Samsung has thisalso donated the popular S-Pen, which now has to lose some of its functions. The pen is still in the device's housing, but no longer has Bluetooth functions.
These are the disadvantages:
- The S-Pen can no longer be used as a remote control.
- This means that the latest S25 Ultra or its S-Pen lacks practical functions such as a camera shutter, music and video control or gestures to control the smartphone.
- What remains is a rudimentary pen for drawing, writing and doodling.
Samsung justifies its decision by saying that market research has shown that this function is hardly used. Additionally, the pen does not have a battery, which may have had a slight impact on the weight and dimensions.
As niche as this feature may be, the change upsets many Samsung fans. In theReddit-ThreadUnpacked, the lost functions cause frustration. The community itself admits that although they rarely use the functions, they do not find them inconvenient. Quite the opposite:
»This is one of my favorite functions. Of course, this is not an everyday use case. But once or twice a month? Then just put the phone down and take a group photo. Was fantastic for birthdays and meeting friends.«
One user allegedly even canceled his order because these functions were missing.
»I just canceled my pre-order when I found out they removed the pen button.«
For classification: Although the pen still has a button, it only toggles the functions of the pen itself and is not used for Bluetooth functions.
Also in variousSamsung Forumsthe community is annoyed about the loss of functions:
»I'll be honest, I haven't used it that often, but it's still a shame. If you did use it, it wasn't just a gimmick, but QoL (Quality of Life).«
Still others no longer see any added value in this S Pen:
»Then they could have left out the pen completely. You can also write/draw with your finger or an accessory pen.«
Samsung and its S Pen
The S Pen has a long history. The pen made its debut in 2011 with the first Samsung smartphone in the Galaxy Note series. In 2020, the popular Note series was finally discontinued and in 2022 the iconic stylus made its big comeback with the Galaxy S22 Ultra.
The small stylus is a kind of unique selling point from Samsung and many fans hope that the S Pen will make its debut in the Z Fold series body - which is not the case to date.
Samsung seems to be sticking with the S Pen, but with compromises that certainly won't please everyone.
What do you think of this move? Have you used the S Pen often or do you no longer need it today? What do you generally think of the new Galaxy S25 smartphones? Feel free to write it in the comments below!
