Which Galaxy S24 phones work with an S Pen?
Unfortunately for fans of smaller, more affordable phones, only the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra supports (and ships with) an S Pen. The Galaxy S24 and S24 Plus won't work with an S Pen, even if you purchase one separately.
As for the Galaxy S24 Ultra, you can buy a replacement S Pen for $49.99 if you lose yours. Conversely, you can sync an S Pen Pro or S Pen Creator Edition to your S24 Ultra if you prefer a larger stylus; keep in mind, though, that these cost more and come with specific drawbacks.
Which S Pens work with the Galaxy S24 Ultra?
Aside from the default S Pen that ships with the Galaxy S24 Ultra, two other S Pen types are confirmed to work with the new flagship phone: the S Pen Pro and the S Pen Creator Edition.
The S Pen Pro charges via USB-C and pairs with the S24 Ultra by holding down its Pair button for three seconds. The S Pen Creator Edition requires that you open your S Pen Settings and enable Allow multiple S Pens for your phone to detect it. In either case, you get a larger stylus that's easier to grip but doesn't travel well.
The S Pen experience on the Galaxy S24 Ultra
Fans of the Galaxy S23 Ultra will find that the Galaxy S24 Ultra S Pen experience is mostly unchanged. Both are 6.8-inch phones with similar dimensions, meaning Samsung didn't have room to make the Ultra S Pen any larger or feature-filled.
It's practically the same stylus that shipped with past Ultras, with 2.8ms of latency, IP68 dust and water resistance, and charging via the phone's slot.
The main user difference has nothing to do with the S Pen itself: Samsung gave the Galaxy S24 Ultra a flat display, not the usual curved one, and 42% slimmer bezels along the edge. In our Galaxy S24 Ultra hands-on, we noted that this "makes S Pen use far nicer towards the edges of the display."
Galaxy S22 Ultra owners will especially notice the improved experience, while the S23 Ultra had a flattened curve that made note-taking easier except on the very edge — making the upgrade less vital.
In terms of aesthetics, the Galaxy S24 Ultra uses a dual-color design, with different colors for the bottom and length of the S Pen. Unfortunately, Samsung still doesn't fully match the S Pen color to the color of your phone, but it does give the lighter-colored S24 Ultras a lighter S Pen.
What can you do with an S Pen on the Galaxy S24 Ultra? You can write in note-taking or messaging apps and have the phone convert your words to text. Another familiar trick is using Air actions or commands above the display for personalized gesture shortcuts. You can also select and extract text from photos.
In other words, the Galaxy S24 S Pen feature list hasn't changed. The key upgrade has to do with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and its new emphasis on AI performance.
At Galaxy Unpacked 2024, we learned how the "Galaxy AI" can "correct and strengthen your S Pen handwriting, so even your hand-written notes look clean." In other note-taking contexts, it can "organize your notes into titles, headers, and paragraphs," along with a quick-view summary to make your notes identifiable.
Plus, after you convert your S Pen notes to text, the Galaxy AI can check your spelling and grammar, or translate the text into another language.
You'll have to wait for our full review to see how much this changes the S Pen experience, but in theory, the Galaxy S24 Ultra could be the definitive mobile note-taking option with AI to back you up.
Samsung will release the Galaxy S24 Ultra later this month, with Galaxy S24 pre-order deals already available.
Experience Galaxy AI
The Galaxy S24 Ultra added titanium materials with better scratch resistance, a 2,600-nit display with glare reduction, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy processor with ray tracing support, and a 50MP camera with 5x optical zoom. It's the Android flagship to beat in 2024, and it's still your only option if you want a stylus to go with powerful performance.
