No more internal S Pen?

[The_Chief]

Here come the news reports, saying that Samsung is internally testing the possibility of removing the S Pen silo from the Ultra and selling the S Pen as a separate accessory.

How are sales of the S Pen Pro and S Pen Fold Edition, Samsung?

Ten years ago, Samsung was at its peak of innovation, packing as many features into its flagship devices as possible. Today's Samsung is playing it too safe: little innovation, allowing long-standing issues to remain unresolved (like low-light camera shutter speed), and removing features.

I know, Samsung, that there are people who never remove the S Pen from its silo and use it. At the other end of the spectrum are people like me who rely on the S Pen all day, every day, for precision we can't get with our fingers.

At the center of the bell curve, where the vast majority of Samsung phone consumers are, are the people who may not use the S Pen (or its Bluetooth functionality) every day... but when they need it, it's there for them.

Samsung seems to think that, because the S Pen isn't used heavily by users, it's an outdated relic that can be phased out.

Do you people at Samsung have automobile insurance? I'll bet you don't need that every day... but it sure is important to have when you need it.

The S25 Ultra sales are pathetic because of Samsung's insistence on selling minor tweaks, cutting corners by removing features, and relying on Artificial Intelligence that few people asked for (and fewer still really want). The ONLY thing holding me to Samsung is the Bluetooth S Pen built into my S24 Ultra - I literally rely on it because I have health conditions resulting in fingers that don't do what I tell them to do. The S Pen gives me surgical precision. Take that away and, once the S24 Ultra dies, I'll find another brand that will actually earn my money instead of buying an external S Pen and having yet another accessory to keep up with.

Please, Samsung, for your sake and your shareholders: go back and watch the 2018 Galaxy Note 9 Unpacked event and realize how complacent you have become over the past several years. STOP trying to remove features and, instead, challenge your people to figure out how to amaze us again.

[Turkeylips]

I personally want the Ultra back without the S pen like the S21 Ultra.

[The_Chief]

You never need remove the S Pen or use it, so why does it bother you that it's there for those of us who rely on it?

[Turkeylips]

Because it makes the phone thicker and bigger and heavier. I wish the Galaxy and note phones were still separate. I can't get the best camera set up unless I buy the big heavy Ultra with the S pen now.

[The_Chief]

There are other brands that have far better cameras than the ones Samsung has used (for five years and counting). If it's the camera that's important, and you don't want to buy a camera, Samsung shouldn't be your first choice anyway. Just sayin'...

[XJCAR]

I wish they'd never merged the S and the Note creating the S-Ultra series, because traditional Note users are now losing features that we've become accustomed to due to more people using a device with features they've never wanted, which is why in the past they purchased the S series rather than the Note. I, as a long time Note user, like the size of the phone, the S-Pen, and so many features packed into it that I don't think of them, I just use them when I need them. Personally, I'd be happy if they kept them separate and released a Note every other year.

[Turkeylips]

I agree. As a long time S21 Ultra user, I have no interest in a Spen or a bulky heavy phone. I want the S line back without the Spen.

[aNoteFan]

There indeed is an S line without the S Pen.

The bulky phone is for us who need the SPen.

[aNoteFan]

If Samsungs research and insight is to look at the ratio of how many users of Ultra use the S Pen vs how many users bought the Ultra, their approach is flawed. Rather they flawed their own course.

 You can't expect an average consumer to be all that tech savvy. They will look at the specs and advertising and buy it based on general trend and noise. So a majority of users who should have bought an S Plus ended up buying an S Ultra all because Samsung merged the Note under S, and then been trying to do things to the Ultra what it should have done in the Plus. So you have the wrong user base in the Ultra series and they are contributing to the wrong statistics. 

Had it kept the S slim, Plus powerful, and Ultra an editing specialty (better even not renaming the Note) their statistics would have told them something different. 

Too bad they created something so priceless and choose not to pursue it.

"Art's soul is often lost in the auction's clamor."

[Turkeylips]

If Samsung would put the same camera setup on the Ultra and the Plus lines, everyone would be happy. The only reason I would buy the Ultra is for the camera. That was fine on the S21 Ultra. But everything is all goofed up now that they merged the Note and S lines. I want the Ultra camera, but not the bulk or the Spen. Everyone who wants the Spen will be mad if it's removed from the Ultra. Samsung can solve everything by just giving the Ultra phone and the plus phone the exact same camera setups. Then everybody would be happy. Spen people would still have the S Pen and I could get a smaller lighter phone but still have the best camera setup.

[aNoteFan]

Totally agree. It's their mistake. They created 3 variants without clear identity rather than targeting different customer preferences in each kind.