wouldn't carry a flashlight with a magnet if for no other reason than it would drive me nuts. Magnetic SAK, magnetic LM, magnetic keys, magnetic pill fob etc. Everything would all be stuck together. Well, the pill fob would probably be alright cos that's aluminium but you get my point
It is very rare-- very, that I would even ever need a tailcap magnet, so personally I don't see the point, especially with all of the potentially 'not good' things that could happen. I don't care if no one has had an issue, it would be my luck to be the first, if I needed one it might be different. I wouldn't mind more tailstands but that's something else I don't need very often. JMO
I think I have two Olights with magnetic tail cap, but have never considered it to be a problem. One reason is that I've found the CR123 lights to be too fat for comfortable EDC, so I mostly use them for outdoor activity during the winter. The other reason is that magnetic cards have been obsolete in Norway for a decade or so. With credit cards out of the way, there are no other items in my EDC that is sensitive enough and / or close enough to my flashlight and getting enough exposure time to pose a threat. The risk is probably subjective to each persons EDC. To me there are no issues at all.
The real downside for me with magnetic tailcaps is sometimes I will stick a light to something metal for fun and then forget where I've put it down!
Downside if you carry #000 steel wool in the same pocket. Upside if you want it to do double duty as a firestarter with said #000 steel wool that is carried elsewhere... On a serious note: I wouldn't carry one for fear of it shorting on coins, keychain, etc. As far as plain magnet tailcaps (non-charging) I just picked up a Manker E02 that I carry on a backpack strap, it's a handy feature for certain hands-free situations.
That's one belt set up you have there, I have this image of that magnet sticking to any steel door frame etc that you may pass. Lol
That is the key takeaway, right there. It is such an enormous design fail. Many are surprised it wasn't recalled yet. I saw someone describe it as a d'Oh-light. That about sums it up.
I reversed the clip on my olight S1 facing it downward in my pocket (the magnetic tailcap sticking upward). I thought my flashlight was lost after an outdoor family get together. I wore some shorts made of a thinner material that day and the magnet stuck to one of the metal folding chairs I on which I had been sitting. It wasn't until the next family get together that my mother-in-law found it stuck to one of the chairs.
I don't care for tailcap magnets on lights as I usually carry my lights in my pocket with other things and it was annoying removing everything that got attached like keyrings, paperclips, moneyclip, staples, pen clips, knives etc. Yes I carry a lot of things in the pocket
I carry a magnetic money clip (holds the bills) right next to my cards and have never had a problem with any strip or chip. At least not in the last decade or so. FWIW
