Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked event is just one day away, but someone already beat them to the punch. A Dubai-based YouTuber named Sahil Karoul reportedly paid around $3,300 to get his hands on a retail Galaxy S26 Ultra ahead of launch. He’s been posting videos and photos ever since, and the Galaxy S26 Ultra S Pen is front and center in the leaks. If you were hoping Samsung fixed what fans have been complaining about for the past year, prepare to be let down.
According to Karoul’s videos, the S Pen still doesn’t have Bluetooth. That means no Air Actions, no remote camera shutter, no using the stylus as a presentation clicker. All the wireless tricks that made the S Pen genuinely useful beyond just writing are gone for a second year in a row. The video shows Karoul pressing the S Pen button repeatedly while it’s held away from the phone. Nothing happens. That’s pretty clear confirmation.
There’s also a new quirk with how the stylus sits in its slot. Because the S26 Ultra has slightly more rounded corners than its predecessor, the S Pen has a curved end that needs to align with the phone’s edge. That means it can only go in one way. Insert it backwards and one end will stick out. It’s not a dealbreaker, but it’s the kind of thing that’ll bother people who aren’t paying attention.
On the cosmetic side, leaks from earlier this month show the stylus will only come in black or white. Samsung is color-matching just the clicker to the phone’s finish, not the whole stylus.
What Samsung said about Bluetooth last year
When Samsung launched the S25 Ultra without Bluetooth in the S Pen, the backlash was loud enough that fans started a Change.org petition asking for its return. Samsung’s justification at the time was that Air Actions had very low usage rates. Critics called it a cost cut on a $1,300 phone.
The Galaxy S26 Ultra S Pen was expected to stick around for at least one more generation. That part turned out to be true. But the curvier design teased back in September appears to be the most notable change on offer. Samsung is reportedly working on new stylus technology based on the Universal Stylus Initiative standard. However, that hasn’t shown up here. For now, the S Pen does what it did last year, and not much more.