Samsung just revealed the new Galaxy S21 Ultra would be its first Galaxy S phone to support the S Pen stylus, but the company is already saying that S Pen support will come to other devices in the future, according to a statement first given to SamMobile on Thursday.
“We are committed to innovating new mobile experiences that flow seamlessly and continuously to make our consumers’ lives easier and better,” Samsung president of mobile TM Roh says in the statement, which the company shared with The Verge. “We’ve made the bold decision to expand the S Pen experience to Galaxy S21 Ultra, and plan to expand the S Pen experience across additional device categories in the future.”
“Additional device categories” is vague on its own. But given that S Pen is already compatible with some of Samsung’s smartphones and its Tab tablets, the next logical device category that could use the S Pen, to me, would be Samsung’s foldables.
This isn’t Samsung’s first suggestion that S Pen support will come to other devices. Back in December, Roh said that the company has 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,” though didn’t specify further.
And Roh has even hinted toward the S Pen coming to foldables. In a Q&A during Samsung’s Galaxy Note 20 and Galaxy Z Fold 2 presentation from August, Roh left the door wide open to the idea that the S Pen would make its way to foldables in the future.
“The S Pen has always been a well-loved feature of the Galaxy Note. And we are happy to hear that people want it so much, they even want it on the Fold,” Roh said. (You can hear his statement in context here.) Later, after reiterating the features of the Galaxy Z Fold 2, he added, “and we will certainly to continue to listen to our customers’ feedback. So please stay tuned for what the future will hold.”