Here’s why Samsung didn’t include an S Pen with the Galaxy Z Fold 5

Since the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3, the company has been trying to gracefully implement the S Pen with its foldable phones. While it’s easy for us to imagine Samsung just sticking a stylus in its phone, there are things to consider. A Samsung executive explained why the company didn’t include an S Pen with the Galaxy Z Fold 5.

This is the latest notebook foldable phone from Samsung. The company just announced the Galaxy Z Fold 5, and it brings some powerful specs. If you’re interested in pre-ordering this phone, click here. You can expect much the same experience with this phone as what you got with last year’s iteration. The company made several refinements to the hardware and camera technology, however. It starts at the same $1,799 price as well.

Here’s why Samsung didn’t stick an S Pen in the Galaxy Z Fold 5

You can’t say that Samsung hasn’t been trying to fit the S Pen inside the Z Fold 5. The company showed off a ton of different prototypes that it developed, and one of them actually had an S Pen built into it. It slid into the bottom of the phone just like it’s a Galaxy S23 Ultra. It looks like a logical way of going about including a pen.

While it might be possible to do this, it’s not as simple as that. Every action has a reaction, and putting an S Pen inside of the Z Fold would have certain consequences. TechRadar’s Lance Ulanoff spoke with Samsung Head of MX Design Hubert Lee about why the company didn’t include the S Pen with the phone.

He said that “There’s a lot to consider. You can’t just stick a pen in there. If you stick a pen in, there are other cost consequences.” Considering that prices on tech are creeping up each year, that’s a solid statement. The Galaxy Z Fold line of phones stayed at the $1,799 price tag, and that’s no small feat in this economy. Adding an S Pen would incur additional manufacturing costs. Those costs would more than likely trickle down to the user.

It’s unfortunate that Samsung wasn’t able to implement an S Pen into its phone, but who’s to say that next year’s phone won’t have one? We also can’t rule out other companies getting the jump on Samsung and implementing a stylus in their foldable phones.