Cryptic leak suggests Samsung Galaxy S22 could come with an integrated S Pen

"S becomes Note!" claims top leakster as Samsung phone fans hold out hope for a dramatic return

Samsung Galaxy S22 with S Pen digital stylus
(Image credit: Samsung)

The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra made waves earlier this year when it was released with S Pen digital stylus support.

In the light of the Samsung Galaxy Note series being sent out to pasture, this felt like a natural move for the South Korean phone maker, however it was compromised to a degree by, one, the phone not actually coming with an S Pen in the box and, two, its inability to store an S Pen in the handset.

As such, for Note series fans who wanted to continue a large screen phone with stylus experience, it was a notable downgrade.

This issue though could be about to be solved, though, with Samsung's own leakster-in-chief Ice universe posting a cryptic tweet stating that "Note is over, but it's not over. S becomes Note!". The full tweet can be viewed directly below.

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What's interesting about this tweet is that the S21 Ultra can already use an S Pen digital stylus, so when you remove that from the possible interpretations, Ice's statement can only mean one of three things.

Firstly, the entire Samsung Galaxy S22 range (S22 and S22 Plus included) is going to come with digital stylus support, secondly, a phone or phones in the series could come with an S Pen in the box or, three, a phone in the series is literally going to become the new Note, with it receiving a physical design upgrade so that it can store an S Pen inside itself (just like the Note could).

In any of these eventualities the Galaxy S range could technically become the Galaxy Note range, but without more details it is impossible to know what is going to happen, if it is indeed going to happen at all.

But which option do we feel is more likely? Well, my opinion is that out of those options the latter is more likely, as it feels crazy that the entry level Galaxy S22 would come with an S Pen and/or the ability to store it in its body. Remember, digital stylus functionality is a unique feature and I just can't see Samsung roll it out to everyone on every device.

To me, what feels far more natural is that the Galaxy S22 Ultra comes with an S Pen in the box and, ideally, has a Note-style cavity in its body to store and charge it.

Samsung would then have 100 per cent combined the Galaxy S range and Galaxy Note range, with two phones in the range delivering a classic S-range experience, and then one that inherits the Note range's unique selling point.

As a huge fan of the Galaxy Note series I am very much hoping that this comes to pass. Hopefully we will get more clarity on this comment sooner rather that later.

Robert Jones

Rob has been writing about computing, gaming, mobile, home entertainment technology, toys (specifically Lego and board games), smart home and more for over 15 years. As the editor of PC Gamer, and former Deputy Editor for T3.com, you can find Rob's work in magazines, bookazines and online, as well as on podcasts and videos, too. Outside of his work Rob is passionate about motorbikes, skiing/snowboarding and team sports, with football and cricket his two favourites.