Look, let's be real for a second. Most people who buy the Ultra don't actually use the stylus. It sits in that little silo at the bottom of the phone, gathering dust, or maybe it gets popped out once a month to sign a PDF that someone emailed over in a panic. But with the Galaxy S25 Ultra S Pen, Samsung is trying to change that narrative, even if the hardware looks almost identical to last year.
It's sleek.
It's thin.
It's also arguably the most misunderstood piece of tech in the entire mobile industry.
When you hold the new S25 Ultra, the weight distribution feels slightly shifted, but that 4,096 levels of pressure sensitivity? That hasn't changed. Samsung has hit a plateau with the physical digitizer, and honestly, that’s fine. We don't need more pressure levels; we need more reasons to pull the thing out in the first place. This year, the focus isn't on a "new" pen, but on how that pen talks to the new Snapdragon 8 Elite chip and the localized AI processing.
The Galaxy S25 Ultra S Pen and the AI Latency Gap
One thing that drives me crazy is when reviewers talk about "zero latency." It’s never actually zero. On the S24 Ultra, we were looking at roughly 2.8 milliseconds. With the Galaxy S25 Ultra S Pen integration, Samsung has leaned heavily into predictive coordinates. Basically, the phone is guessing where you're going to move your hand before you even get there.
Does it feel different? Sorta.
If you're a digital artist using apps like Clip Studio Paint or Penup, you'll notice the line follows the nib with a ghost-like stickiness that feels more "analog" than "digital." For the average person jotting down a grocery list, you probably won't notice it unless you're looking for it. But that’s the trick—the best technology is the stuff you don't notice. It just works.
The real magic is happening behind the screen. The Wacom layer underneath the AMOLED panel has been refined to handle the faster refresh rates of the M14 OLED material. This reduces that weird visual "jitter" when you’re drawing slow, diagonal lines. If you've ever tried to draw a straight line on a tablet and seen it come out looking like a staircase, you know exactly what I’m talking about.
Handwriting to Text is Actually Good Now
Samsung Notes has been the "okay" app for a decade. Now, it's actually clever. The Galaxy S25 Ultra S Pen benefits from a new on-device Large Language Model (LLM) that doesn't just recognize your chicken-scratch handwriting; it understands the intent of your notes.
Imagine this. You’re in a meeting. You scribble "Check with Bob about the Q3 budget." In previous years, the phone would just turn that into digital text. Now, it recognizes that "Bob" is a contact and "Q3 budget" is a file in your Google Drive. It offers to link them right there in the margin. It's subtle. It's smart. It saves you three minutes of digging through folders later.
Air Actions: Gimmick or Godsend?
I’ve always thought waving a plastic stick in the air to change Spotify tracks looked ridiculous. I still do. But Samsung is doubling down on Air Actions for the Galaxy S25 Ultra S Pen, specifically for camera control.
The Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) module inside the pen has been optimized for better range. If you’re propping your phone up on a rock to take a group photo, you can now trigger the shutter or zoom in from further away without the connection dropping.
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- Swiping up or down switches cameras.
- Circling clockwise zooms in.
- Circling counter-clockwise zooms out.
- A long press opens the camera app instantly.
Is it a game-changer? Probably not for everyone. But for content creators who don't want to carry a dedicated Bluetooth remote, it's one less thing to lose. The battery inside the pen—well, it’s not a battery, it’s a supercapacitor—charges in about 40 seconds when you slide it back into the phone. You get about 30 minutes of standby time. That’s plenty for a photo session.
The Problem with the "Thin" Design
We need to talk about ergonomics. The S Pen is thin. Like, really thin. If you have large hands or you're planning on sketching for three hours, you’re going to get hand cramps. This is the trade-off Samsung made to keep the pen inside the body of the phone.
I’ve seen some people buy those "S Pen Pro" styluses that are the size of a real pen. They’re great, but they don't fit in the hole. That’s the dilemma. If you’re serious about using the Galaxy S25 Ultra S Pen for actual work, you might want to look into a grip or a third-party case that adds a bit of bulk to the stylus. Otherwise, it’s strictly for quick notes and navigation.
What Most People Get Wrong About S Pen Features
Everyone talks about "Circle to Search." You know the feature—you circle something on your screen and Google tells you what it is. Most people do this with their thumb.
Stop doing that.
