Samsung fixes Spen backwards issue on newer Note 5s

[Blues Fan]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gq-H6UVD1io

apparently they redesigned a couple things internally on it so if you put it in backwards it wont break the sensors.

Sucks for us on here who bought it when it first came out. Luckily I have not inserted mine backwards.

 

[Wussupi83]

I purchased a note 5 last week, not sure if it's the new revision. However none of the materials included stated a warning about pen direction when placing into the device (although the manual noted in the article appears to be of digital delivery only). I will say the pen has fallen loose under impact several times. Not sure if this reflects a change in design or previous revisions did this as well. That's the only input I can provide given I'm not going to attempt.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[Trees]

Good to know if true. Hard to tell from the video showing the internal components exactly what was changed or fixed.

 

[anon(394005)]

It's been confirmed: Confirmed: Samsung changes Galaxy Note 5 internals to fix upside-down S Pen issue | Android Central

Below is a screen grab from the video above (47 sec mark) comparing the new version (on the left) and the old version (on the right). What they did was replace the electronic switch that had the lever sticking straight out of it with a push button switch that has a large hook type lever across it to prevent the S-Pen from snagging on it.

 

[naturalguy]

I do not understand how someone could put the pen in backwards, it's just common sense and easy to put it in the right way.

 

[Blues Fan]

I purchased a note 5 last week, not sure if it's the new revision. However none of the materials included stated a warning about pen direction when placing into the device (although the manual noted in the article appears to be of digital delivery only). I will say the pen has fallen loose under impact several times. Not sure if this reflects a change in design or previous revisions did this as well. That's the only input I can provide given I'm not going to attempt.

Posted via the Android Central App

That's normal. I bought mine back in late aug and dropped it on the carpet by accident a couple times of course it has a case on it and the spen came loose a couple times.

 

[TabGuy]

I do not understand how someone could put the pen in backwards, it's just common sense and easy to put it in the right way.

I agree with you but this is such a simple flaw to fix I'm surprised the engineers allowed it to happen.

 

[bassplayrguy]

I am sorry that this has to be said but this is not a design flaw. It is carelessness on the part of the phone owner. Just because someone doesn't pay attention and damages their phone, does not make it the manufacturers' responsibility to save them from themselves by spending the money to fix a "flaw" that doesn't exist. Pay attention.

 

[naturalguy]

I am sorry that this has to be said but this is not a design flaw. It is carelessness on the part of the phone owner. Just because someone doesn't pay attention and damages their phone, does not make it the manufacturers' responsibility to save them from themselves by spending the money to fix a "flaw" that doesn't exist. Pay attention.

Seriously, it's just common sense

 

[serpent2005]

I feel the same way about those guardrails on mountain roads. There are probably hundreds of miles of those things installed near where I live -- a total waste of taxpayer money. People should know not to drive over cliffs -- duh!

Just kidding. Changing the design to prevent this type of mishap is good customer service by Samsung!

 

[calicocat2010]

I guess, the manufacturers' never thought that people would be careless at putting their pen in backwards. I have never done it, *knocks on wood*, but when I do use my pen, I make sure to LOOK and see if it's pointing in the right direction, AND have it where the inscription is facing upwards. I don't know if That would mess up the pen , but at any point, I DO watch what I'm doing. People do stupid stuff, and so the manufacturers' really should come up with "stupid" ideas and then make the improvements based on those "stupid" ideas IN the drawing room, before EVER releasing the device for BETA testing.

 

[anon(394005)]

I am sorry that this has to be said but this is not a design flaw. It is carelessness on the part of the phone owner. Just because someone doesn't pay attention and damages their phone, does not make it the manufacturers' responsibility to save them from themselves by spending the money to fix a "flaw" that doesn't exist. Pay attention.

It's a design flaw in the fact that inserting the S-Pen backwards (and then having to forcefully pull it back out) actually damages internals of the phone. Good design wouldn't allow this to happen in the first place nor would it put the onus on the end user to prevent. What we have here instead is a poor design decision made by Samsung, thus the responsibility rests with them and why they have subsequently corrected it.

 

[bassplayrguy]

It's a design flaw in the fact that inserting the S-Pen backwards (and then having to forcefully pull it back out) actually damages internals of the phone. Good design wouldn't allow this to happen in the first place nor would it put the onus on the end user to prevent. What we have here instead is a poor design decision made by Samsung, thus the responsibility rests with them and why they have subsequently corrected it.

