For months now there have been rumours that Samsung’s S Pen was moving to the S Series. And it turns out they were true. But it’s only coming to the Galaxy S21 Ultra.
Samsung’s S Pen was previously reserves for its larger Note series, as well as some Samsung tablets. But towards the end of last year the leak community revealed that this might be about to change.
Then in December Samsung’s Head of Mobile Communications Business, TM Roh, wrote a post about the future of the company’s devices.
“We’ve also been paying attention to people’s favorite aspects of the Galaxy Note experience and are excited to add some of its most well-loved features to other devices in our lineup,” Roh said.
This all but solidified the idea that note only was the S Pen heading to the S21 and future Samsung foldables… but that the Note might actually be dead.
While Samsung hasn’t confirmed the latter yet, it’s unlikely it will continue with the Note series as foldables become increasingly normalised.
In the meantime, Samsung has now revealed that the top-of-the-line Ultra does indeed have S Pen compatibility.
Unlike the previous generation Note 20, the S21 S Pen has a matte finish and feels a little more premium.
However, it will also cost extra. The new S Pen doesn’t come with the device — you have to buy it and the fancy charging case separately.
Alternnatively, you can use an older S Pen if you have one. Samsung confirmed with Gizmodo Australia that previous-gen S Pens will also work with the S21 Ultra. This includes S Pens from the Note series as well as the Tab S7.
You can read more about the Samsung S21 Series Ultra in my first look and we have more about pricing for the entire series here.