Samsung may have found a way to solve one of the biggest missing features on its tri-fold phones: where to put the S Pen. A newly discovered Samsung patent suggests the company is experimenting with a built-in stylus slot integrated directly into the hinge area of a future tri-fold device, likely something along the lines of a second-generation Galaxy Z TriFold.
The idea itself is actually pretty clever. Instead of storing the stylus inside the main body like the Galaxy S Ultra series, Samsung’s design places the S Pen vertically along part of the hinge structure. Patent illustrations shared by tipster @xleaks7 show the stylus sitting inside a dedicated compartment built into the foldable hinge assembly itself. And it apparently does more than just hold the pen in place. The patent mentions magnetic retention, charging support while docked, and detection systems that can recognize whether the stylus is properly inserted.
That’s important because Samsung’s first tri-fold device skipped S Pen integration altogether, likely due to space limitations and internal complexity. A tri-fold phone already has to manage multiple hinges, flexible display layers, batteries, and cooling systems inside a relatively thin chassis. Finding extra room for a stylus was always going to be difficult.
This new hinge-based approach could help work around that problem, though it may introduce a few compromises of its own. Based on the patent images, the soft inner display itself seems to form much of the storage channel around the stylus on three sides. That could become a durability concern, since repeated insertion and removal of the S Pen may end up rubbing directly against the folding display layer over time unless Samsung redesigns the stylus with a softer exterior material.
There’s also the question of thickness. Samsung has reportedly been trying to make the Galaxy Z TriFold 2 thinner and lighter than its predecessor, but integrating a built-in S Pen system could end up pushing the design in the opposite direction.
Still, for a productivity-focused foldable, built-in stylus support makes a lot of sense. A tri-fold display naturally lends itself to multitasking, note-taking, sketching, and document work far more than a standard slab phone. So the lack of integrated pen support on the first-generation model felt like a pretty noticeable omission.
Of course, this is still just a patent for now, which means there’s no guarantee Samsung will actually ship this exact design. Companies file experimental ideas all the time. But the fact that Samsung is actively exploring ways to integrate the S Pen into a tri-fold device at least suggests the company sees stylus support as an important part of the category going forward.
(Sources: @xleaks7, Saskaitu Israsymas)
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