Samsung Rumored to Change S Pen Tech Chasing Thinner Z Fold 7

[@chrisallen2483]

4:07 I have the S Pen Fold edition shown and it does not charge. It is the same S pen sold with the Z Fold 5/6 cases. That outer sleeve is just a way to store and protect the pen if you don't have a phone case that holds the pen. For example, if you use a carbon fiber case for the phone, you can use that outer sleeve to store your S pen in your pocket/backpack without damaging the tip. To my knowledge, the only S pen that charges is the S Pen Pro, which has been unavailable recently. Otherwise, I agree with your comments and enjoy your videos.

[@shanecraigtech]

Gotcha. I guess I just pulled the wrong one, intended to show the Pro that charges. Thanks!

[@ShawnNicholson-cr4lr]

To be honest.... With the tech we have now... Going thin is the worst thing they can do until they refine things a bit more and then thin it out. They need to focus on widening the screen, getting a bigger battery in the phone, fitting the s-pen inside the device, giving the device flag ship cameras... We would be ok if it's a bit more thick if. We get those things. ✌🏾

[@warrenrobinson9654]

You are absolutely right. Features and quality are much more important than being thin. Why not make it as thick or a bit more for camera protection as the camera rings so the s-pen fits inside and it can lay flat on a desk.

[@bradcruise6291]

Exactly. Make it thicker and give us note specs

[@drenkai4874]

As someone still using the Duo 2 with the pen cover, thinness doesn't matter too much. My biggest issue has always been companies talking about how thin their phones are when they don't count the camera bump.

[@Andrewski8506]

This is bonkers! The coolest thing about the Samsung Galaxy S Ultras and folds is the fact that it can carry a stylus that works without that technology. You know how annoying it is to have to charge all the things in the Apple Ecosystem? I agree with you Shane. They need to be using this money and R&D for better camera software.

[@IRLNatalieAnne]

Reverse wireless charging is one way to make a better functioning s pen. The case would hold and house the pen and the reverse wireless charging offered by phone could give the s pen the needed charge, when its low, easy AI could start and stop the reverse wireless charging as needed as a work around, so it not “always on” or build a thin foldable with a s pen that can fit in it like a s ultra and maybe widen the cover screen to make that extra room. The phone could still stand to be a little wider on the a folds.

[@SilentRunnerSpeaks]

It cracks me up when these companies push thinness of functional features… but also you need a case to ensure your device doesn’t shatter… lol

[@druaga387]

This is so tiring. It feels like samsung is going backwards, and all the upgrades they should be adding are being canned for gimmicks. Every year since the fold 4 ive found myself saying the same thing:"guess ill wait for the fold 5" and then in 2023 "guess ill wait for the fold 6" and in 2024 "guess ill wait for the fold 7" and its looking like ill be waiting for the fold 8 :/

[@jeffwoodard]

How can it be that the honor magic v3 has stylus support on inner and outer screen and still be way thinner than what Samsung is trying to accomplish here? I think the R&D money should be spent on longer lasting, thinner carbon battery technology. This is how Huawei has managed to get that device so thin. The thickness of the z fold 6 does not bother me. I can take it or leave it. Samsung is trying everything to get thinner, it looks bad when another company is pulling it off and they are not having a lot of success in that area. They are playing catch up.

[@agarcia22625]

I agree , thinness is not even on the list. The thinness is fine. Camera, wider outer screen and number one for me is battery. Find a way to put a better battery in these things.

[@JayMcG84]

I love the spen, but personally I prefer to use it on my tabS 10 ultra with a bigger, firmer canvas and keep the fold lighter and slimmer for my pocket, this change would allow me to use a pen on my phone in the unlikely event that I'd want to, so good idea in my personal view

[@rushfortacos]

It might be based on internal information we don't have access to. A few Chinese phones already support pens and are super thin. Samsung might see that not as many people use the s pen. The capacitive pen is already limited by it only working on one screen and not fitting inside like on the ultras. A Bluetooth pen that can fit on the back in a case with wireless charging could work. Or maybe the s pen pro is enough as is to cover the hardline users and they save money on the lack of that layer.

[@ryan2824]

As someone who has been using the Z fold SE for a few days, this is the way.

