Galaxy S25 Ultra confusion — Samsung now says you can buy Bluetooth S Pen separately

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Buying a new pen on top of $1,299 seems odd

Galaxy S25 Ultra display showing home screen and S Pen
(Image credit: Tom's Guide)
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Samsung has since clarified that Bluetooth support for the S Pen is, in fact, gone. According to Samsung, the blog post was made in error, and the Galaxy S25 Ultra will not offer any Bluetooth stylus features, regardless of which S Pen you have.

A recent blog post mentioned a new Bluetooth-enabled S Pen for the Galaxy S25 Ultra, but it has led to some confusion regarding what this means.

There's a lot to love about the Galaxy S25 Ultra, from the improved AI that powers features like Now Brief to the improved cameras that beat the iPhone 16 Pro Max in our shoot-out. However, there's no doubt that there's a lack of overall hardware improvements for the phone and even an odd downgrade. That would be the S Pen supplied with the device, which lacks any Bluetooth connectivity due to claims of its features being unpopular.

However, it seems that Samsung is planning to release a separate Bluetooth-enabled S Pen. This news comes from Samsung's own Business Insights blog, originally spotted by NotebookCheck, which states that the "Bluetooth enabled S Pen (now sold separately) acts as a remote control within select apps to help maximize productivity." The pen will have the same abilities as the prior pens, including the Air Actions menu.

S Pen Pro

(Image credit: Samsung)

This revelation, on a Samsung-owned blog, is odd because it goes against everything else we've seen from the brand. For instance, Samsung's main websites don't currently list a Bluetooth-enabled S Pen as being available, only the standard model. What makes it even more confusing is that, according to Android Authority, the S Pen Pro is confirmed to be compatible with the Galaxy S25 Ultra. This is important because the S Pen Pro does have Bluetooth connectivity, although they couldn't get it to work at the event.

In reality, releasing a new, separate, Bluetooth-enabled S Pen for the Galaxy S25 Ultra would be odd. The problem is that it means the provided stylus is a worse version which, considering the $1,299 price tag, is pretty lame. The post could simply mean that we're talking about the S Pen Pro and it was just poorly explained. Alternatively, there could be plans for an S Pen Pro 2, but the post jumped the gun and announced it too soon. For the time being, we can only wait and see if Samsung clears up the issue or not.

If you want to know about everything announced during the Galaxy Unpacked, then check out our Live Blog that ran during the entire event. We also have hands-on reviews for the Galaxy S25 and the Galaxy S25 Ultra.

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Josh Render
Josh Render
Staff Writer

Josh is a staff writer for Tom's Guide and is based in the UK. He has worked for several publications but now works primarily on mobile phones. Outside of phones, he has a passion for video games, novels, and Warhammer. 

2 Comments Comment from the forums
  • leah04
    As a 10yr+ Note / S-Pen user, if Samsung keeps up with this, I will jump ship to Apple phones! I'm getting tired of the way they introduce amazing new features to their phones, only to drop them a year or two later. At least with Apple when they add something, it's there for good.

    I can't believe they are taking away the camera shutter feature on the S-Pen. Also, the camera downgrade from the S23 Ultra's 10X optical telephoto lens gives me no reason to upgrade to the S25U.

    What are you doing Samsung? This is sorely reminiscent of the time they removed the IR blaster, removable battery, and heart rate / SP02 monitor from the Note series.. NOT THE S PEN, THOUGH!
    Reply
  • Ryan1701
    No one I know changes phone models on a yearly basis. That's insane. I would wait 3-4 years at least or at least when the phone is a year or so past supported updates. To jump to the next model every years is just the dumbest idea ever.
    Reply