According to reports, Samsung is exploring ways to slim down the Galaxy Z Fold7, which was the case with the recently released Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition. The company hopes to accomplish this goal by removing the traditional digitizer, which allows pen input.

Several industry sources say Samsung Electronics is considering pen input technology for the Galaxy Z Fold7 that will launch in 2025 without a digitizer. This move fits Samsung’s strategy to make foldable phones thinner, which is becoming increasingly important in the foldable smartphone market.

Samsung’s Galaxy Fold lineup includes a digitizer for electromagnetic resonance (EMR) technology since the Galaxy Z Fold3. An electric field is created on the display panel, allowing pen input to be accurate and battery-free. Due to this technology, however, the device’s thickness increases, forcing trade-offs between pen input and slimness.

Samsung is researching an active electrostatic (AES) technology similar to Apple’s. AES, however, shifts the technology from the display to the pen itself, which contains an electronic component and a battery. As with the Apple Pencil, this makes the pen thicker and requires charging but allows the phone body to be thinner.