[@iancassidy7895]

My complaint with the Z fold is the battery life when you've used a Honor v3 you understand how far behind samsung is

[@jpwhiteside]

FYI: I have the separate Z Fold pen that comes with that (somewhat pointless) carrying case. The S Pen Pro also comes with a similar case. It's just a case; it doesn't charge the pen. The Fold Edition pen doesn't have any Bluetooth capabilities to need charging like the Pen Pro and the Pen Pro charges via USB-C. As for changing the pen tech, it is already annoying enough that I can't use any of my other Wacom EMR pens with the Fold. But to change to any other tech and know no matter what tech they pick it probably means yet another new pen that won't work with anything else I have kinda makes me want to kick something just thinking about it. I get it though. From Samsung's perspective, the Fold already can't use any other S Pens, so what difference does it make if they change the pen tech. Only digital pen nerds who prefer EMR (like me) will care and cry into their tea when they change it.

[@MrCougar56]

Excellent observation! I love my OnePlus open

[@nimrod06]

I love this change. Ergonomic is really bad on the S pen, I am all for more ergo s pen. I just hope that this can help bring the price down since you don't need a digitizer and all this crazy engineering. But I might be wrong. Charging is an issue but Samsung had it figured out. Just have a magnetic charging spine at the back and a dent in the case.

[@darko1-qo3yd]

I give up on Samsung I'm just going to stay with my foldable 5 and get a camera and another phone to go hand in hand with it

[@macrochipped]

I've heard how much Chinese consumers prefer thinner foldables and if a good majority of their Fold sales are coming from that region, then I can understand why they're obsessing over this considering how harsh the competition is there. All that said, they really need to focus on the Fold being an all in one type of phone for the price they're selling it at. There's no reason it shouldn't have the top of the line everything in it.

[@TheNorwegianDronePilot]

As an owner of the Z Fold6, I think the thickness of the Z Fold6 is just all fine. In fact, the thickness of the Z Fold6 is the last thing I'm looking at.

[@Rcalderon518]

Im all for this change as long as we can write on the cover screen

[@JK-xz1lt]

Can we just get the S-Pen slotted inside finally??

[@Steven-e7c]

Not without the phone getting slimmer.

[@frankr111th]

Using a replaceable battery. AAA for example is one option. My guess is Samsung knows how many people use an S pen with the fold, and it's probably a relatively small percentage.

[@epsilon1670]

They need to keep working on durability and the perception around it to be honest as other than the price is the biggest hurdle from more people picking up a foldable they have the stigma of being fragile and expensive.

[@JoeGillian0]

Shane do you know they are other pencils requiring charging than the Apple Pencil? I really dont mind charging the pen...you had a surface Duo once how was surface pen working for you then...

[@drwigglechin]

Maybe this is the next step on the way to a tri fold or foldable tablet?

[@Slamx3]

I will take a larger spen and charging it etc.. if it has the Bluetooth capability. Zfold's pen does not have that functionality currently.

[@waywardwest]

I don't want a thinner device. I really want S Pen functionality on the outer screen and a bigger battery. I'm not wild about the S Pen that came out with the ZFold5. I use the older S Pen because it's bigger and feels better.

[@PastorVShaw]

The slim pen probably has to get bigger to house a battery. Samsung is resistant to better battery technology, which is the opposite of how they should be handling past mistakes.

[@SubzeroBlack68]

I prefer max performance, IDGAF about thinness. I want something that can replace my tablet even if its 25mm thick when folded lol. Give me a super Chonker

[@MrCougar56]

Question: will the s pen "pro" work with this new S 7 fold?

[@shanecraigtech]

Not the current ones, no.

