Rumor has it that Samsung is downgrading the S Pen for the upcoming Galaxy S25 Ultra. It is removing Bluetooth connectivity, which it originally added to the S Pen with the launch of the Galaxy Note 9. This will have big implications for some S Pen fans who use things like Air Actions. But I suspect other Galaxy S Ultra users won't even know the difference.
Those who care about this downgrade will lose Air Actions—remote S Pen gestures that can control select apps from a distance to a somewhat limited degree—and things like the camera clicker button functionality.
I won't pretend I'm a big S Pen user nowadays. I had a Galaxy Note 10 before I switched to the Galaxy S22+, and I never really used the Galaxy Tab S7 FE's S Pen all that much. After having substantial personal experience with the accessory, I can't say I miss it.
I'm not a big S Pen user, but that's not the whole story
Galaxy AI's Sketch to Image is the only feature released in recent years that made me want an S Pen again, but it wasn't enough to convince me to switch to the Galaxy S24 Ultra or the Fold 6.
One thing I can say about the S Pen's Bluetooth situation is that Samsung never really capitalized on Air Actions. At least, I don't think it did. I liked the imagined potential way more than how the feature was implemented in practice. I'm sorry to say this, but I don't feel the least bit sad about the possibility that S Pen Air Actions may be going away. But that's not the whole story.
Sure, I found the gesture controls kind of goofy and gimmicky in the end, and I never had a use for them in real-life situations. App compatibility has always been limited; even PowerPoint users who did get some practical use out of Air Actions have had to deal with compatibility problems over the years.
However, even if I don't think losing S Pen Air Actions would be a big deal, I can empathize and understand how some users, like the aforementioned PowerPoint crowd, would see this rumored S Pen downgrade as an issue. An issue that would prevent them from upgrading to the Galaxy S25 Ultra, no less.
Furthermore, I think the S Pen's ability to become a remote clicker button for the Camera app has always been a nice touch. It would be a shame to lose it. This feature doesn't seem as niche as the rest of the Air Actions suite, and as far as I know, it always worked reliably. It's something many more S Pen users can get some practical use out of.
Did Samsung just lose to Apple big time?
There's also the question of what will happen to the gyro and accelerometer sensors. Those may also go away since they won't be able to transmit motion information from the S Pen to the phone through Bluetooth. Then again, it's not like Samsung maximized the potential here either.
Core stylus features like barrel roll (available for Apple's Pencil Pro) were never adopted by the S Pen. Unless Samsung replaces Bluetooth with something better, such as UWB, the possible removal of the gyro sensor will take away any hope that the S Pen could compete with the Apple Pencil Pro as a drawing and writing tool.
There's also the public perception conundrum. If rumors turn out to be true, you can bet that a lot of bad publicity will follow. Many people, even those who don't use the S Pen, will have another reason to throw shade at Samsung if those extra Bluetooth features are removed.
All in all, I fear downgrading the S Pen might not be the best decision for Samsung. However, steering the S Pen in a different direction with a stronger emphasis on core features, like drawing and writing, would have been a much better alternative, in my opinion.
But as it stands right now, based on the rumors, it feels like Samsung threw in the towel in its competition with Apple and is ready to retire the S Pen. I can only hope that there's more to these rumors than meets the eye and Samsung has a secret weapon. But I don't want to get my hopes up.
