This article may contain personal views and opinion from the author.
When Samsung added a stylus to the 2011 Galaxy Note, people weren’t sure what to make of it. Another surprise element was the sheer size of the first Note.
In fact, when “phablets” started coming out, Steve Jobs was firmly against the idea, famously saying that “the best way to operate your smartphone is to use your finger” - hardly a hot take.
Fast forward to 2024, the Galaxy Note is the size of Samsung’s smallest flagship phone, the Galaxy S24.
Meanwhile, 17 years after the launch of the Note, the S Pen that accompanied Samsung’s iconic phablet is still around. And that’s pretty remarkable, considering how many hardware elements phone-makers got rid of in the past 17 years… While the S Pen kept surviving.
For instance, Apple killed the headphone jack and Touch ID; earbuds no longer have wires; memory cards are a feature you can only get in mid-range phones; Google killed a dozen projects it had started; and Samsung “killed” the Galaxy Note itself. Oh, and LG killed LG.
Meanwhile, Samsung’s stylus is still here, and although it took a while, I’m finally… for the first time… in 17 years… glad to say… the S Pen is sort of… useful!
Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Generative AI breathe new life into Samsung’s 17-year-old S Pen investment
Samsung’s Sketch to Image generative AI algorithm can take an amateur sketch and turn it into a usable drawing.
With the OnePlus Nord becoming the only metal smartphone in the world, and HMD making the most easily repairable phone around (the HMD Skyline), 2024 seems to be the year when phone-makers prove the “impossible” is possible.
However, Samsung’s attempt to save the S Pen has more to do with software rather than hardware. And more specifically (say it with me)... AI.
Currently available on the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6 (but expected to hit a bunch of older Samsung flagships with One UI 6.1.1), a new feature called “Sketch to Image” uses generative AI to turn totally amateur sketches into professional-looking drawings (as you can see in the image above and below).
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To be clear, “Sketch to Image” generative AI isn’t something new. In fact, you can Google and find a bunch of websites that turn your rough sketches into usable images right now.
Samsung’s Sketch to Image AI is scary good at making cool but totally fake photographs
This compilation of Sketch to Image edits from X shows how powerful Samsung’s generative AI is. Is it too powerful?
But the key to Samsung’s “Sketch to Image” algorithm is:
How scary good it is - even though it was just launched
That it feels like a big part of your One UI and your Galaxy phone
You can access Sketch to Image by taking out the S Pen and starting to draw directly on your Galaxy Z Fold 6’s screen. You can also open the Notes app and add hand-drawn images to your Notes, or via Samsung’s own Gallery app, where you can edit your new/existing photos.
The choice is yours - you can either sketch something from scratch and pick a style for the final, AI-generated, image. Or you can choose an existing photo/image, and sketch over it, which is where the real “magic” happens.
While sketching out something from scratch will be super useful for a note you want to bring to life, or the original poster you’ve always wanted to create (without spending any money), using Sketch to Image to alter a photo is where Samsung’s generative AI becomes… creepy good.
Of course, one way to look at it is as a “fun” feature that lets you put super realistic-looking objects in your photos. However, it’s also a super easy way to create a “fake” image that seems real. But that’s a longer conversation about the ethical side of AI, so I’ll leave it here.
Samsung’s love for the S Pen took nearly two decades to pay off: Galaxy Fold makes all the difference
The S Pen now makes much more sense for the Galaxy Z Fold 6 than it does for the Galaxy S24 Ultra.
As it turns out Samsung’s “Sketch to Image” gen AI is what makes the S Pen relevant again… or for the first time ever.
Trying to get a precise sketch with your finger is hard - especially on displays as small as the ones in the Galaxy S24 series of phones. At the same time the S Pen will always be less powerful on a smaller screen.
But that’s where the Galaxy Z Fold comes in, and where the S Pen really comes into its own. The same Sketch to Image generative AI simply seems far more powerful, more practical, and more fun to use on the mini-tablet screen of the Fold 6.
Make no mistake - the S Pen comes in clutch on the big screen of the Galaxy Fold too. In fact, even my skinny fingers seem too fat for precise any sketching, which is why the stylus is helpful.
And that’s how Samsung’s extremely powerful image algorithm suddenly turns the S Pen into a real selling point of the Galaxy Z Fold 6, and to an extent, of the Galaxy S24 Ultra (after the One UI 6.1.1 update arrives).
It also explains why Samsung made the Galaxy Z Fold 6’s S Pen case so much slimmer, as this accessory now seems like a must for the new Fold.
Creative people should find the S Pen, in combination with Sketch to Image, particularly useful. For example, Sketch to Image means you no longer have to Google a specific picture you need for your storyboard, YouTube thumbnail, or whatever project you have going on.
Steve Jobs's anti-stylus claims might've been wrong after all, but the $1,900 Galaxy Z Fold 6 must come with an S Pen in the box, Samsung!
In the end, Samsung took a big gamble on the S Pen - especially when deciding to keep it around even after “killing off” the Note lineup. However, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, it seems like the super-long wait might’ve been worth it - at least for the right type of user.
Whether it has to do with taking notes, or drawing, Generative AI will only be getting more powerful and more popular from now on. Therefore, the S Pen might be around for a while - and finally for a good reason. Which should give Samsung an incentive to keep making it better.
My only issue with the S Pen is that, as it stands, a purchase of the wildly expensive $1,900 Galaxy Z Fold 6 doesn’t come with an S Pen (and an S Pen case). This makes Samsung look super cheap - especially considering the much cheaper Galaxy S24 Ultra has a built-in S Pen.
Of course, the obvious next step for Samsung should be finding space for the S Pen in the shrinking body of the Galaxy Z Fold. However, this seems more and more challenging given that Samsung’s foldable is (and should) be getting thinner and lighter.
Steve was right - phones didn’t need a stylus back in 2007. But generative AI and folding phones are changing this.
Finally, I simply can’t skip going back to what Steve Jobs said during Macworld 2007:
“Who wants a stylus... You have to get ’em, put ’em away, you lose ’em… Yuck! Nobody wants a stylus! So let’s not use a stylus.”
While I still think what Steve said was 100% true (for the past 17 years), it seems like Generative AI and the Galaxy Fold have the power to make his statement less valid - at least today.
All in all, it’s a shocking turn of events for Samsung and the S Pen, which used to be nothing more than a waste of space for the vast majority of people buying Samsung phones.
However, that’s no longer the case, and now even I (the biggest S Pen critic I know), am excited to give Samsung’s generative AI a try (AND, YES, THE S Pen) another chance.
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Martin, a tech journalist at PhoneArena, brings a unique blend of humor and insight to his work. His fascination with smartphones began with a Galaxy Young and evolved through a series of trades and upgrades, making him a self-proclaimed smartphone nerd. Martin's content often combines current analysis of market trends with historical references and future predictions. Whether it's a deep dive into technical issues or a first-person commentary on industry events, Martin's articles are designed to inform and engage. His critical perspective is driven by genuine curiosity and a desire to keep readers informed, not by any corporate sponsorship.
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