The S Pen has been a characteristic of Samsung’s greatest and greatest flagship smartphones because the unique Galaxy Note in 2011, however in 2025, you’d be forgiven for questioning its future.
Yes, the now-iconic smartphone accent continues to be a part of the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, however there was no point out of the S Pen on stage Galaxy Unpacked in January – even Samsung’s official press launch for the brand new telephone relegates it to the small print – and the corporate truly eliminated Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) tech from the newest S Pen mannequin, which means it’s not capable of perform Air motion shortcuts and distant management options.
In isolation, these adjustments may appear inconsequential (Samsung advised TechRadar’s Lance Ulanoff that it eliminated the S Pen’s Bluetooth options as a result of so few individuals had been utilizing them). But the accent is clearly not the high-priority advertising and marketing device it as soon as was for Samsung, which has prompted hypothesis about its potential discontinuation on social media platforms, Samsung’s personal neighborhood discussion board, and certainly right here on TechRadar.
So, what does Samsung must say concerning the S Pen’s future? At MWC 2025, I put the query to the corporate’s Mobile Experience (MX) VP of Product and Marketing within the UK, Annika Bizon, and her response ought to allay the considerations of fearful S Pen followers.
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“Multimodal is de facto essential to us,” Bizon defined. “So [that’s] how individuals use their telephone – whether or not they’re talking, whether or not they’re writing, whether or not they’re in a gathering. People do use their S Pens in conferences to jot down notes. So, I do not see an area the place the S Pen is just not a key a part of our portfolio.
“And actually, if you have a look at the Ultra, it’s one thing individuals genuinely come again to us round. [They ask us] “Will it have an S Pen?” And it goes again to the Note days. […] We see the S Pen as one thing that’s key to the Ultra expertise at this level.”
In a latest characteristic piece speculating on the S Pen’s future, we famous that “main developments in AI imply that a number of the distinctive capabilities of the S Pen are not fairly so distinctive,” however Bizon is assured that the arrival of Galaxy AI on the very best Samsung telephones hasn’t harmed the S Pen’s attraction: “Creativity is certainly one of our core values. If you’re inventive, you need to have the ability to draw and sketch issues. And with Sketch to Image being certainly one of our AI options, you’ll be able to sketch fantastically utilizing the S Pen. It’s obtained fairly a giant design edge.”
Bizon concluded: “The analysis says [consumers are using the S Pen], and it’s one thing that we’re pleased with as being a part of our portfolio.”
So there you have got it. Unless Samsung has a change of coronary heart between now and subsequent yr, you’ll be able to anticipate the S Pen to be a characteristic of the as-yet-unconfirmed Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra.
