Samsung Galaxy Fold 5 won’t have an S Pen slot, but may still offer support: report

Samsung’s S Pen was a staple in the Galaxy Note lineup, which seems to be gone after the company decided to integrate its S Pen into its top-end Galaxy S Ultra model. The first device to do this was last year’s Galaxy S22 Ultra, which came with its own S-Pen slot that keeps the S Pen securely inside the device when not in use. used. Although there have been rumors and reports of Samsung integrating its S Pen stylus into its Galaxy Z Fold model, now there is a new report that seems to put these claims to rest, stating that Samsung has tried to integrate the stylus in the upcoming Galaxy Fold 5, but had to cancel the idea due to space and design restrictions.

A previous report around November last year claimed that Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy Z Fold 5 would come with an S Pen slot. Now, a new report from ETNews (in Korean) says Samsung gave it a try, but had to scrap the idea after encountering issues securing enough internal space for the stylus.

The report claims that Samsung Electronics lobbied internally for proper S Pen integration, as many have demanded. It also made more sense to have an S Pen built in, as users could simply remove it and draw on the larger tablet-like display. While Samsung reportedly managed to successfully integrate the S Pen into the foldable, it ended up making the device very thick when folded, which contradicted the basic idea that a foldable should get thinner ( or more compact) when folded.

Samsung also reportedly tried to make a thinner S Pen, but that ended up reducing the writing feel as it’s not comfortable to hold a too-thin stylus. The cost of integrating a traditional S Pen into the Fold was also quite high.

The company is currently trying to improve the writing feel while making the S Pen thinner, but will only release it when Samsung deems it to be as effective as the regular stylus, the report says. Adding to Samsung’s troubles is the new hinge design, which the company is expected to debut with the upcoming Galaxy Z Fold 5. An anonymous official told ETNews that the new folding hinge structure has changed, which makes it very difficult to mount the S Pen. By the way, Samsung could also opt for the Microsoft Surface Duo 2 design which allows the flatter Surface Slim Pen 2 to magnetically snap onto the device.