S Pen Set To Feature On Wide New Galaxy Fold

Samsung’s storied stylus makes a comeback on a foldable, but not the one most were expecting. An established Korean leaker, Lanzuk, says that the company is working on a new “wide” book-style Galaxy Fold that will reintroduce S Pen support after it was omitted on the ultra-skinny recent edition. If true, it would be evidence that Samsung is re-evaluating interfaces and aspect ratios ahead of what’s likely to be growing competition among larger foldables.

Why Stylus Support Disappeared From Recent Galaxy Folds

Stylus input on a bendy screen isn’t as simple as borrowing some tech from a slate phone. Previous Folds that allowed for the S Pen utilized an EMR (electromagnetic resonance) digitizer—technology Wacom made popular—to deliver 4,096+ levels of pressure sensitivity. That layer adds both thickness and cost, along with integration complexity on an already complicated panel stack that starts with ultra-thin glass, followed by protective polymers and a hinge mechanism that must survive hundreds of thousands of folds.

Samsung is said to have yanked the digitizer to make an ultra-slim Fold. EMR layers are often framed by engineers as a trade-off: literally fractions of a millimeter and sometimes just grams count in a device chasing tablet-class screens down to trouser-pocketable enclosure sizes. Teardown specialists have long remarked on how every square millimeter salvaged from panel layers or hinge components is immediately reinvested somewhere—battery, speakers, cooling, or just in taking a dingy device down off the 2×4 rack.

A Wider Fold Changes the Canvas for Pen Input

The so-called “wide” Fold would move the inner display toward a more panoramic, tablet-like aspect ratio. That design follows trends established by competitors like the OnePlus Open and Google’s upcoming Pixel Fold, whose wider layouts make the cover screen behave more like a standard phone while transforming the inner screen into a productivity tablet. Because for stylus work—notes, whiteboarding, markups, sketching—a larger canvas is just plain better.

There’s also another strategic consideration: reports from display supply chain analysts have hinted at Apple opening a wider inner aspect for its debut foldable—placing it closer to a compact iPad than a tall phone. If Samsung wants to compete in that form factor, it’s a no-brainer to tie that possible plan down with S Pen support. After all, mature pen software and low-latency inking are what make the feature tick—Samsung claims less than 3 ms latency on its latest S-series flagships.

How Samsung Could Reinstate the S Pen on a Wide Fold

The easiest route is just to put an EMR digitizer back under the flexible OLED. That would bring back built-in support for current S Pens and give artists and note-takers the precision they need. The penalty is thickness and perhaps some degradation to fold radius freedom. Still, contemporary EMR films are thinner and more power-efficient, while panel makers have tuned adhesives and stack tolerances to rein in total thickness.

And there is another—a ‘chip-based workaround,’ a direction suggested by Samsung’s patent filings and industry talk. While not a separate EMR sheet, stylus sensing could be part of the display or touch controller layer itself (whether through hybrid self-capacitive methods or sensors built into the screen that monitor a pen tip). This approach could shave microns off the stack while still allowing pen features like tilt, hover, and palm rejection. The challenge is to approach the accuracy and pressure fidelity of what artists expect from EMR.

Materials, Battery, and Weight Watch for a Wider Fold

Whispers about this broader Fold also suggest a materials shake-up. To recoup space for pen hardware, Samsung has reportedly been considering integrating a carbon fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP) hinge instead of heavier metals. Carbon fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP) is an ultra-light, tough material that has a high strength-to-weight ratio capable of compensating the mass of a digitizer and sustaining its performance. It’s the same sort of logic that has begun to fill aerospace and high-end laptops, finally trickling down to phone hinges.

Another piece of the puzzle is battery capacity. Leakers have also mentioned a 5,000 mAh-class pack, so it’s joining the likes of OnePlus Open (4,805 mAh) and Pixel Fold (4,821 mAh). Doing that while also not ballooning up to the 230–260 g range large foldables typically fall in would be impressive, especially if a digitizer makes a comeback.

What It Means for the Fold Line and Samsung’s Strategy

If S Pen support does shift to a new wide model and not the next mainline Galaxy Z Fold, it’s possible that Samsung is segmenting the lineup: a razor-thin productivity slate for pen aficionados and, alongside it, a slimmer flagship that’s penless but also values being more pocket-friendly. It’s a tactic that echoes how the company split Note DNA into the S Ultra phones, while keeping the more standard S line lean.

In the market, pen ability is a point of differentiation that doesn’t seem to be waylaid by any underlying need. Research firms including IDC and Counterpoint have seen consistent double-digit growth in foldable shipments starting from the mid-teens of millions per year, with breathtaking features enabling Goldilocks margins. A large, pen-enabled Fold would hand Samsung an unequivocal response to the competition leaning on laptop-style multitasking and tablet-first experiences.

Proceed With Caution: Unverified Leaks and Shifting Plans

And of course, as with all pre-release talk, take those claims in more of a “where there’s smoke” direction rather than detailed gospel. The source track record is good but not perfect, and late in development plans can shift based on yield, weight targets, or cost. Even so, keep an eye out for early tells in the supply chain—panel specifications, hinge material notes from component vendors, or new S Pen certifications—that might tip us off whether Samsung really is getting ready to put a stylus back on a Fold, just not the one you were expecting.