Samsung Removed the Galaxy Z Fold7 S Pen, and This Stylus Lover Agrees
Samsung just took the covers off the Galaxy Z Fold7, and it represents the biggest change in the foldable flagship since the Galaxy Z Fold3 introduced S Pen support in 2021 and the Galaxy Z Fold5’s new hinge in 2023 that allowed it to close completely flat. This year’s highlights include the thinnest Galaxy Z Fold yet, better durability, larger screens, and, finally, upgraded cameras. It’s not all good news, of course, like the bulging camera bump, but perhaps the change that sent waves across the Internet was the removal of S Pen support.
I have been a great fan of pen-enabled devices, seeing them as the near-perfect fusion of digital and analog worlds, particularly when it comes to drawing and note-taking. Samsung was one of the first few tech companies that embraced this, from the Galaxy Note phones and tablets to the old Samsung ATIV PC line. Although styluses, both active and capacitive, aren’t that rare anymore (thank you Apple Pencil), Samsung remains part of a small group that uses the famed Wacom’s technologies for its smartphones and tablets. Despite my self-professed obsession with the stylus, I think Samsung made the right call in removing it from the Galaxy Z Fold7, but I don’t think the story ends here either.
Designer: Samsung
Why Samsung Removed The Z Fold7 S Pen

Galaxy Z Fold6

Galaxy Z Fold5
Imagine whipping out your smartphone, unfolding it into a tablet, and immediately sketching inspiration or jotting down ideas the instant inspiration strikes. It’s almost like pulling out a paper sketchbook or pocket notebook but with the advantage of apps and the cloud. It’s one of the advertised features of Samsung foldables since the Galaxy Z Fold3 and a dream come true for digital creators. Except, it turns out, very few actually use these devices that way.

Galaxy Z Fold3
The Web, especially YouTube, is filled with anecdotes and examples of artists, designers, and even architects using tablets for their work, but not so much on foldables. Yes, there are very few pen-enabled foldable phones in the market, but there are even fewer voices showing how they use these devices for those very specific purposes. Reading, watching, or even typing, are all covered, but drawing with a stylus and handwritten notes are almost always limited to one-time reviews and demos.

Galaxy Z Fold7
It’s not that the stylus use case is invalid but because, at least at this point in time, consumers have bigger concerns about foldables than where to store the S Pen (more on that later). They are more interested in how thin the phone is when folded, how usable it is as a phone, and, more importantly, how durable that fragile flexible main screen is. As it happens, those are exactly the things that Samsung addressed in the Galaxy Z Fold7, choosing to focus on what people need here and now, while still keeping the doors open for the return of the pen.
Why The S Pen Fold Edition Didn’t Work
Popularity wasn’t the biggest problem of the S Pen for the Galaxy Z Fold. Quite the contrary, it was the symptom, not the cause. The reasons why even die-hard stylus users shy away from the accessory’s foldable version can probably be boiled down to two things: confidence and convenience.

Galaxy Z Fold5
Let’s face it: even with all the marketing and figures, even foldable owners are still a little bit wary of the durability of the foldable inner screen. It tends to be a little softer than a regular phone screen, and poking it with a stylus or pressing down hard on it might cause some to worry. The technology is getting better, of course, but not yet to the point of completely dispelling fears.

Galaxy Z Fold6
There’s also the design of the foldable phone itself, which leaves no room for the stylus unless you don the right case. Tablets have it easy with a large body that can be used to magnetically hold and charge their stylus, but not so much a device that folds down to the size of a pocketable phone. Not unless you have a silo like on the Galaxy S Ultra, but then you’d be going back to the problem of thickness.
There’s also the matter of awkwardness when using the foldable phone as a digital canvas because of its almost square aspect ratio. An iPad mini with the same screen size has a larger surface area and a more rectangular shape that matches paper and notebooks more closely. It’s definitely a minor gripe, but one that gnaws at the creator’s subconscious little by little.

Galaxy Z Fold6
One Chapter Closes, The Next Is Yet To Be Written
To some extent, the removal of S Pen functionality from this year’s flagship foldable definitely feels like a huge loss, but I don’t think the story ends there completely. There are still plenty of ways that foldables can be improved that would allow the triumphant return of the stylus. Samsung does seem to be moving in that direction, though it’s not yet clear when all the pieces will fall into place.

Galaxy Z Fold5
For one, there’s the tri-fold device that Samsung will be unveiling later this year. That will help solve the awkward feeling of scribbling on a square display since it will give you a regular tablet-shaped screen to work with. Whether the “G Fold” will actually come with S Pen support or not is still uncertain, but given the Galaxy Z Fold7, I’m leaning more towards a “no” for now.

Galaxy Z Fold4
Samsung is also rumored to be working on a new stylus technology that is more like the Apple Pencil or Microsoft’s Surface Pen. That means using a stylus that requires a battery in order to remove the need for a digitizer layer underneath the screen. This digitizer is one of the reasons for the thickness of previous Z Fold models, and its removal helped trim down the Galaxy Z Fold7’s size a lot. Of course, this also means no longer using Wacom technology, but that might be a small price to pay in the grand scheme of things.
Such a technology would also mean that Samsung will be able to continue improving the durability of a foldable screen with better Ultra-Thin Glass (UTG). That, in turn, helps give confidence that every press and stroke won’t take the foldable phone closer to its demise.
The Big Question: Galaxy Z Fold7, Skip or Buy?

Galaxy Z Fold7
Setting aside the awkward, bulging camera bump for a moment, the answer is rather a simple one. If the stylus has never captured your fancy, then the Galaxy Z Fold7 represents the best of Samsung’s foldable design and technology. It’s super slim, more usable as a phone when folded, and can take better pictures. It’s still catching up to some of its rivals, especially in the photography department, but it’s encouraging to see some bold choices being made, even if it meant taking out one key feature.
For those who buy Samsung foldables for the stylus experience, the answer is even easier: no. Stick to the Galaxy Z Fold6, which is a decent device on its own, and wait for the next chapter in the story of the Galaxy Z Fold to be written. It’s exciting to finally see some movement from Samsung in this space, and hopefully, all the signs pointing in that direction will come to pass.

Galaxy Z Fold7
The post Samsung Removed the Galaxy Z Fold7 S Pen, and This Stylus Lover Agrees first appeared on Yanko Design.