Samsung Galaxy Z Fold set for elite Android foldable phone upgrade

Here at T3 we recommend the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 as the best foldable phone for well-heeled Android phone users. However, despite this, it is still missing a feature that millions of people have been calling out for – a built-in S Pen digital stylus slot.

Earlier this year T3 reported on rumors that the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 was going to get an S Pen digital stylus slot, following on from the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 getting S Pen support, but despite the phone being S Pen compatible, the all-important slot didn't come to pass. But now that appears to be changing, and for good, too.

This is because a new report coming out of South Korean news publication, The Elec, as reported on by SamMobile, shows that Samsung is aiming to add an S Pen digital stylus slot to its future Galaxy Z Fold folding phones.

Interestingly the report, which is based on an official meeting with Samsung Mobile Experience representatives, reveals that initially an S Pen slot was planned for the Galaxy Z Fold 4, but wasn't implemented on the final model. This is something Samsung is going to rectify though with future Galaxy Z Fold handsets, which it feels is a barrier to more people picking up the flagship foldable.

Interestingly, the meeting saw Samsung also confirm the other barriers it feels need to be overcome to make foldable phones even more appealing to Android phone users. These include making folding phones thinner and lighter.

The T3 take: add an S Pen slot to the Galaxy Fold and watch sales soar

I've been a long-term advocate for Samsung's Galaxy Fold and Flip series of foldable phones. Indeed, right now my main phone is a Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4, and I covered the original re-released Samsung Galaxy Z Fold when it hit the market back in 2019. I believe these devices are the very best Samsung phones.

In addition, I've been calling for the Galaxy Z Fold series to first adopt an S Pen and then an S Pen slot, just like the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra now has, for years. Indeed, back in 2021 I literally said, "To truly succeed the Galaxy Note, though, then the Z Fold would need stylus support."

While in an interview with Samsung's own Nick Porter, Vice-President of Product Management & Commerical Operations, SEU, I asked him if he saw the Fold as a successor to the Galaxy Note range and he confirmed how the firm was "committed to expanding the Galaxy Note experience across our wider Galaxy ecosystem – starting with the Galaxy Z Fold 3."

As such, not only does this move feel natural, with Samsung following through with what it said it was going to do, bringing the Note's S Pen capabilities to more of its devices, but it seems a great way to really double down on the Fold series as the ultimate do-it-all phone-tablet-computer hybrid device for enthusiasts.

With an S Pen digital stylus slot, the Galaxy Z Fold offers its owner an elite-level phone and tablet experience, with the device delivering a top-tier - and crucially, all-in-one - productivity and creative solution.

Of course, Samsung Galaxy Fold sales will still be outstripped by the far more affordable and approachable Galaxy Flip series, but full S Pen digital stylus support with cement Samsung's position as the maker of the world's very best, most powerful and most capable, foldable phone. And, in my opinion, that enhanced clarity will lead to improved sales.