Like the Galaxy S21 Ultra announced earlier this year, the Galaxy Z Fold 3 is expected to add S Pen support. Also like the earlier flagship model, Samsung's new foldable is not likely to have a built-in slot for a stylus.

Korean blog Naver reports that Samsung has been working hard to include a way to store the S Pen as part of the Galaxy Z Fold 3 design. Unfortunately, thanks to the technical challenges of fitting a slot for a stylus into the foldable phone's design, it appears unlikely to happen.

The culprit here is not necessarily the foldable screen that is the centerpiece of the Galaxy Z Fold lineup. Rather, it's because Samsung wants its upcoming handsets to be resistant to water and dust, and it would be going too far to achieve that while still including a slot for an S Pen.

As Galaxy Note fans know, the S Pen can be safely docked inside the phablet; while the Galaxy S21 Ultra is the first non-Note device to support the S Pen, it has no such slot. Instead, a separate Galaxy S21 Ultra case must be purchased.

Naver's report suggests that the Galaxy Z Fold 3 will go a similar route, with the foldable supporting a stylus of some sort, but not one that can be docked into the phone itself. Such a move would be significant, as many expect the Galaxy Z Fold 3 to replace the Galaxy Note as Samsung's primary flagship release in the second half of this year. [The Galaxy Z Fold 3 is rumored to arrive in July. It could feature a larger 7.6-inch internal display, while the external panel will be somewhat reduced from last year's version.

In addition, Naver's report claims that the Galaxy Z Fold 3 will be one of two Samsung foldable handsets to appear in the second half of this year. The Galaxy S21 FE model, which offers many of the features of the S21 lineup but at a lower price, could also join these models.