Samsung introduced the Galaxy Z Fold 2 earlier this year to great success. But despite all the improvements, the foldable phone could still get better.
Thankfully, according to one new rumor, the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 will feature not only a foldable, but also something many have been asking for in all of Samsung's flagships. Yes, the Z Fold 3 may include an S Pen.
But not just any S Pen: instead of using the same S Pen that is on the Galaxy Note 20, Samsung is going to completely rework the S Pen for the Galaxy Z Fold 3. Or at least redesign how the stylus actually works when connected to the screen.
According to Korean tech site The Elec, the current S Pen design is too stiff for the foldable display and risks damaging the screen when trying to use the S Pen. After all, the Z Fold 2's foldable glass is softer than the traditional hard glass screens on non-foldable phones, and the last thing Samsung wants is scratches from peripherals.
The rigidity of the S Pen is due to Wacom's Electro Magnetic Resonance (EMR) technology, which uses a digitizer inside the display so that the stylus itself does not require a dedicated power source. However, according to The Elec, Samsung is considering Active Electrostatic Static (AES) technology to avoid damage to the foldable display, and this is a reverse of this technology. [In this example, the stylus itself is powered and the display is a passive receiver of information. Apple uses similar technology in its own stylus, the Apple Pencil.
This change would mean that the hypothetical Z Fold S Pen would be very different and would likely need to be larger to accommodate an internal battery that would not die in five minutes. Therefore, unlike the S Pen in the Galaxy Note series, it would probably not be able to be slid inside the Z Fold 3 for safe keeping; expect something like the S Pen in the Galaxy Tab 7 to be introduced.
The prospect of a stylus for the Z Fold 3 will be quite attractive to some. After all, a foldable phone is just a foldable tablet, and a stylus is very useful for taking notes and sketching. So let's hope Samsung realizes this soon.
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