The Galaxy S25 Ultra may get an unfortunate S Pen downgrade

By Patrick Hearn Published January 10, 2025

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra in Titanium Gray with S Pen on back. — Christine Romero-Chan / Digital Trends

Earlier today, a massive leak revealed all of the technical specifications for the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S25 series. That news is wild enough on its own, but another leak suggests the beloved S Pen might also receive a particularly unwelcome downgrade: the loss of Bluetooth. If that’s true, it means users won’t be able to use gesture control with the pen.

The news comes from Ishan Agarwal on X. The tipster says he doubts it will improve the battery life by more than a few minutes and implies it’s most likely a cost-cutting measure. The full impact of removing Bluetooth from the stylus isn’t clear, but unless Samsung has built an alternative into the device, any features that rely on Bluetooth will be unavailable.

Recommended Videos

We should still see features like pressure sensitivity available on the S25 Ultra, but things like remote camera activation could be lost. The feature came to the S Pen in 2018 when Samsung first introduced Bluetooth.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

Exclusive: S Pen on the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra will no longer feature Bluetooth according to retail sources!

Which means you will lose certain features like gestures & remote control.

How do you feel about this downgrade? #GalaxyS25Ultra pic.twitter.com/ASDKB06nsx

— Ishan Agarwal (@ishanagarwal24) January 10, 2025

The S Pen is a popular feature among a more niche set of users, but the majority of Samsung customers don’t use most of its functionality. It’s a great tool for signing a PDF or taking a few notes (or for giving kids something to doodle on when no paper is available), but it already comes only with the Galaxy S25 Ultra. Removing potentially useful features to cut a few dollars from the price of a flagship feels unnecessary.

While the S25 Ultra is going to have a tremendous amount of non-stylus functions, the added benefits aren’t something to scoff at. Being able to quickly navigate between functions makes the phone more convenient to use.

Again, this is a leak. None of these rumors have been confirmed by Samsung, so maintain at least some level of skepticism with regard to accuracy.

Topics

Mobile Writer

Patrick Hearn writes about smart home technology like Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, smart light bulbs, and more. If it's a…

Mobile

The OnePlus 13 is coming on January 7 — along with a surprise

It's official: the OnePlus 13 will launch on January 7, 2025. Preempting the anticipated event by several weeks, OnePlus has officially confirmed the date we’ll see its next major smartphone release outside of China. Additionally, it has revealed some key features and news of a surprise new launch to go along with the phone.

OnePlus will release the OnePlus 13 in three different colors — Black Eclipse, Arctic Dawn, and Midnight Ocean. It’s the latter that is likely to be the model to have, as it is wrapped in a material called micro-fiber vegan leather, which is apparently corrosion and scratch-resistant but still luxurious to the touch. For the Arctic Dawn phone, the glass will have a special coating to give it a silky-smooth finish. It’s likely these are the same colors offered in China, where the phone has already been announced, just with different names.

Mobile

I’m really worried about the future of smart glasses

The front of the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses.

The Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses are among the most interesting, unexpectedly fun, and surprisingly useful wearables I’ve used in 2024. However, as we go into 2025, I’m getting worried about the smart glasses situation.

This isn’t the first time I’ve felt like we’re on the cusp of a new wave of cool smart eyewear products, only to be very disappointed by what came next.
Why the Ray-Ban Meta are so good

Mobile

We need to talk about this fantastic, industry-leading Motorola collab

A person holding the Motorola Edge 50 Neo.

We are accustomed to tech brands partnering with adjacent brands, whether it’s OnePlus with Hasselblad or Honor and Huawei with Porsche Design, and often — such as with Xiaomi and Leica — singing the praises of the resulting collaborations. But not enough has been said about Motorola’s now established partnership with color experts Pantone.

It was when the recently released Motorola Edge 50 Neo arrived for me to try out that I finally understood how impactful the collaboration has become. Why? It manages to make even ordinary colors look fantastic.
Boring gray?