[@radioambush]

I'm gonna go ahead and disagree with this sentiment/the majority of these comments and say I think thinness is a valid thing to seek out. The thinness race on *slab phones* has been silly for a while ofc, they're all super thin and that extra little bit is more or less irrelevant. But I think the conversation is different for book style foldables for sure. Obviously I haven't done studies or anything, but from my research when deciding what to upgrade to from a fold 4 + anecdotal experience from real life, thickness matters to a lot of people. I've seen thickness stated numerous times online as a major reason to pick a 9 pro fold over the z fold 6, or on lists of why the honor v3 completely outclasses the z fold line. Additionally, and arguably more importantly, one of the most common first reactions to my fold 4 when I'm showing ppl my phone IRL is "wow, that's thick". Also worth considering, most people who buy an $1800-2000 folding phone are going to end up going for a case. I use a speck presidio, and while it is not marketed as a "rugged" case it still adds *significant* bulk. I do absolutely believe people online when they say they'd absolutely make the trade-off of a thicker phone for internal s-pen, bigger battery, getting rid of the camera bump, etc. But people have been saying the same about slab phones for YEARS online, and it's rarely ever happened, let alone been a market hit (rly the only proper example I can think of is the Droid Razr Maxx from 2012). It's easy to assume that's the general consensus bc techies/enthusiasts are loud about it online vs the average consumer, who is not gonna post about that stuff. So that leaves us with Samsung making the choice to be slimmer based on A. What the market is currently dictating based on the competition and ppl's responses to it, and B. trying to make a fold that the general public would be interested in. And let's be honest, a lot of people aren't gonna buy an s-pen, let alone use it for their fold very much. I say this as an s-pen user myself, most people just... Don't care as much. Also let's not forget, Samsung is a massive and successful company, and the z fold line is their line of flagship book type foldables. They might do other things with the se, or a new line at some point, but they're not gonna make drastic changes like this to one of their premier lines of phones without research and analysis of market trends.

[@radioambush]

Am I personally worried about the thinness? Not really. Still chose a z fold 6 over a 9 pro fold when I decided to upgrade, still gonna put a case on it, z fold 4 fits in my pockets already so ik it'll be an improvement. But painting it like nobody cares when one of the first things mentioned in reviews and comparisons of the 9 pro fold is the thickness, or assuming the s-pen is an integral part of the device for most users is,,,, a little silly Rly the new stylus would work for me and my uses no problem as long as the battery is decent. Serious artists are gonna use another device that doesn't have a plastic screen with a crease in the center. Not tryna underplay that a chunk of people absolutely use the s-pen to its fullest potential and will be affected by this, just that it probably is not a common enough use case if Samsung is considering this

[@dorothy135]

Don't samsung devices do that reverse charging thing where you can charge your buds. Do you think it would charge the S Pen like that periodically put it on the back of the phone and give it a charge

[@edgartokman4898]

I found a phone like that once I traded it in to some guy on the street for an Apple watch abd twenty bucks....I probably got ripped off because the phone is worth more

[@warrenrobinson9654]

I don't like this change. I have low vision and often use the magnify function. If this goes away I will keep my Fold 6. Dies the Apple pen magnify?

[@jebaker2]

It's totally a corporate "keeping up with the Joneses" scenario. Apple is trying to make all their devices ultrathin for whatever reason so Samsung feels they have to do the same. Personally, I don't think the Fold even needs an S-Pen, though - people just don't use it! I know that people who subscribe to tech channel will disagree because they may love the S-Pen but, in reality, almost no one with a phone that works with the S-Pen ever use it.

[@lsbeller]

Actually, the only reason I use a Samsung phone and not an iPhone is for the S Pen. I use it every week if not every day.

[@stevematix]

put the G.D s-pen in the fold !!

[@Star_Gazing_Coffee_Lover]

Samsung messing with an already good thing.

[@Bc232klm]

Don't use Ai as a search engine lol

[@shanecraigtech]

Was it wrong?

[@buenokitty3497]

Yeah i keep repeating this but: id rather trade in a digitizer for an anti reflective screen. Esp with that min crease of the fold SE. I'd also keep the UDC hideable. I dont know anyone that uses it esp when you can just use superior outer one or bruh i just flip it and use main cam. Also: I stopped using my spen and got a small capacitive style so I could use it on BOTH screens. And that's why Id be a buyer of the Samsung pencil version of Spen IF it works on both screens. And I agree: put the speakers on opposite screens not just one side. I just heard a pixel fold and it does sound nicer facing me. And tbh I'd keep the same thickness for bigger battery or faster charge speed

[@donniethesportsguy893]

you're not wrong to save a 1 mm is foolish. demographic user for this phone don't care about thinnest, we care that it's not a brick. lol