The S21 Ultra stylus is long and thin. It has two large flat surfaces and two rounded sides for superior grip, and the rubberised texture gives greater comfort and non-slip issues.
The weight is off-set towards the stylus end for better writing balance and precision, and alongside the length not only feels like a good pen, but only aids in comfortable writing and operating the phone.
The pressure sensitivity is very fine 4096 and really nice, though not something I use much off.
The button placement is a tad lower than where I would like but this is totally user dependent, so YMMV. It works perfectly regardless and fast.
Using both One UI 3.1 S Pen settings and Samsung Good Lock Pentastic module, the S Pen is customisable on the software side and has a number of fast features for various tasks.
Holding the button and tapping twice on my screen, on or off, allows me to instantly write notes into Samsung Notes app.
Using the button to bring up multiple S Pen features user choice to customise gives me more flexibility in multitasking.
Three of my most used features are:
- Glance
Allows me to automatically make app 1 become a tiny window whilst I use app 2; simply hovering over the tiny window brings back the previous app 1 to full screen and use as normal. Move my S Pen away from the screen makes the app 1 condense back into a tiny window and app 2 is ready to interact with.
- Screen Write
This let's me immediately write on any given screen on my phone depending on security and privacy features for certain app and create a screenshot.
- Smart Select
Multiple feature in one, here I can select portions of a screen for a screen grab, extract text from, say, a picture, create a GIF, and pin a section of a screen to my phone for multitasking.
- Magnify
Allows me further see a portion of a screen closer wherever the pointer is, and I can increase the magnification at will.
In Adobe Photoshop Lightroom I use this to really dive into a picture when using the healing brush, using the S Pen superior precision and accuracy my finger alone could never achieve. The magnification tool is a huge boon for this task in photographic editing.
Regarding the tips, Samsung thoughtfully provided spares and two types. The default black feels soft and grips great on a glass screen, and the feeling is like using a cross between a pencil, ballpoint pen, rollerball, and a dried paintbrush. It's a tad weird yet utterly wonderful to write with.
The alternative white tips are hard plastics with no flex or soft feel, so this is for those who prefer a more resistive style of typing using a stylus.
It's very easy to change out the tips if you want to try them or change out an older tip. Getting spare tips is, from what I can tell, via contacting Samsung customer services.
Later this year a Bluetooth, battery operated version is getting released, the S Pen Pro, which I'll likely upgrade to, however the shape, size, weight, and comfort of the standard S21 Ultra S Pen is amazing and easily worth obtaining, provided that you have a solution for carrying it around...
Well done Samsung for making a great stylus experience!
Wrote this review on my S21 Ultra 5G 512GB Exynos and with the S21 Ultra S Pen. Also have a Whitestone Dome glass screen protector with gel layer; no lag nor issues!
*A past user of Samsung stylus devices, from way back with the Microsoft OS Samsung Omnia SGH-i900 to the then Note II and Note 3, I have enjoyed the experiences a stylus can give.
The Note II and 3 were my favourite phones in the past, but it has been years since I used any stylus. The issue I had with most is the shortness of the styluses themselves; even on my Nintendo 3DS XL and N3DS XL I used third party telescopic styluses
