The Galaxy S25 Plus Convinced Me That Samsung Should Ditch The S Pen

Samsung’s Galaxy S25 Ultra is not a thin phone. It doesn’t have an especially ergonomic design, nor is it what I’d call sexy — but I didn’t expect it to be. I figured it would be enormous, blocky, and pack enough punch to keep Android power users happy while holding the built-in S Pen along its bottom edge like it always has. Throughout my Galaxy S25 Ultra review, I accepted that. I didn’t hate it for its design, but I didn’t fall in love with it like I have other recent Android flagships.

I appreciated its power, the flexibility of its cameras, and its choice of materials, but it always felt too cumbersome in my hands, and I seldom touched the S Pen that it was built around. And now that I’ve spent some time with the smaller Galaxy S25 Plus, I think that Samsung is defining its top-tier flagship based on the wrong features. I think it’s time for the S Pen to go, and here’s why.

It’s a frame job, I tell ya

Ryan Haines / Android Authority

When Samsung launched its Galaxy S25 series, it put the emphasis squarely on Galaxy AI. It let updates to Drawing Assist and Audio Eraser take center stage and relegated any hardware discussion to the latter half of its presentation. Among those limited hardware highlights, the only one that stood out to me was when Samsung described one of its new blue finishes as the color of AI — whatever that means. Nowhere in that discussion did Samsung touch on longstanding features like its S Pen, which should have tipped me off that there wouldn’t be much room for excitement.

Unfortunately, reviewing the Galaxy S25 Ultra, I realized how true that was. I knew that Samsung had stripped its Bluetooth connectivity and axed the ability to use the S Pen as a remote camera shutter, but I didn’t expect those changes to feel so noticeable. Essentially, Samsung had downgraded one of the defining features of its $1,300 flagship to no more impressive than the stylus on Motorola’s Moto G Stylus — a phone that needs its built-in pen to stand apart from other cheap Android phones.

Samsung has stripped most of the power out of its S Pen, so maybe it’s time to retire.

The Galaxy S25 Ultra, on the other hand, shouldn’t need its stylus to stand out. It already has four rear cameras, while most flagships have three, the toughest frame and highest level of Gorilla Glass you can buy, and the biggest battery and fastest charging on a Samsung phone. And yet, the S Pen persists. Despite offering fewer features than previous generations, it’s still the driving force behind the entire Galaxy S25 Ultra design and is the very thing that makes the phone so uncomfortable to use.

Now, I’m not saying that the S Pen is uncomfortable to use. It might not taste very good, but the stylus is slim and easy to hold. What I’m saying is that the S Pen is why the Galaxy S25 Ultra is as thick as it is, which made the phone so uncomfortable to use during my review period. And, when you imagine what Samsung could do if it didn’t have to house a 4mm thick stylus in an 8.2mm frame, you start to wonder what life might be like with a thinner Ultra. You start to wonder if you’d have to give up any other features or shrink the battery to enjoy a much more comfortable flagship, and then you realize that Samsung already makes such a phone.

Wait. That sounds like a Galaxy S25 Plus…

Ryan Haines / Android Authority

Yes, it does sound like a Galaxy S25 Plus because that’s exactly the phone I had in mind — but I didn’t realize it until after I’d finished reviewing the Galaxy S25 Ultra. While using Samsung’s top-end flagship, I assumed that the rest of its devices would follow suit in terms of design. I figured the Galaxy S25 and Galaxy S25 Plus would feel just as sharp and uncomfortable, even if they weren’t quite as wide or tall. Then, the Galaxy S25 Plus showed up at my door, and within a few minutes of setting it up, I realized that this was what I wanted from a Samsung flagship all along.

I’d gone from a phone with perhaps the least comfortable frame I’ve ever held to one of the better ones. The Galaxy S25 Plus’ design itself didn’t set my world on fire, but I was so happy to go from sharp, angular edges on the front and back to ever so slightly rounded corners that reminded me of my beloved Pixel 9 Pro. But, unlike my pocket-friendly Pixel, I hadn’t had to give up very much to get a more comfortable Galaxy. I’d lost about 100mAh of battery capacity, 0.2 inches of diagonal screen real estate, and the 5x optical telephoto sensor, but I quickly adapted to life without them.

Besides, I hadn’t lost any software updates, Galaxy AI features, or access to 45W wired charging — the Galaxy S25 Plus kept the Samsung highlights I wanted but saved weight and cut the one feature I didn’t care about. I tend to stick within the ultrawide to about 10x range while using most smartphone cameras, so ditching the extra zoom power wasn’t too big of a cut, and I haven’t really noticed much of a difference in terms of battery life, either. And, given my limited use of the S Pen on the Galaxy S25 Ultra, I regularly forget it’s there — or rather, that it’s not.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus

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.