Samsung is reportedly working on an alternative.
Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 4, just like the previous model, still supports its S Pen stylus
Samsung's S Pen was a staple of the Galaxy Note lineup, which seems to be no more, after the company decided on integrating its S Pen with its top-end Galaxy S Ultra model. The first device to do so was last year's Galaxy S22 Ultra, which came with its own S-Pen slot that holds the S Pen securely inside the device when it's not in use. While there have been rumours and reports about Samsung integrating its S Pen stylus into its Galaxy Z Fold model, there's now a new report which appears to put an end to those claims, stating that Samsung tried to integrate the stylus into the upcoming Galaxy Fold 5, but had to cancel the idea due to space and design restrictions.
A previous report around November last year, claimed that Samsung's upcoming Galaxy Z Fold 5 will come with an S Pen slot. Now a new report by ETNews (in Korean) states that Samsung tried, but had to drop the idea after running into problems with securing enough internal space for the stylus.
The report claims that Samsung Electronics internally pushed for proper S Pen integration as it was requested by many. It also made better sense to have an integrated S Pen as users could simply pull it out and draw on the larger tablet-like display. While Samsung reportedly managed to successfully integrate the S Pen in the foldable, it ended up making the device very thick when folded, which conflicted with the base idea that a foldable needs to get thinner (or more pocketable) when folded.
Samsung also reportedly tried to make a thinner S Pen, but it ended up reducing the writing feel as it's not comfortable to hold a stylus that's too thin. The cost of integrating a traditional S Pen into the Fold was also quite high.
The company is currently trying to improve the writing feel while making the S Pen thinner, but will only release it when Samsung believes it is as effective as the regular stylus, the report states. Adding to Samsung's problems is the new hinge design, which the company is expected to debut with the upcoming Galaxy Z Fold 5. An unnamed official told ETNews that the new structure for the foldable's hinge has changed, which makes it very difficult to mount the S Pen. On a side note, Samsung could also go with the Microsoft Surface Duo 2's design which lets the flatter Surface Slim Pen 2 magnetically snap on the device.
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