Samsung is playing a dangerous game with the Galaxy Z Fold 8’s missing S Pen support

It’s been a year since Samsung removed the S Pen from the Galaxy Z Fold series. The Z Fold 7 debuted a welcome redesign that was thinner and lighter than ever before, and the hardware needed to power the stylus is one of the things sacrificed to make that happen.

I’d hoped Samsung would find a way to bring the S Pen back to the Z Fold 8 and Fold 8 Ultra, but when I spent several hours with the new phones, my disappointment was immeasurable, and my day was ruined.

The Fold 7’s lacking S Pen support was annoying, but in 2026 with the Fold 8 lineup, it’s a worse look than ever before.

Would you prefer the Z Fold 8 series with an S Pen? 35 votes Yes 86 % No 6 % I don't care about them either way 9 %

The competition has caught up

Joe Maring / Android Authority

Samsung got away with removing the S Pen last year because there weren’t any stylus-equipped competitors. Now the Motorola Razr Fold exists, offering a fantastic stylus and hardware that beats the Z Fold 8 Ultra in many ways. Samsung isn’t the default choice for a folding phone in the US anymore, and if it wants to compete, it needs to play to its strengths. The S Pen and all the features Samsung has developed for it over the last 15 years are among those strengths.

Does Motorola’s Smart Pen really compete with the S Pen? In a word, yes. Many of the features I’ve grown to love with the S Pen are here. You can hover the Smart Pen over the screen to display a cursor that previews messages, links, and images. Third-party support is just as good, too. Infinite Painter and other apps that have added S Pen support over the years also work with the Smart Pen.

Zac Kew-Denniss / Android Authority

What helps Motorola is the Universal Stylus Initiative (USI), which is an open industry standard for active styluses. It’s the same standard that many Chromebooks use for their pens and styluses, so it’s pretty well supported in Android and Android apps. Drawing, writing, and navigating Android feel just as good with the Smart Pen as they do with the S Pen.

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