The Galaxy Z Fold 3 will feature S Pen support, South Korean media reported Monday. This will make it only the second smartphone to offer this capability outside of Samsung's Galaxy Note series of phones. The first one being the Galaxy S21 Ultra released less than a month ago, following Samsung's official confirmation last year that it would be bringing S Pen support to devices outside the Galaxy Note lineup.
UTG is expected to be central to the S Pen support on the Galaxy Z Fold 3, as per the same source. The actual name of the device is still tentative. Implementing a digitizer into a foldable display was a challenge that Samsung has allegedly been tackling for a while now.
What does this mean for the Galaxy Note line?
If insider claims are to be believed, the future of the Galaxy Note series has been up in the air for years. Since its signature feature is now being loaned out to more devices (Galaxy Tab S, anyone?), it's not unreasonable to assume the lineup is on borrowed time. Even though the Galaxy S21 Ultra still doesn't offer a perfect alternative for the stylus. Well, for the stylus in its Galaxy Note 20 implementation, that is.
With that said, today's report suggests Samsung's reasoning for including S Pen support into the Galaxy Z Fold 3 is more straightforward. The company purportedly only wants to ensure its latest and greatest smartphone launches with its latest and greatest mobile technologies. Even if the reality is more complicated than that, the price difference between the Galaxy Z Fold and Galaxy Note lines infers the latter will continue for at least another year or two.
