Samsung might be looking to remove a part of the Galaxy S26 Ultra‘s S Pen in order to add Qi2 wireless charging and make the overall phone thinner, according to the latest rumors.
The rumor, from @PandaFlashPro on X, would be the second major change to the Ultra’s S Pen in as many years, but would likely come with some big upsides to make up for the loss (via PhoneArena).
Losing the S Pen’s digitizer could mean a thinner phone
Digi-what?
The last decade hasn’t been great for S Pen fans. While the loss of the Galaxy Note was tempered by the Ultra line picking up the internal S Pen, last year saw Samsung drop the S Pen’s Bluetooth support in the S25 Ultra after it emerged that barely anyone used it. Now, it seems as if the S26 Ultra’s S Pen will be neutered even more, with the removal of the digitizer.
The digitizer is the part of the S Pen’s apparatus that allows for features that boost the S Pen above that of a simple stylus. Namely, pressure sensitivity and interacting with the screen with a hovering S Pen. These are some of the headline features that make the S Pen more desirable than the simple stylus in phones like the Moto G Stylus.
So why remove the digitizer if it’s so useful? Largely because it would free up some internal space in the phone, and allow for some new features. The biggest of these new features would be full Qi2 charging compatibility, an advanced form of wireless charging that uses magnets within the phone’s body, similar to Apple’s MagSafe charging. At present, the Galaxy S25 Ultra is Qi2 Ready, rather than Qi2 compatible — which means it can use cases with magnets to access Qi2 charging, but lacks its own magnets. Qi2 charging is an upgrade over the original Qi charging standard, and offers 15W charging speeds along with more optimal positioning, thanks to the magnets always keeping the charging coils aligned properly.
In addition to this, @PandaFlashPro states that the removal of the digitizer could lead to a thinner phone overall, though it’s not clear from the rumors alone whether this would be the case or even whether Samsung would be aiming for a much thinner Ultra phone. Regardless, there’s no hint that Samsung is looking to remove the S Pen entirely from the S26 Ultra, and there are other hints that Samsung could be looking for other solutions that could remove the need for a digitizer entirely, while keeping the advanced features. Unfortunately, this may mean the S Pen in the new S26 Ultra will not fit inside the phone, like previous models. Instead, it would be a separate accessory, like the S Pen Fold Edition, though none of this is confirmed.
