The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 Might Feature Our Favorite Thing About the Apple iPad

We’re nearing the end of the year, which means the news is light, and the rumors are heavier than a fresh blanket of snow. The Galaxy Z Fold 6 has just entered its holiday shopping era after debuting five months ago, but we’re already discussing what’s to come next year. The Galaxy Z Fold 7 has a little work to do if it will impress among next year’s foldables and even the Apple faithful. Samsung is betting on a bigger S Pen to do the job.

A report from the Korean outlet ET News alleges that Samsung plans to remove the digitizer on an upcoming foldable in exchange for a thinner chassis that can handle a larger S Pen. The stylus would rely on Active Electrostatic (AES) technology for connectivity rather than the Electromagnetic Resonance Frequency(EMR) technology currently employed on the Z Fold. It would also rely less on the display to facilitate digitizing.

Samsung continues to vie for the title of the thinnest foldable smartphone, as there has been more competition on the market. Google, OnePlus, and overseas brands are becoming more appealing. Switching to AES technology would also put Samsung’s foldable on par with the iPad and Apple Pencil. This could only indicate that Samsung is ready to bill its foldable smartphone as an on-the-go art easel rather than just a convenient fold-out digital notebook.

I always thought the Z Fold’s S Pen was too small to do much with besides point and tap at the screen. The smaller stylus also makes it easier to lose. I constantly looked for that little pen around the house because of my issues with the Z Fold 5’s S Pen case. A bigger S Pen would fit better inside a pencil pouch in my bag. It would also make tackling a project on the Fold’s display much more manageable.

Samsung launched a special edition version of the Z Fold overseas with a 6.5-inch cover display and an 8-inch screen on the inside. It doesn’t use a digitizer, which is why this rumor is probable, though the Z Fold SE doesn’t take a pen. Samsung will likely not decide whether to switch stylus input for the Z Fold 7 until early next year.