What Has Samsung Taken Away from the S-Pen on the S25 Ultra?

Samsung has decided to start taking features away from the S-Pen in their latest flagship phone the Galaxy S25 Ultra. They have removed the battery making the pen lighter and also removing many of the Bluetooth features in the process. What does this mean for the S-Pen going forward in future devices like the Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra?

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[thesevenpens]

One clarification: EMR pens like the S Pen don't rely on magnets to work for drawing (position, pressure, tilt). There is electromagnetic effect (electromagnetic resonance) due to the LC circuit in the pen which gets energy from the tablet and sends an EM signal back to the tablet. However, that does not rely on a literal magnet in the pen.

The remote shutter feature was so amazing. Sad to see the bluetooth gone from the pen. Especially considering the pen is now massively downgraded and basically just empty plastic, wasting space in the phone. The reason why people buy a flagship phone is because they want flagship features.

[Wanooknox]

I think the only feature that would be disappointing to lose is the remote shutter for the camera. That's really useful for group photos, but everything else they did was pretty gimmicky.

[ocularcavity]

I have an S24 Ultra and an REALLY old Galaxy Tab 6s Lite and I never really used the extra features and the fact the the extra features were there actually got in my way MANY times so I am not sad to see them go but I feel bad for the people who liked them, I remembers missing the features Samsung removed from the Note 3 and NEVER brought back

[MinKiu]

I love the BT functions since i use my sPen to take selfie/group photos alot. Without the sPen, ill have to rely on 3rd party accessories to do this remote-taking picture thing

[hufnaaratnaaf]

Shutter button, every other gesture was hard to make consistently, at least for me. But the removal of that function is also a reason I'm not upgrading from s23ultra :D

[mkriz]

Bluetooth s-pens had no battery but it had capacitors (at least on "S" line). "Not drawing people" were using the Bluetooth features almost exclusively, because flagship users rarely use phone for drawing but remote shutter is always nice to have.

[yessrodd]

They should replace it with a built in microphone so you can stand away from your phone and still be heard. been asking for it since the s22

[alihms]

How much does Samsung actually save by removing that Bluetooth feature? I reckon not that much. Certainly, the backlash Samsung received costs them more.

[PaulKaseta]

I originally thought the concept behind this was to dumb down the pens that come with the devices and if you want a more feature rich pen you would get the S Pen pro or that creators edition one they sold. Im assuming those didn't sell well and maybe this was their way of getting more sales out of them. Since the basic one is packaged with the phone essentially making it free (probably not) then they could turn around and sell a better one for those who want the extra features and maybe make some money and increase the sales of those. Based on what your saying though it doesn't sound like this is the case.

[MorimioMe]

I litereally use all features of the S-Pen, it is slow at first but then the productivity go to new heights.

Also the Air Actions was amazing to use with Clip Studio Paint and Krita, it was nice to have instant shortcuts for repetitive tasks on those programs.

Dayum...

[IgnacioCuriel]

They removed a feature (the Bluetooth operability on S pens) because it's "a niche" feature. And then they added Log video recording on their cameras. As though not most of people just record their videos to immediately share with mom & dad, no fussing around. Talk about "niche features"

[twilightthepony]

I find this... "paying premium" path really bizarre... Many years ago, when you paid premium (the S series), you got a LOT - you got large screen, fast CPU, DeX, expandable storage, headphone jack, S pen support... Now when you pay premium, you get fast CPU, S pen support, and DeX. Headphone jack and expandable storage is already a thing of the past. HOWEVER, the lower you go, the more you get...

For instance, A series doesn't offer the fastest CPU, but you get the screen on par with the last-gen S series, expandable storage (shared with 2nd SIM), but without DeX and S pen support. If you go even lower, like M of F series, you get dedicated expandable storage slot, headphone jack, but the CPU is... not the best... Still no S pen support or DeX, though...

[showland]

The only bluetooth feature I used on my s-pen was shutter for the camera, I am sad to see it go but tbh I rarely used it. When I did use it I used a tripod as well to take pics of minis I painted, I do have a little bluetooth remote I can pair to do the same thing. For selfies and group pictures I used the "say cheese" activation anyway. I look forward to going back to an ultra phone, I used notes before, then went to the fold for the last few years.

[baddison]

I used the S Pen on my S23 Ultra to sign documents and to occasionally draw, but primarily, I used it for the remote shutter feature. This feature actually came in handy on a recent trip where I used it to take group photos and selfies. Without the remote shutter feature, the S Pen isn't really that useful to me. I think I'll stick with my S23 Ultra a while longer.

[cammiluna]

Clip Studiob Paint DOES have an air actions menu on their android versions. I've yet to try it because i dominantly use 3rd party pens and shortcut remotes. I will warn anyone thinking about buying a bluetooth s-pen for devices whose s-pens DON'T have bt that S-Pens can only be paired through the magnetic strip (except the S-Pen Pro model that has a pairing button for the Z-Fold), so if you put an S9 plus S-pen onto the back of an S9 FE, it won't pair. The Air Actions settings will ask S6 Lite/FE users to pair an S-Pen Pro.

I just think that if non-bt pens were originally made for budget devices, than the price of the s25 ultra should be reduced to reflect the lack of function it's predecessors had.

[nemesisut]

The backlash is too big to less than 1%... somethings rotten in Denmark here

[AhmedMostafa-azz]

You lost me when you tried to convince your friends that your phone is better than Iphone. Dude! Iphones are made to suck your wallet in each and every step unlike android. I can go on with tons of features that are much better in android.. Sorry to deviate from the subject! A little bit sad to know that the Bluetooth feature is gone, but it's time to upgrade anyway from my S22 ultra!

[ynahraasakura]

I'm honestly more worried about the Fold Special Edition not having Spen functionality whatsoever, apparently they did it to reduce the thickness of the phone, which with a phone that has a screen of the size of the Fold you would use the pen more that with other phones, seems like the Fold Special Edition(only available in Korea if I'm not mistaken) will become the Fold Z 7 for the rest of the world, no S pen with that phone will be a deal breaker for a lot of people, including me, bluetooth functionallity... their numbers totally back them up, I personally have used the gestures and button only a few times so I wouldn't miss that.

[Jimalcoatl]

I use my s24 on a tripod for miniature model photography. The remote shutter is a huge part of my workflow. I wasn't planning on getting an s25 anyhow since my s24 still works great, but hopefully they put the shutter back by the time Im ready to upgrade (probably around s28 or so).