The Samsung Galaxy Note 9 has an S Pen stylus that can be used to control media to switch between presentation slides at the press of a button thanks to Bluetooth support. The stylus also has a special “battery” inside of it… The Samsung Galaxy Note 9 has an S Pen stylus that can be used to control media to switch between presentation slides at the press of a button
What is a supercapacitor? What is it doing inside the S Pen?
Not long ago, I wrote an article Not long ago, I wrote an article explaining supercapacitors along with their pros and cons, so there’s no need to go into much detail here. All you need to know is that they store energy, much like batteries, only differently. And in theory, a supercap seems like a much better fit for the S Pen than a traditional battery for a number of reasons. Although… it may have one huge disadvantage as well. Let us go through them.
There’s this one caveat that has to be mentioned. While supercapacitors are pretty neat, they hold much less energy than typical batteries – over a thousand times less per unit of volume. As a result, the Note 9’s S Pen last just 30 minutes per charge, even with the minuscule power requirements of Bluetooth LE technology. To be clear, you’ll still be able to take notes even when the S Pen is out of juice, but you won’t be able to use any features that rely on Bluetooth connectivity to work.
On the bright side of things, knowing that the supercapacitor in the S Pen is a tiny one, I’m sure that its impact on the Galaxy Note 9’s battery life would be negligible, if not impossible to measure or detect. Keep in mind that the S Pen draws power from the Note 9 while it is resting in its silo.
