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Samsung S Pen notes

Overview

There are several different Samsung S Pens. I am referring to the S Pens that come with the Samsung Galaxy Tab series.

Overall

RATING: OK. The S Pen uses standard Wacom EMR and delivers a consistent drawing experience similar to what you would find with drawing tablets. I prefer it to the Apple Pencil as a device, but the Apple Pencil has superior pressure handling, and the S Pen is certainly not as good as the Wacom Pro Pen 2.

Basics

Links

Different versions

There are several Samsung S Pen models. I am discussing the ones that come with the Samsung Galaxy Tab S series of devices. Samsung Galaxy Tab S series notes.

  • S Pen that comes with the Samsung Galaxy Tab S tablets

  • S Pen that comes with Samsung Galaxy S phones

  • S Pen Creator edition

  • S Pen (2025) edition

Pressure

The overall pressure of the S pen is OK.

S Pen (2025)

  • No different from previous S Pens in terms of drawing performance (IAF, max pressure)

  • Dropped Bluetooth support and features

  • Body has a hexagonal shape

  • Different nib from previous versions

  • Pressure (IAF and max pressure) is no different from previous S Pens

  • Backward compatibility - it works with devices that worked with the previous S Pen. I have tested it with the following devices and can confirm it worked as expected:

    • Wacom MovinkPad 11

    • Samsung S8 Ultra

    • Samsung S24 Ultra

    • Wacom Intuos Pro 2025 (PTK-870)

Maximum pressure

In my testing it has a OK-ISH maximum pressure that ranges between 150gf to 250 gf in my testing - depending on the specific unit.

Initial activation force

The IAF depends on which device you use it with.

Physically the pen is capable of a low IAF - I would guess 3gf.

However, if you use it with a Wacom tablet, the tablet deliberately increases the IAF to something like 5 or 6gf. I suspect this is done to encourage people to buy the much more expensive Wacom Pro tablets and Wacom Pro pens.

Buttons

The S Pen has one physical button, unlike the Apple Pencil. This also differs from the pens of most drawing tablets like the Wacom Intuos or Wacom Intuos Pro. Those pens have two buttons, and some have three.

My pens

  • 6 normal S Pens from Galaxy Tab S devices

  • 1 Samsung S Pen Creator Edition

Pen tech

The S Pen uses EMR tech - specifically Wacom UD EMR.

Many UD EMR pens are cross compatible and you can interchangeably use them on tablets that support the S pen. More here: Wacom UD EMR.

Other S Pen versions

There are several versions of the S Pen listed here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S_Pen

I can't speak to all of them, just the ones that came with Galaxy Tab S series.

Upgrading to a better pen

Consider: Upgrading to Wacom One Pen (CP-913)

Reddit threads

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