For several years now, Samsung’s Galaxy S series has consisted of the standard model, the Plus model and the Ultra model. In the past, we saw the Galaxy S series and the Galaxy Note series, with the Note series featuring a large display and support for Samsung’s S Pen stylus.
After the Galaxy Note was discontinued in 2021, it was the Galaxy Ultra that swooped in to take its place, also offering a large display and a built-in S Pen. A couple of reports have suggested that latter feature may not always be there however, and there might be a future where the S Pen isn’t included in the Ultra’s build.
A leaker that goes by the name PandaFlashPro on X (picked up by 91Mobiles) has said: “It appears Samsung might be getting rid of the built-in S Pen in the future Ultra to make more room”. The leaker then added “not in the S26 Ultra, Galaxy S26 Ultra still supports the S Pen”, but they didn’t follow up with the same caveat for the 2027 model.
Why would Samsung consider ditching the built-in S Pen?
Following the PandaFlashPro posts, a report appeared on WCC Tech suggesting the same leaker has said Samsung is running tests to see if it can increase battery capacity on its Ultra models without the S Pen, so there is at least a reason if Samsung were to ditch the S Pen.
The Galaxy S25 Ultra has a 5,000mAh battery, along with a 6.9-inch display. The S Pen is included, though Samsung did remove a couple of features for it this year, including Air Actions. If Samsung does ditch the S Pen in favour of a larger battery in a future Ultra model, it’s possible it may not face too many complaints if S Pen support is retained like the Galaxy Z Fold 6 offers, which you would hope would be the case.
The S Pen is a unique feature of the Ultra however, and Samsung’s Annika Bizon, VP of Product and Marketing at Samsung’s Mobile Experience in the UK previously told Techradar at MWC 2025 that that Samsung Galaxy users don’t need to worry about whether or not the S Pen will be included in future models.
“Multimodality is really important to us,” Bizon said. “So [that’s] how people use their phone – whether they’re speaking, whether they’re writing, whether they’re in a meeting. People do use their S Pens in meetings to write notes. So, I don’t see a space where the S Pen is not a key part of our portfolio.”
We hope, then, that even if a future Galaxy Ultra model doesn’t have an S Pen built in, that you will still be able to buy it separately. In an ideal world though, we’d rather it wasn’t removed at all because you know you’ll lose it as soon as it’s a separate device and doesn’t have that snug little home at the bottom.
