C. Scott Brown / Android Authority
TL;DR
- The Galaxy S25 Ultra’s S Pen lacks Bluetooth connectivity and components like a battery.
- Despite the missing hardware and features, the replacement S Pen costs $50, the same as the previous model, which is objectively better.
The Galaxy S25 series includes some of the best Android flagships, but it’s contentious how good the phones are over their predecessors. For instance, the S Pen on the Galaxy S25 Ultra is an undeniable downgrade, and its tale gets more confusing every passing day.
At launch, Samsung was very clear that the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s S Pen did not support Bluetooth. The company even confirmed that you cannot purchase an older Bluetooth-enabled S Pen to bring back Bluetooth-related S Pen features on the Galaxy S25 Ultra, so you’re stuck with this gimped S Pen. But then, a Samsung Insights official blog post mentioned that a Bluetooth-enabled S Pen enables these missing features, and it’s sold separately. Samsung subsequently clarified that this was an error and that Bluetooth was gone from the S Pen for good.
Removing Bluetooth and related features is largely seen as a cost-cutting measure on the $1,300 flagship. However, an S25 Ultra teardown revealed that Samsung continues to pack in a stylus charging coil inside the phone, even though the component is no longer needed since its S Pen has no battery, essentially wasting money. It’s possible that Samsung is using this coil merely to detect the presence of the S Pen inside the phone.
So, do you finally get some cost savings? Confusingly, no. One would presume that the lowered cost of the S Pen would be absorbed into the Galaxy S25 Ultra, and if you were to purchase a replacement S Pen, it should cost less since it has fewer components and features. That’s sadly not the case, as the S25 Ultra’s replacement S Pen still costs $50 (!), the same as a replacement S Pen for the S24 Ultra.
The Galaxy S25 Ultra’s S Pen saga is downright confusing at this point, and it’s not clear what Samsung is trying to achieve here. It makes sense that barely any users were using Bluetooth features, and so those were removed. But retaining stylus charging components in the phone throws cost-cutting arguments out the window. Pricing the replacement S Pen at $50 is also ludicrous, given the downgrade.
What are your thoughts on the gimped S Pen costing $50? Would you pay that much for the S25 Ultra’s S Pen? Let us know in the comments below!
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