The uniqueness of the Samsung Galaxy Note series has always been the S Pen stylus, which docks neatly into the body of the device when not in use.

The Galaxy Note 5 had a redesigned stylus with quick-eject nub, and not long after release people began noticing something troubling.

Photo: 9to5Google.com

Problem Statement

If the stylus was inserted into the phone backward, it would become stuck.

Now, Samsung has made a design tweak that prevents a moment of inattention from breaking the phone.

Despite the seeming obviousness of the stylus design, it has been an ongoing issue for Samsung.

It almost goes without saying you should never insert the stylus backward on purpose.

If you do, it’s really your own fault if it gets stuck.

Current Note 5 Model

The problem with the original Galaxy Note 5 was the design of the slot, which Samsung has tweaked in new models of the phone.

The mechanism that holds the pen when inserted the right way would lock the ejection nub inside the slot, meaning the only way to get it out was to break the pen or the internal mechanism.

If you broke the S Pen, it wouldn’t fit in the slot anymore.

And should the mechanism break, the phone would no longer detect when the S Pen was removed.

Samsung Response

Samsung’s initial response to the issue was to tell people to read the manual, which did include a warning about not inserting the pen the wrong way.

It also added a more prominent label to the packaging to alert owners to the S Pen issue.

That’s all well and good, but Samsung was probably still spending time and resources repairing and replacing devices with stuck S Pens by the unfortunate users.

The Solution

Having decided the warnings weren’t enough, Samsung has added a small tab to the slot that prevents the stylus from locking into place when inserted the wrong way.

It’s all internal, so there’s no way to know if your phone has the revamped design or not.

It reportedly works quite well, though I would not recommend testing it.

Samsung has confirmed the change, but it’s downplaying the importance.

There was no official announcement — Samsung waited for someone to notice the inside of the phone was physically different.

The company says it changed the mechanism to prevent S Pens from being stuck, but reminds everyone to follow “proper instructions for storing the S Pen.”

Maybe Samsung wants to play safe if users might purchase the previous Note 5 model without the small tab at the S Pen slot.

Source: Extreme Tech