Galaxy S25 Ultra Buyers Will Sorely Miss This Handy S Pen Feature

TL;DR

Samsung has removed Bluetooth functionality from the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s S Pen.
Without Bluetooth, the S Pen does not support Air Actions and can no longer be used as a remote.
The Galaxy S25 Ultra’s S Pen still supports Air Commands and Galaxy AI features like Circle to Search and Sketch to Image.

Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S series devices for this year are finally here, with several noteworthy improvements. Of the three new Samsung phones, the top-end Galaxy S25 Ultra features the most significant hardware upgrades, including a new 50MP ultrawide camera with enhanced macro capabilities, LOG video support in Pro video mode, a refined design, a larger vapor chamber for better heat dissipation, and more. However, Samsung has also made a change some S Pen aficionados may consider a downgrade.

The Galaxy S25 Ultra’s S Pen lacks Bluetooth functionality and, as such, does not support a few handy features we’ve seen on the Galaxy S24 Ultra and older models. For instance, you can no longer use the S Pen as a remote to take pictures, control a PowerPoint presentation, or browse the Gallery app.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus

Snapdragon 8 Elite power • 12GB RAM • 7 years software support

A powerful 6.7-inch phone, with 7 years of updates

The middle offering of Samsung’s 2025 flagship launch, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus is a 6.7-inch QHD+ device with a 50MP camera, 12GB of RAM, 256GB+ of storage, and the Snapdragon 8 Elite SoC. UWB connectivity, a 4,900mAh battery, and ProScaler for QHD+ round out the upgrades over the base model phone.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra

100x zoom • Big battery • 7 years software support

Samsung’s best for 2025

Simply put, this is Samsung’s very best phone in 2025. The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra is a 6.9-inch QHD+ device with 12GB of RAM, 256GB+ of storage, embedded S Pen, and the overclocked Snapdragon 8 Elite SoC. The key upgrade over the lower S25 models is a 200MP main camera and 100x Space Zoom.

Samsung Galaxy S25

12GB RAM • Vastly improved software • 7 years of support

Refined software, AI smarts, and next-gen hardware

With an emphasis on AI features, and a move to Gemini, the Samsung Galaxy S25 is an exciting update to the Galaxy S line. Equipped with a 6.2-inch FHD+ display, Snapdragon 8 Elite SoC, 12GB of RAM, a powerful 50MP camera, and updated hardware materials, we expect big things from the base model of Samsung’s 2025 flagship phone.

In addition, Galaxy S25 Ultra buyers won’t have access to Air Actions, a gesture control feature Samsung debuted with the Galaxy Note 10 series. This feature lets users control their phones or perform various app actions using customizable S Pen gestures. Samsung says it removed these features as they barely got any use, but we’re sure some Galaxy S25 Ultra buyers will sorely miss the S Pen’s remote control functionality.

It’s not all bad news for the S Pen, though. The stylus retains support for the Air Command feature, which gives users access to handy shortcuts when it’s hovered over the screen, has a pressure-sensitive tip with 4,096 pressure levels, and works with a couple of cool new Galaxy AI features. Samsung has also updated its design, so it now sits flush with the phone’s frame.

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