It’s been discovered that the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 has a major design flaw involving its S Pen stylus.
Samsung launched its latest flagship phablet in mid-August to a largely positive but somewhat mixed initial response.
While it has a phenomenal screen and a beautiful design, the lack of microSD expansion and the presence of a fixed battery seems to run counter to the Note’s purpose as a productivity powerhouse.
Questions over the Note 5’s practicality have taken another blow with the news that the new S Pen housing mechanism is fundamentally flawed.
As Android Police has tested and confirmed, it’s now possible to insert the S Pen stylus the wrong way up – that is, with the pointy end facing outwards.
Previously, it was either impossible or sufficiently difficult to do this on a Note device, effectively dissuading mischievous kids and all but eliminating the prospect of absent-minded mishaps.
With the Note 5, however, it’s not only possible but quite easy to get the S Pen stuck in the Note 5 in this way. Even if you do manage to fish the stylus out, there’s a good chance you’ll have done damage to the Note 5 in the process – specifically the mechanism that detects the presence of the S Pen.
Related: Samsung Galaxy Note 5 vs S6 Edge+
It seems like a pretty fundamental oversight from Samsung’s newly reinvigorated design department. Is it too early to use the term ‘S Pengate’?
Perhaps we in the UK dodged a bullet when we got the S Penless Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+ instead.
Check out our Galaxy S6 Edge+ hands-on video:
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.