As you may recall, Samsung's foldable phone Galaxy The Z Fold 2 was rumored to support the S Pen, but that didn't happen. Now, reports have surfaced in South Korea that Samsung wants to change the pen's technology so it can work with its next bendable smartphone Galaxy Fold 3.
According to South Korean website The Elec citing UBI Research, Samsung is considering using a technology called Active Electrostatic Solution (AES) instead of the Electro-Magnetic Resonance (EMR) technology used by the series phones Galaxy Notes.
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EMR technology works with a passive stylus, is generally cheaper and offers good accuracy and low latency compared to styluses using AES technology. However, Samsung allegedly encountered serious difficulties when integrating the EMR digitizer into the Ultra Thin Glass (UTG) (specifically, it was supposed to be problems with the flexibility of the digitizer and the durability of the UTG), which forced it to abandon the idea of connecting the second Fold and the stylus. UBI Research believes that if the technology giant does not solve these problems in time, the next flexible model will probably use AES technology.
AES avoids some of the problems typical of EMR technology, such as cursor floating or tearing. It also offers near-perfect pixel accuracy and supports tilt detection (which EMR technology also supports, but it doesn't work as reliably).
However, as the site points out, integrating the sensors required by AES technology with Samsung's Y-OCTA touch technology used by its AMOLED displays will complicate the IC design. AES-based flexible screens are also being developed by LG Display and BOE, so if Galaxy The Fold 3 will indeed have S Pen support, it may have some competition. Other reports also say that Samsung intends to double the thickness of the UTG from 30 µm to 60 µm in order for the glass to withstand the pressure of the stylus tip.
