Samsung May Have Left The Door Open For Bluetooth S Pen On The Galaxy S25 Ultra
Contents
C. Scott Brown / Android Authority
TL;DR
- A teardown video of the Galaxy S25 Ultra reveals that the phone still has a charging coil similar to the one used in previous models to charge their battery-powered S Pen.
- The S Pen included with the S25 Ultra does not require charging since it lacks Bluetooth features like Air Actions and remote camera controls.
- Samsung may have left the charging coil inside either as an oversight or as a backup plan in case it decided to launch a separate Bluetooth-enabled S Pen for the phone.
Samsung’s decision to strip Bluetooth functionality from the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s S Pen didn’t sit well with many users, and now, there seems to be a bit more to the story. When the company launched the S25 series last month, it made it clear that the Ultra model’s built-in stylus would no longer support Bluetooth, meaning users would lose out on features like Air Actions and remote camera controls. To make matters worse, Samsung also confirmed that even if you bought a separate Bluetooth-enabled S Pen, the S25 Ultra simply wouldn’t support it.
That seemed to be the final word on the matter, but now, a teardown of the device has added another layer to the confusion. Tech YouTuber JerryRigEverything, known for dissecting gadgets layer by layer, discovered an unexpected component during their Galaxy S25 Ultra teardown.
At around the 2-minute, 45-second mark of the teardown, JerryRigEverything peels back the layers of the S25 Ultra and spots a familiar component — the same charging coil Samsung used in past Ultra models to power Bluetooth-enabled S Pens. The YouTuber questions its presence here, pointing out that the S Pen bundled with the S25 Ultra has no battery and no need for charging.
A lazy oversight or a smart plan B?
There are a couple of ways to look at this. One possibility is that Samsung simply didn’t bother removing the charging coil, leaving it there despite deciding that the S Pen wouldn’t need it. However, that’s an odd choice, considering modern flagship smartphones are built with millimeter-level precision. Brands are always looking for ways to shave down costs and optimize internal space, yet here’s Samsung keeping an apparently useless part in the device. This is the same company that hasn’t upgraded battery capacity or charging speeds for its Ultra models in years, so leaving extra, non-functional hardware inside doesn’t quite add up.
Another theory is that Samsung was unsure how people would react to the removal of Bluetooth features and left the charging coil as a contingency plan. If the backlash had been too severe, it might have had the option to release a separate Bluetooth-enabled S Pen that could take advantage of the existing charging hardware. However, now that Samsung has explicitly stated that the S25 Ultra won’t support any Bluetooth-powered S Pen, this theory doesn’t hold up quite as well.
Do you think Samsung should remove the S Pen from the Galaxy S Ultra line?
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The bigger question here is whether Samsung is slowly setting the stage to phase out the S Pen entirely. As Android Authority’s Scott argues, dropping the S Pen outright would have been met with massive backlash, but if Samsung gradually reduces its usefulness, it might be able to phase it out without too much outcry.
The S Pen has long been a hallmark of Samsung’s Ultra lineup, but its utility has waned as competitors prioritize battery life and faster charging. Ditching the stylus could free up space for upgrades like Qi2 wireless charging magnets or a larger battery — a trade-off many would welcome. Of course, this is all speculation at this point, but given how companies operate, it’s not an entirely far-fetched idea.
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