Will the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 support the S Pen?

Why the Galaxy Z Fold 8 and Fold 8 Ultra don't support the S Pen

Samsung foldables were quite thick up until very recently. The Galaxy Z Fold 6 measured 12.1mm thick when closed, and, coincidentally, it was the last Galaxy foldable to support the S Pen. The Galaxy Z Fold 7 removed S Pen support and managed to hit a striking 8.99mm thickness when folded. Although Samsung's foldable S Pen was never stored internally, removing support from the Galaxy Z Fold 7 allowed it to shrink the display assembly. Now, both the Galaxy Z Fold 8 and Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra have launched without S Pen support.

Specifically, the Galaxy Z Fold 7, Galaxy Z Fold 8, and Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra all lack a display component called a digitizer. This is an extra screen layer that adds support for palm rejection, pressure sensitivity, and stylus input. However, as an extra layer, the digitizer added thickness to the overall display assembly. As part of a quest to make the Galaxy Z Fold line slimmer overall, Samsung had to ditch the digitizer — and S Pen support with it.

The first Galaxy Z Fold model to forgo a screen digitizer and S Pen was the Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition, a custom Galaxy Z Fold 6 variant sold exclusively in South Korea (with a rebranded version in China). It was the precursor to the Galaxy Z Fold 7, which expectedly left S Pen support behind as well.

The wide Galaxy Z Fold 8 and flagship Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra lack S Pen support, as neither has the digitizer required for the proprietary S Pen. The Galaxy Z Fold 8 measures 9.7mm thick when folded, and the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra measures 8.9mm thick when folded. The latter is the same thickness as the Galaxy Z Fold 7, so it's no surprise the S Pen isn't making a return.

The S Pen was always tricky for foldables. Due to the aforementioned space constraints, the S Pen couldn't be housed internally, like it is on the Galaxy S series. Instead, you had to buy a dedicated S Pen Pro or S Pen Fold Edition to use it — and find a place to store it. That usually meant throwing a bulky case on an already-thick smartphone. Plus, the fragile inner screen meant pressing too hard could permanently damage the foldable display.

For all these reasons, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 and Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra didn't debut with S Pen support. If you need the S Pen, you'll have to look to the Galaxy Z Fold 6 or the Galaxy S26 Ultra. Just want a foldable with stylus support? You might wanna look at the new Motorola Razr Fold.