What you need to know
- Samsung has stated that it's committed to bringing the S Pen to more phones.
- The statement seems to suggest smartphones outside of Samsung's flagships could receive support.
- The Galaxy S21 Ultra is the first Galaxy smartphone outside of the Note lineup to support the S-Pen.
One of the defining features of the Samsung Galaxy S21 smartphones is the S Pen support on the Ultra, as it's the first time Samsung has included support for the stylus outside of the Note series. It got us wondering whether or not Samsung planned to get rid of the Note series altogether and merge it with the S-series.
In a statement made to SamMobile, Samsung effectively confirmed that it is working on bringing the S Pen to more of its devices:
We are committed to innovating new mobile experiences that flow seamlessly and continuously to make our consumers' lives easier and better. We've made the bold decision to expand the S Pen experience to Galaxy S21 Ultra, and plan to expand the S Pen experience across additional device categories in the future. We remain committed to providing the best mobile experience to our consumers and will continue to actively listen and consider consumer feedback in our product innovations.
That sounds like great news, especially if you pay attention to the wording. "Additional device categories" sounds like Samsung wants to bring the S Pen to not just the S-series, but other smartphone lineups as well. It's been long-rumored that the next Galaxy Z Fold could receive S Pen support, and this statement makes that all the more likely.
It could also mean that Samsung will eventually bring support down to its mid-range lineup as well. So far, the stylus remains exclusive to Samsung's flagship smartphones, but it would be cool to see it make its way down and compete with some of the best cheap Android phones that come with styluses. The S Pen is already lightyears ahead of what the other guys are doing, even with the watered-down version that launched with the Galaxy S21 Ultra.
It'll be exciting to see what Samsung does with the S Pen. Hopefully, they can work out better ways to store it, as even the best Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra cases don't feature ways to store the pen, outside of Samsung's own cases.
The S-series finally gets the S Pen.
The Galaxy S21 Ultra is Samsung's kitchen sink smartphone, with just about every feature you could ask for. It has a large, gorgeous display, quad-camera setup, a smooth 120Hz display, and it's all powered by the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor. And as an added bonus, Samsung even threw in S Pen support!
