Galaxy S25 Ultra can’t use old S Pen for remote features, new one not coming

Ben Schoon | Jan 27 2025 - 10:15 am PT

Samsung’s Galaxy S25 Ultra brings quite a few upgrades, but also removes the Bluetooth-enabled remote features of the S Pen. And, no, you can’t bring them back by just using an older S Pen.

While hardly anyone was using the remote features of the S Pen, the long-established functionality has resulted in uproar on Samsung’s latest flagship release as the company opted to remove these features on the Galaxy S25 Ultra. The change results in some weight savings, but the lost features can’t easily be replicated.

It’s been speculated that using an S Pen from an older Galaxy device that offered remote features would work with the newer device, but that’s not the case. For one, there’s no way to pair the older S Pen to the Galaxy S25 Ultra, but beyond that, older S Pens also don’t fit in the Ultra’s S Pen silo as demonstrated by Michael Fisher.

Currently, it’s circulating that Samsung may be releasing a separate S Pen with Bluetooth support to restore these features to the Galaxy S25 Ultra. That seems feasible, but the evidence here is shaky at best.

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A page on Samsung’s website was spotted saying that “the Bluetooth-enabled S Pen” is “now sold separately,” but Samsung hadn’t confirmed these plans anywhere else, including in response to the many journalists asking about these removed S Pen features. It’s important to note that the page in question is marked as “commissioned content” and is not a support page or a news release, but rather a piece of marketing. A new S Pen on Amazon has also appeared with an S Pen that supports “remote control” features, but it’s only showing up in the UK, and it could easily be using copy from the previous generations, as Samsung has always sold spare S Pens for past generations.

Since those rumors made the rounds, Samsung has confirmed to Android Authority that a new S Pen isn’t coming, and that the page will be edited.

Samsung confirmed that these features were removed because less than 1% of users were actually using them, but it’s still an unfortunate loss that, at least for now, remains without an easy fix.

The Galaxy S25 series is now available for pre-order from Samsung.com, with up to $1,200 in savings, plus an additional $50 off when you click on our links and order within 30 minutes.