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A foldable phone is already an impressive milestone for Samsung and the mobile market in general, but the real vision of such devices does not stop there. Although not exactly essential to the concept of a foldable device, using a stylus on what looks like a digital book or laptop has almost become expected, especially if the Galaxy Z Fold is meant to replace the line. Galaxy Note. That may finally happen next year, but it will require a pretty big change in Samsung’s S Pen technology.
Samsung has long been using Wacom’s technology to power its S Pen, but Wacom actually has two widely used technologies. There is electromagnetic resonance or EMR that you use for your own display tablets as well as the Samsung S Pen. This particular technology employs an on-screen digitizer and has the advantage of not requiring the pen to have a power source, such as a battery for example.
The advantage, however, is that Samsung considers EMR-based styluses too hard and stiff, which would scratch the soft surface of your foldable phone. According to sources at The Elec, the company is now considering using Active Electro Static or AES technology for the upcoming S Pen in order to get around that limitation. In this case, it will be the pencil that will drive things with the screen as a passive receiver of events.
However, this will require Samsung to develop a very different S Pen, one that will require a battery inside and some form of charging. Fortunately, Samsung already has some experience in that regard, but such a stylus would need a larger battery, more like a Galaxy Tab S7 than a Galaxy Note 20, and there won’t be room for one inside the body of the Galaxy Z Fold 3.
Samsung will also reportedly double the thickness of its UTG (ultra-thin glass) layer just in case. The current one is already 30 micrometers thick, and while it’s more durable than last year’s polyimide (PI) material, it’s still prone to scratching even on your nails, let alone on a stylus.
