The Galaxy Z Fold 6 could make S Pen cases a thing of the past

What you need to know

• A Samsung patent was discovered, which shows potential attachable S Pen design locations for the Galaxy Z Fold 6.
• One design involves attaching the pen to the back of the device while two others see it placed on the side of the phone.
• Samsung also detailed new S Pen design that bring physical buttons to the device, potentially increasing its functionality for users.

Even though we're only a few months past Samsung's latest wave of foldables, that's not stopping us from looking ahead to what could be for the Galaxy Z Fold 6.

According to studiMO, a new Samsung patent was discovered in conjunction with xleaks7, which shows how the company could bring an attachable stylus to the next book-style phone. As shown in the patent, the company appears to be working on a design for the Galaxy Z Fold 6 that lets users attach the stylus directly to the back of the device beneath its vertical camera housing.

Of course, such a decision will require a slight divot in the device so the stylus can firmly rest on its rear panel without a problem.

Moving on, there are two proposed ideas for how Samsung could house its S Pen on the side of the Fold 6. The first idea appears to involve an additional bezel area that extends off the side of the device. There is a subtle change with this idea as it will involve the S Pen adopting an angled end to connect with the angled portion of the phone's housing.

The final design proposal takes things in a different direction as it reduces some screen space. The design seemingly only shows the device while it's closed, but it's evident that this idea would not only feature a smaller S Pen but also indent the bottom half of the device to fit it. This could also apply to standard bar-style smartphones or rollables.

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The patent then touched on the possibility of Samsung creating a new S Pen, one that could feature multiple physical buttons along its body. It's not made entirely clear in the patent what these buttons could do — but it's not hard for one's mind to wander with the thought of it. Samsung appears to have several ideas in mind such as a singular, double, and triple-button layout.

The final looks more like a touch sensor that could respond to a user's manual input, placement, or how long they've held down the button. It also appears as though Samsung would allow the pen to work while attached to the phone this way.

The idea of Samsung incorporating some other way users can have their S Pen and Galaxy Fold has been circulating for some time. Android Central's Nicholas Sutrich created a mock-up of what a directly built-in S Pen could look like on a Fold and the many trials and tribulations Samsung might've encountered with the same idea.

Samsung has seemingly gone against the idea of building its pen into its Galaxy Fold due to the device becoming thicker as a result. The company is interested in keeping the device as thin as possible, thus the existence of such "attachable" pen applications in the recently discovered patent.

We still have a ways to go before we get another wave of Samsung's foldables, so, time will tell how far it's gone with this idea for the Fold 6 — or if it decides to progress further at all with an integrated S Pen. In the meantime, a few of the best cases for the Galaxy Fold 5 and its S Pen (sold separately) might do the trick.

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