Using the Galaxy S25 Ultra S Pen for Circle to Search is significantly more precise. If you're looking at a photo of a crowded room and want to find the specific watch someone is wearing, your thumb is too blunt. The S Pen tip allows you to isolate pixels. It’s the difference between a sledgehammer and a scalpel.
Then there's the "Screen Off Memo." This is arguably the best feature Samsung ever invented. You don't even have to unlock the phone. Just pop the pen out while the screen is black, and start writing. It’s perfect for those 2:00 AM ideas that you’ll definitely forget by morning. The S25 Ultra now lets you "pin" these memos to your Always On Display, so they act like digital sticky notes that you can't ignore.
Professional Use Cases: Beyond the Basics
If you’re in real estate, construction, or design, the Galaxy S25 Ultra S Pen is basically a mandatory tool. Taking a photo of a room and then immediately sketching dimensions over it with sub-millimeter accuracy is something an iPhone simply cannot do without a third-party accessory.
- PDF Markups: Opening a contract, signing it with a natural-looking signature, and hitting send in under 30 seconds.
- Translation: Hovering the pen over a word in a foreign language to get an instant translation without leaving the app.
- Smart Select: Using the pen to "lasso" a specific part of a video to turn it into an instant GIF.
The "Smart Select" tool has been overhauled this year. It now uses AI to "snap" to objects. If you're trying to cut out a person from a photo to make a sticker, the pen will automatically find the edges of the person so you don't have to be perfect with your tracing. It’s incredibly satisfying.
Durability and Maintenance
People worry about breaking the tip. Don't. The tips (nibs) are replaceable, and they usually come in two types: a softer rubberized one for a "paper" feel and a harder plastic one for less friction. If you use a matte screen protector, the rubber tips will wear down faster. It’s just physics.
The Galaxy S25 Ultra S Pen is also IP68 rated. This means you can technically write underwater, though I’m not sure why you would. Maybe you’re a very intense scuba diver who needs to remind themselves to buy milk. Regardless, if you drop your pen in a puddle, just dry it off. It’ll be fine.
Technical Nuances: The Wacom Layer
Underneath that gorgeous 6.8-inch display is a specialized layer of film. This is the digitizer. It emits an electromagnetic field. The S Pen doesn't actually need a battery to write; it draws power from this field through electromagnetic resonance (EMR). This is why the pen is so light. The "battery" inside is only for the Bluetooth features like the remote shutter.
This is also why some magnets can mess with your S Pen. If you buy a cheap magnetic Magsafe-style case, you might find "dead spots" on your screen where the pen doesn't work. It’s not the phone’s fault; it’s the magnets interfering with the EMR field. Stick to high-quality, shielded cases if you're a heavy S Pen user.
The Verdict on the S25 Ultra Stylus
Is it a revolution? No.
Is it the best stylus experience on a phone? By a mile.
The Galaxy S25 Ultra S Pen remains a niche tool that has been polished to a mirror shine. It’s for the person who wants to do more than just consume content. It’s for the person who wants to create, edit, and navigate with a level of precision that a finger just can’t provide.
The integration with Galaxy AI makes the pen feel less like a plastic stick and more like a magic wand for data. Whether you're using it to translate a menu in Tokyo or to crop a meme for the group chat, it adds a layer of utility that you didn't know you needed until you have it.
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Actionable Next Steps for New Owners
If you just picked up the S25 Ultra, do these three things to actually get your money's worth from the pen:
- Customize your Air Command menu: Get rid of the apps you don't use. Put "Translate" and "Smart Select" at the top. You'll actually use them if they aren't buried.
- Enable "Warn if S Pen is left behind": Go into your settings and turn this on. It uses the phone’s sensors to detect if you walk away without docking the pen. These things are expensive to replace.
- Try the "Glance" feature: It’s hidden in the S Pen settings. It allows you to shrink an app into a tiny thumbnail in the corner and "peek" at it by hovering your pen over it. It’s the ultimate multitasking hack for checking a reference photo while writing an email.
Don't let that pen sit in the silo. Pull it out. Use it for five minutes a day. You'll realize pretty quickly that going back to a "finger-only" phone feels like trying to paint a portrait with a bratwurst. It’s about the precision, the speed, and the weirdly satisfying "click" when you pop it out of the frame. That click is the sound of productivity. Or at least, the sound of a very expensive piece of tech doing exactly what it was designed to do.