Summary
Samsung fans have long been acquainted with the S Pen, but in 2026, you can only get one on a single phone: the Galaxy S26 Ultra. Up until recently, the Galaxy Z Fold line offered a stylus for users that wanted to write, draw, and annotate on the large foldable screens. It wasn’t siloed like the S Pen for the Galaxy S series, and it wasn’t included in the box. However, you could get one for the Galaxy Z Fold 3 through the Galaxy Z Fold 6. That all changed with the Galaxy Z Fold 7, and since the Galaxy Z Fold 8 series also omits S Pen support, it’s safe to assume it’s gone for good.
Luckily, the U.S. foldable market is booming, and Samsung isn’t your only option. There’s a lot to love about the Motorola Razr Fold. At 1,899, it undercuts the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra in price while offering a bigger battery and faster charging. An underrated Razr Fold feature, though, is Moto Pen Ultra support. You can use an active stylus with the Razr Fold, and it's better than the S Pen ever was on Samsung foldables.
Samsung's newest foldables skip the S Pen
Is a thinner foldable worth the lost stylus functionality?
Samsung axed S Pen support on the Galaxy Z Fold 7, but the writing was on the wall before that phone was officially released. First, the company removed S Pen support from the Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition, a precursor to the Fold 7 that launched exclusively in South Korea and China. (The Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition was tweaked and branded as the Samsung W25 in China.) To get the Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition down to 10.6mm when folded, Samsung had to make a key compromise.
It removed the digitizer from the folding display assembly to shrink the package down. This digitizer layer is how the Galaxy Z Fold 3 through Galaxy Z Fold 6 can recognize S Pen input and pressure sensitivity. Without this crucial display layer, the Galaxy Z Fold 7, Galaxy Z Fold 8, and Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra won't work with an S Pen.
Annotation with the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and the S Pen Fold Edition.
Notably, [the S Pen Fold Edition sold specifically for Galaxy foldables](https://www.makeuseof.com/s-pen-fold-vs-s-pen-pro/) was a passive stylus. It used that digitizer layer and electromagnetic resistance (EMR) tech to power the pen, and didn't require a battery or manual charging. This meant that Bluetooth stylus features, such as Air Actions, were unavailable. The S Pen Fold Edition was lackluster compared to the siloed S Pen available for Galaxy S phones, and it isn't compatible with the last two generations of Samsung foldables.
Motorola must've seen the gap in the foldable market, because the Razr Fold fills it. It has active digitizers for the cover and folding displays, enabling stylus support. As a result, the Razr Fold is thicker than the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, but only by about a millimeter. That might be a worthy trade-off to enjoy stylus support on your Android foldable.
The Razr Fold's Pen Ultra is even better
The Moto Pen Ultra works on both displays, and it's an active stylus
After you buy a Razr Fold, you can pick up a [Moto Pen Ultra](https://shop-links.co/link/?exclusive=1&publisher_slug=muo&u1=UUmuoUeUpU2045001&article_name=Motorola+just+built+the+stylus+Samsung%E2%80%99s+Galaxy+Z+Fold+never+should%27ve+lost&article_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makeuseof.com%2Fmotorola-razr-fold-stylus-samsung-galaxy-z-fold%2F&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.motorola.com%2Fus%2Fen%2Ferror%2F404&ourl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.motorola.com%2Fus%2Fen%2Fp%2Fmotoaccessories%2Fmoto-pen-ultra%2F) separately for 100. You probably won’t have to, because Motorola regularly bundles the Pen Ultra with Razr Fold purchases for free via its official online store. There’s a lot to like about the Pen Ultra, starting with the fact that it is an active stylus with full Bluetooth compatibility and a USB-C charging case. You get three hours of active use, and 27 extra hours with the charging case.
The best thing about the Moto Pen Ultra is how it works on both the Razr Fold cover screen and foldable display. Even when the S Pen Fold Edition worked on Galaxy Z Fold phones, it was only supported by the folding display. You couldn’t use it on the cover screen. You might think that a stylus makes more sense for the larger display, but there’s more to the story. The soft plastic display covering and crease combine to make using a stylus on the foldable screen abnormal, and you might prefer to use it on the cover screen’s hard glass.
Regardless of your preference, it’s nice that you have the option to use the Moto Pen Ultra on either display.
The Bluetooth features are genuinely useful, too. There’s a button on the side of the Pen Ultra that opens a toolbar on your Razr Fold. You can customize the toolbar with your preferred controls and shortcuts, allowing you to switch writing tools or jump into a new note in a snap. Plus, you can double-tap the end of the Pen Ultra on a flat surface to immediately take a screenshot. It’s also a remote shutter button for your Razr Fold’s camera.
It has palm rejection, pressure sensitivity, and tilt control — everything you’d need for pinpoint accuracy on a stylus. I enjoy that you can draw in any text field with the Pen Ultra, and your Razr Fold will turn your scribbles into text. With Quick Clip, you can highlight any piece of text on your Razr Fold and add it to your notes. Motorola didn’t just add a stylus to the Razr Fold, it added one better than Samsung’s S Pen.
If you want a stylus, skip Samsung for Motorola
The Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Fold 8 might’ve lost their stylus, but you don’t have to
My only gripe is that Motorola didn’t bundle the Pen Ultra with every Razr Fold purchase in the first place. It’s too good of an accessory to leave out of the box, and it gives Motorola a key advantage over Samsung and Google alternatives. Even if including it made the Razr Fold a bit more expensive, I would’ve loved to see Motorola give every buyer a chance to try the Pen Ultra for themselves.
Still, it’s a worthy $100 upgrade for Razr Fold owners. It’s an even better deal for those who can buy the Razr Fold when Motorola is bundling a free Pen Ultra for free. If you’re a Samsung foldable user longing for the S Pen to make a return, you don’t need to give up your stylus. You can buy a Razr Fold instead and get a great phone with a stylus that outshines the S Pen Fold Edition in almost every way.
Motorola Razr Fold
- SoC
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 5
- RAM
- 16GB
- Storage
- 512GB
- Battery
- 6,000mAh silicon-carbon
- Operating System
- Android 16
- Front camera
- 32MP external, 20MP internal The Motorola Razr Fold is a formidable challenger to Google and Samsung foldables in the U.S., complete with a 6,000mAh silicon-carbon battery and stylus support on both of its screens. It packs slick Pantone colorways and an 8.1-inch foldable OLED display. Plus, it can charge at a whopping 80W over a cable and at 50W wirelessly.