Khaberni - With the launch of the foldable Galaxy Z Fold 7, Samsung surprised its fans by removing support for the S Pen, one of the most iconic features in Galaxy phones.
The company described this move as a "concession", citing two main reasons:
The extremely slim design of the phone required the removal of dedicated pen components.
Removing these components enabled Samsung to enhance the ultra-thin glass on the foldable screen, which gives the phone greater durability, according to a report by the specialized technology news website 9to5Google.
It's worth noting that pen support has been present since the Galaxy Z Fold 3 in 2021 and continued in subsequent generations until the Z Fold 7 in 2025, and it is expected to return in some form in the upcoming Galaxy Z Fold 8.
The competition is intensifying
The absence of the pen in Samsung phones has opened the door for competing companies to offer this feature.
The first example was Motorola, which announced support for the optical pen in its upcoming foldable phone, Razr Fold.
The debut of the Razr Fold took place at the recent Consumer Electronics Show, and pen support was considered one of its standout features, especially in the United States, where there are currently no foldable phones with a book-like design that support a pen.
Google and Oppo
On the other side, Google has shown no interest in adding pen support to its foldable phone series, Pixel Fold.
In contrast, the Chinese company Oppo is working on integrating an artificial intelligence-supported pen in its upcoming foldable phone, Find N6.
Oppo had previously offered limited pen support in earlier versions of the Find N series since Find N2, but the availability was geographically limited, especially since the Oppo Find N5 barely made it to global markets.
Other phones partially support the pen
The OnePlus Open technically supports the Oppo pen, but no dedicated version was released for sale.
Honor offers a pen for its foldable phones, but it does not promote it extensively.
Year 2026
With the absence of the S Pen in Z Fold 7, it seems that the year 2026 will be filled with a wide array of foldable book-design phones, supporting the pen either directly or partially, which enhances competition and gives users greater freedom in choosing their phones.
