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Unveiled as the official successor to the Samsung Galaxy Note20 series and Note lineup, the Galaxy S22 Ultra packs numerous critical upgrades over the previous models. One of them that thrills loyal Note users is the inclusion of the S Pen — a signature of the Note series.
Just like the S22 Ultra itself, the new S Pen redefines and enriches the user experience in many ways. Reminiscing on the evolution over the years, the S Pen certainly has an epic leap in performance and functionality.
S Pen: A History
2011
Back in 2011, the Galaxy Note together with the S Pen first hit the market as a phablet. It was the pioneer in this new smartphone category.
Many were excited about the inaugurate S Pen. Unlike the thick, awkward styluses that were common at the time, the S Pen was sleek and pen-like, so it was much more pleasant to jot down short notes, sketch, or highlight while you’re working on your phone. On top of that, the S Pen added its value with its first-ever shortcut — double tapping the screen while holding the S Pen’s button to open the S Memo app.
2012
In conjunction with Galaxy Note2, the second generation of the S Pen was introduced with a more ergonomic design and improved pressure sensitivity. Different from the previous version, the redesigned S Pen had a flattened side that offered a firmer grip.
The overall writing experience was smoother and more natural. In terms of pressure sensitivity, the new model supported up to 1024 levels, a significant upgrade of up to four times as much as the first S Pen.
2013 - 2015
During this period, Samsung was more focused on empowering users’ productivity with the Galaxy Note3’s S Pen. By ejecting the S Pen or clicking its button, the new Air Command menu would pop out on the screen. This was where the users could access various key functions such as making calls, sending texts and more.
Following that, the Note4’s S Pen added another new productivity feature to its collection. Smart Select allowed users to pick and choose what they want to save on their screen. Another highlight was that Samsung doubled up the pressure sensitivity on the fourth-generation S Pen from 1024 levels to 2048, offering more precise control.
In the following year, the aNote5 upped the ante even further by introducing the new Screen Off Memo feature. Users could jot and sketch right away on the dark screen and the memos would be saved when the S Pen is inserted back into the device.
Besides that, the storage slot for the S Pen was also improved in this generation: instead of having to pull out the pen manually, the fifth-generation S Pen could now be ejected effortlessly with just a light press.
2017
The Galaxy Note8 together with the S Pen gave a new life to GIFs. Live Message made communication more creative and meaningful as users could now create and share their animated GIFS instantly. These GIFS could be saved in the Gallery and reused whenever needed.
Besides that, users could now translate text without any hassle just by hovering the pen over the target text. Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology enables the S Pen to recognise text in images, punctuation, and can even convert units of measurement and foreign currencies!
2018
Now that the S Pen was one of Samsung’s signature features, the brand was ready to take it up and above: the Galaxy Note9 redefined the purpose of the S Pen. From a simple note-taking stylus, the S Pen transformed into a productivity tool and also a handy remote control with various functions.
Supporting Bluetooth Low-Energy (BLE) technology, users could use the S Pen’s button as a shutter to snap photos from distance. As always, Samsung never forgets about productivity. The ninth-generation S Pen can also double as a remote control for your phone.
2020
For 2020, Samsung skipped the 10s in the Note Series and brought out the Galaxy Note20 series instead: still with the same familiar S Pen configurations, but better.
Reducing latency was the key to a lifelike writing experience. The Galaxy Note20 Ultra was faster yet more accurate with a slim 0.7mm pen tip, 4096 pressure levels and a nearly 80% drop in latency to deliver a pen-and-paper feel.
The Air Actions on the Note20 had an expanded selection of convenient functions. With the S Pen on hand, users could navigate and control their devices with just a wave, a flick or other intuitive gestures.
2022
And now, to the present. If you’re in any way familiar with Samsung, you’d have heard of this: for the first time ever, the all-powerful S Pen is integrated into the Galaxy S22 Ultra. This marks the end of the Note Series, and a major upgrade for Samsung’s flagship S Series smartphones.
Samsung shows never-ending efforts in simulating the pen-on-paper feeling, reducing the latency by almost 70% down to 2.8ms and so much so, adding artificial “scribbling” sounds.
Worth mentioning the S Pen cap now matches the colour of your S22 Ultra. That means if you get the Burgundy phone, the cap will also be red while the body remains black.
What to Expect in the Future?
The S Pen has come a long way. For the past decade, Samsung has been resolved in enriching the user experience while maximizing productivity on the S Pen. Moving forward, we are certain that Samsung will continue to improve the for-real pen-on-paper experience.
With hype already being generated online about the next flagship Galaxy phone, there are also rumours that it will come with the S Pen as well. If it does come on the next S Series phone, which we really hope it will, there are still so many ways Samsung can make the S Pen better: and they probably will.
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