The S Pen is as traditional as the Ultra name itself. It first debuted in 2011 with the Samsung Galaxy Note (GT-N7000). You could use it to snap photos from across the room, flip through presentations without touching the screen, control media playback with a click, and wave through Air Gestures with Bluetooth.
But traditions have a way of dying when new innovations take over. The Galaxy S26 Ultra is reportedly launching without Bluetooth support in the S Pen. Again. A leaked hands-on video shows the button being pressed from a short distance away with no response from the phone. Normally, that same press would trigger wireless actions instantly.
The S Pen is as basic as it was on the S25 Ultra
Samsung is reportedly keeping the S Pen simple this year without all the smart features that made it special. Tech YouTube Sahil Karoul revealed the functionless device in a 16-second video on his X account. He had bought the phone early before the Unpacked event scheduled for February 25.
In the video (now disabled), he's spotted pressing the button on the pen repeatedly with no response from the S26 Ultra phone.
Last year, they did mention that only a small percentage of users used the smart remote features anyway. It's why they removed it from the Galaxy S25 Ultra.
Many users resorted to using their Galaxy Watch or Galaxy Ring for remotes instead. Perhaps, this is all a sign that Samsung is slowly phasing out the S Pen.
Regardless, it's quite unfortunate. While you can no longer use the remote features, there are still a number of things you can do with the S Pen.
You can scribble on your screen and take notes, and use Smart Select, among them. The feature helps you make screenshot annotations.
Sahil also reports another major change in a now removed video on X. First, the S Pen’s design itself has changed slightly. On the previous model, you could insert the stylus either way. That is, with the button facing up or down, and it would sit comfortably.
On the S26 Ultra, you can still physically insert it either way, but it only sits properly when the button faces up.
No Bluetooth S Pen features, but there's a privacy display
Bad news deserves good news. While the Bluetooth S Pen may be gone, Samsung appears to be investing in hardware-level privacy display technology.
They're reportedly building a screen that can physically limit viewing angles, making it harder for people beside you to peek at your content.
It was well-known Chinese tipster, Digital Chat Station, who leaked the feature on Weibo. According to their post, it's expected to appear in new flagship phones launching around September this year.
In the leaked image, we see two views of the same phone. In one, there is a perfectly clear message conversation. The second view shows the display in a 30 to 45 degrees off-center angle, and it looks heavily darkened and obscured.
