It’s a bad time to be an S Pen fan — or, at least, that’s what Samsung’s not-so-quietly communicating to one of its most devoted bases. The company that practically invented the “phablet” has spent 2025 trying to leave behind (or, at the very least, downplay) one of the very things that brought it success in the first place. I’m worried the writing is on the wall for the S Pen, and it’s only going to grow bleaker from here.
To the casual Android observer, it might seem like Samsung’s uniquely-branded stylus is still thriving. The Galaxy S25 Ultra — already the fourth, believe it or not, in a line of Ultra-branded Galaxy Note successors — still has an S Pen built into its chassis, taking up space that could be used for components like larger batteries, with no signs of that changing any time soon. Our first Galaxy Tab S11 series leak all but confirms stylus support, and if previous generations are any inclination, it’ll continue to come in the box as in years prior. And while the Galaxy Z Fold 7 is missing its digitizer, Samsung clearly knows fan demand exists for this additional utility, even promising to consider bringing it back in a future foldable.
Unfortunately, things aren’t quite as positive as they seem. Over the past seven months, Samsung has pretty clearly deprioritized the S Pen in its lineup, removing features deemed unpopular before, as I mentioned ditching it from the Fold 7 altogether. If you’re a legacy Galaxy Note user who still finds plenty to love about the S Pen — built-in or otherwise — I’d make sure your voice is heard loud and clear, because for as grim as things may seem at the moment, they can get a whole lot more bleak.
2025 hasn’t been a good time for S Pen fans
It’s been a surprisingly busy year for S Pen news, so let’s break down every action Samsung’s made throughout 2025. This year kicked off with the launch of the Galaxy S25 Ultra, a perfectly fine — if somewhat-forgettable — smartphone that built on the success of its predecessor with a more comfortable design. Unfortunately, the big news story surrounding the S25 Ultra had nothing to do with the Now Bar, Now Brief, or Galaxy AI. Instead, all of the attention went to Samsung’s decision to remove Bluetooth from the S Pen, rendering it far more basic than previous iterations while also disabling all sorts of remote features.
At the time, Samsung said that less than 1% of its user base actually relied on things like Air Command. While this change rendered the S Pen battery-less — and, therefore, lighter as a result — it also screams cost-cutting measures. Likewise, 1% of a customer base as large as Samsung’s is still a lot of people, people that would be willing to shell out to continue using these tools. But despite a series of hope-filled rumors that a Bluetooth-capable S Pen would be sold as an optional add-on, it turned out that, from the S25 Ultra onwards, features like Air Command really were as good as dead.
Of course, none of that compares to the completely S Pen-less Galaxy Z Fold 7. Samsung’s latest big-screen foldable is stunning, slimming down both its weight and bulk to achieve a foldable not too much bulkier than the S25 Ultra. Unfortunately, hitting that 8.9mm chassis meant, among other things, removing the digitizer from both sides of the phone’s foldable display. Samsung saved 0.6mm as a direct result, but also left plenty of Galaxy Z Fold fans feeling frustrated along the way.
Samsung hasn’t ruled out the S Pen’s return to foldables, but it’s going to take a serious amount of fan outcry — not to mention a technical leap forward — to get there. It’s clear the company thinks a slimmer, more pocket-friendly foldable is a path towards appealing to a larger market that has, to date, largely shunned Android’s collection of $2,000 mini PCs. But if it comes at the cost of frustrating or angering your already-devoted user base, a group of people that pride themselves on the road warrior mindset, well, I’m not sure you’re gaining more than you’re actually losing.
And don’t think you can just wait a single generation for an S Pen-ready Galaxy Z Fold 8 — we’ve already heard reports suggesting it’s not in the cards for next year’s launch.
Even the Galaxy Tab S11 series seems to pack some disappointing news if you’re judging by our earliest leaked renders. A thumbnail image of the Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra doesn’t just show a smaller notch with just a single front-facing camera — it also seems to hint towards another Galaxy device launching without a Bluetooth-capable stylus.
While the past several generations of Galaxy Tab S-series models all used back-mounted magnetic charging pads for the S Pen, this tablet doesn’t seem to have a spot to dock the stylus. It’s possible the company has moved it to the side of the device, similar to Apple’s implementation on certain iPad iterations, but it’s just as likely that — in an attempt to seek parity across S Pen-supported products — Samsung is ditching Bluetooth stylus support from its next tablet lineup. If this is true, the vast majority of S Pen tools would still be supported, but anything removed from the Galaxy S25 Ultra earlier this year would also be missing on the company’s next-gen slates.
The S Pen is in stasis, and it’s up to Samsung to change that
That is, unfortunately, a lot of smoke surrounding Samsung’s stylus, and where there’s smoke, there’s usually fire. While I don’t think anything here suggests a product lineup completely free of the S Pen — and, especially on tablets, I really don’t think that reality is really a possibility — it does demonstrate that, within Samsung, the S Pen doesn’t hold the same level of reverence that it perhaps once did during the Note’s heyday.
After more than a decade of relevance, the S Pen seems to exist in a level of stasis. With the move to Bluetooth now in the rearview mirror, I wouldn’t necessarily expect additional features to disappear over time, nor would I expect something like Samsung’s Ultra-series of flagships to lose its digitizer in the same fashion as the Galaxy Z Fold 7. But simultaneously, I can’t imagine a world where Samsung expands what the S Pen can actually do for users, nor would I expect to see it arrive on next-gen devices like the company’s forthcoming tri-fold.
Right now, the S Pen simply is what it is, for better or worse. For most fans, I’d bet that’s probably enough, and that’s the same bet Samsung seems to be making. After all, there’s a reason this company feels it can make these changes while surviving any potential public outcry. And early Galaxy Z Fold 7 sales numbers sure seem to imply most customers won’t actually miss their stylus.
But if Samsung wanted to maintain the base of enthusiasts it built throughout the 2010s, it could do plenty more. Bring back Bluetooth-capable S Pens, even if they come at an additional surcharge. Continue working towards a future foldable that includes a digitizer and that sleek sub-9mm chassis, no matter how difficult of a feat it may be. Get back to making the S Pen feel like an absolutely essential piece of the experience, not something simply here because the previous model had it. Surely, in this age of Galaxy AI, Samsung can think of a few new software tricks to keep this tool feeling as exciting as it once did.
My word of advice to S Pen fanatics is this: stay loud. For all its strengths, Samsung is a company that can get easily distracted by the next big fad in technology. Right now, that appears to be a focus on thinner, lighter devices that simply don’t mesh with the size constraints needed for a stylus. So, push for the S Pen’s inclusion in as many devices you can, and demand new tools that keep it a relevant part of the company’s lineup. Otherwise, this might not just be a regression of the S Pen’s importance — it might be the start of a slow, steady crawl to its eventual demise.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
