Galaxy Note 5 flaw: Samsung says 'Don't put it in that way'

Galaxy Note 5
The S Pen is improved in some ways, but also seriously flawed

To look at it you'd probably think that a lot of care and attention had gone into the design of the Samsung Galaxy Note 5, but there's an issue: sticking the S Pen into its housing the wrong way round can cause lasting damage to the phone.

Where before you could only insert the S Pen one way in previous models, the new design allows the clumsy and non-attentive to stick the stylus in upside down, which means it can either get jammed in the slot or, even if you can retrieve it, potentially break the mechanism which detects whether or not the S Pen is attached to the phone.

We've contacted Samsung to see if this is a real issue, and sadly it seems that it is. A spokesperson told us that the only advice the brand has is to follow the included instructions:

"We highly recommend our Galaxy Note 5 users follow the instructions in the user guide to ensure they do not experience such an unexpected scenario caused by reinserting the S pen in the other way around."

In other words be very, very careful to always insert the S Pen the right way round.

Feature kill

That in turn prevents other features from working. Normally the Galaxy Note 5 will automatically launch the S Pen menu if you remove the stylus when the screen is on - or a note-taking app if you remove it when the screen is off - but if it can't detect the pen then neither of these things will happen.

The correct way to insert the S Pen is point first, but if you push the blunt top end in first then you won't be met with any resistance.

Via Android Police

James Rogerson

James is a freelance phones, tablets and wearables writer and sub-editor at TechRadar. He has a love for everything ‘smart’, from watches to lights, and can often be found arguing with AI assistants or drowning in the latest apps. James also contributes to 3G.co.uk, 4G.co.uk and 5G.co.uk and has written for T3, Digital Camera World, Clarity Media and others, with work on the web, in print and on TV.