Almost six years after the last Galaxy Note launched, Samsung's Galaxy S26 Ultra is here to keep the S Pen flame alive. The iconic accessory remains part of the Ultra's identity in 2026, although some of its characteristics have indeed changed.
On paper, the Galaxy S26 Ultra S Pen appears identical to last year's. It still lacks Bluetooth connectivity, but otherwise works the same and should offer similarly low latency.
Most changes are aesthetic, but they go deeper than usual. Or to put it a different way, the new S Pen's design tweaks are drastic enough to affect the user experience. Here's how.
The Galaxy S26 Ultra S Pen looks and feels different
The most important design change S Pen users, new and old, should know about is the tapered clicker button at the top. This year, the S Pen's clicker follows the curvature of the phone's frame, making one end thinner.
It may look like a minor aesthetic tweak, but it has a bigger impact than you might expect. Because of the reshaped clicker button, this is the first S Pen that has only one correct way to slide into its holster.
Max Jambor / SamMobile
You have to make sure the S Pen's thinner part of the clicker button is pointing outward, toward the phone's edge, before inserting it.
Thankfully, inserting the S Pen into the Galaxy S26 Ultra's frame the other way around won't get it stuck. But if you do, the clicker button sticks out like a sore thumb. At least the protruding clicker makes it easy to pull the S Pen out and reinsert it the right way.
A thinner S Pen for the thinnest Ultra ever
Beyond the reshaped clicker button, the Galaxy S26 Ultra S Pen is also thinner than the S25 Ultra's. It keeps the oblong shape but measures 5.0 x 4.15mm instead of 5.8 x 4.35mm.
Abhijeet Mishra / SamMobile
Why would Samsung thin down the S Pen when it was arguably already too slim to be comfortable? For context, remember that the S Pen Pro was intentionally thicker for better ergonomics.
The answer most likely lies in the S26 Ultra itself. Samsung's new flagship is the thinnest Ultra phone yet, and this is probably the main reason the S Pen went on a diet — to fit inside the S26 Ultra's thin 7.9mm chassis.
By the way, if you are an avid S Pen fan and fear that Samsung might be moving backwards with this technology, you have nothing to worry about. Samsung has already confirmed that it is developing a new version of the S Pen — likely for a future Ultra model — and that the iconic accessory will continue to be one of its core technologies.
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