UPDATE: We reached out to Samsung for a comment. Here is what the company has to say:
We are committed to innovating new mobile experiences that flow seamlessly and continuously wherever we go to make consumer’s lives easier and better. To bring this to life, we made a bold decision to expand S Pen experiences as an option for Galaxy S21 Ultra. Consumers can expand the S Pen experience on S21 Ultra by drawing and annotating their sharable moments. As Galaxy S21 Ultra aims to provide the ultimate premium smartphone experience without compromise, users can enjoy one of the most popular and preferred features of our Note category.
It does not mean that Samsung is not committed to the Note category but is expanding the Note experience across device categories. To provide the best mobile experience to all consumers, we will actively listen to consumers’ feedback and reflect it in our continued product innovation.
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We have been hearing conflicting reports about the fate of the Galaxy Note series. Until recently, the productivity-oriented flagships were the only Samsung phones to support the S Pen. The new Galaxy S21 Ultra is also compatible with the stylus, and Samsung has also confirmed that digital pen integration will be extended to more devices in the future.
Previously, it was reported that Samsung is expanding S Pen support to other phones to migrate existing Note users to the S and Z series. The idea is apparently to retain the S family as the H1 flagship and replace the Note range with the foldable Z phones as the H2 flagships.
It now appears that the chaebol has finally made up its mind regarding the Note series and the decision is bound to disappoint a lot of fans. Venerated leaker Ice Universe’s latest, not-so-cryptic tweet suggests that the iconic Note series has ended its run and there will be no Galaxy Note 21.
1) We now see Oppo and Xiaomi each launching a flagship using a Samsung LTPO panel in 1H’21.
2) Although now there is no Note 21 coming, we may see a Note 20 FE…
3) The lack of a Note 21 series means the S21 series will sell at higher volumes for longer and could outsell S10..— Ross Young (@DSCCRoss) January 21, 2021