Agree to disagree.

 

[anon(9228075)]

I still find it hard to believe how someone could put it in backwards by accident. I just don't get it lol

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[Mage Studio]

How easy does it fit in backwards?

 

[LeoRex]

OK... this was something spoken about, in length, back when the story broke. Yes, putting the S-Pen in backwards is a mistake on the part of the user and most people wouldn't have that problem. But.... one of the most critical component of product testing and quality assurance is what's called 'negative path' testing. This involves purposefully using the product incorrectly. Whether the product is a toaster or a piece of software, the concept is the same; if it can be done wrong, it will be done wrong. And the manufacturer really has to do their due diligence in these cases. If the design can be changed to eliminate or reduce the chances of it happening, change the design.

So back to the enclosure for the S-Pen. If someone inserts the pen the wrong way (and there really isn't anything mechanically to stop that), if the narrowed portion of the S-Pen, the 'cap', passes that black switch, the switch will snag on it when removed, and there is a high likelihood that the switch will break if the S-Pen is removed at that point.

That is most certainly a design flaw. Sure, it is a design flaw that only occurs due to an error on the part of the user, it is still a flaw. It's why manual gearboxes have lockouts to keep someone from going from 5th gear to reverse and why electrical codes require GFI outlets in bathrooms.

 

[bassplayrguy]

OK... this was something spoken about, in length, back when the story broke. Yes, putting the S-Pen in backwards is a mistake on the part of the user and most people wouldn't have that problem. But.... one of the most critical component of product testing and quality assurance is what's called 'negative path' testing. This involves purposefully using the product incorrectly. Whether the product is a toaster or a piece of software, the concept is the same; if it can be done wrong, it will be done wrong. And the manufacturer really has to do their due diligence in these cases. If the design can be changed to eliminate or reduce the chances of it happening, change the design.

So back to the enclosure for the S-Pen. If someone inserts the pen the wrong way (and there really isn't anything mechanically to stop that), if the narrowed portion of the S-Pen, the 'cap', passes that black switch, the switch will snag on it when removed, and there is a high likelihood that the switch will break if the S-Pen is removed at that point.

That is most certainly a design flaw. Sure, it is a design flaw that only occurs due to an error on the part of the user, it is still a flaw. It's why manual gearboxes have lockouts to keep someone from going from 5th gear to reverse and why electrical codes require GFI outlets in bathrooms.

I'm sorry but I Just don't agree. It isn't samsung's responsibility to save you from yourself. You are grown and you take responsibility for your own actions. You break it by being careless, you pay to fix it. That's how the real world works.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[anon(394005)]

How easy does it fit in backwards?

The video below shows how easily the Note 5 S-Pen goes into the silo backwards and slides all the way in with just gravity. In comparison I can't do that with my Note 4, it only goes in about a quarter of an inch before it hits a hard stop and won't go in further unless I apply excessive force. Even then, there are no moving parts inside the Note 4 silo that could break (unlike the Note 5). It has an entirely different S-Pen detection mechanism (IMHO a superior one) with a sensor built into the outer top edge of the silo that detects a magnet on the top end of the S-Pen.

 

[LeoRex]

I'm sorry but I Just don't agree. It isn't samsung's responsibility to save you from yourself. You are grown and you take responsibility for your own actions. You break it by being careless, you pay to fix it. That's how the real world works.

Actually... it is how the real world works. Every product you touch, use, consume, etc... all has several design elements whose sole purpose is to avoid a similar situation and protect you from yourself. I've been in software QA for a long long time and in near every situation where the developer is saying "I'm not going to change it, the user shouldn't do that" and the QA says "Doesn't matter, we can address it so it can't happen", the QA argument wins. And in the few instances where they didn't win, it was usually because it was caught too late in the cycle, in which the issue gets addressed post-release. In instances where the product breaks, it gets addressed, every time.

Now, sometimes these potential problems should have been caught before release.. which I think the S-Pen issue most certainly should have. I can only guess that that switch was the result of a design change late in the development cycle and not properly tested... or they discovered it too late to change it. That happens more than people think. But other issues, well, they just can't be caught.

A perfect example of this, albeit a much more extreme example, is the huge ignition recall that GM had to do back in 2014... the one where the ignition mechanism was getting worn out by people who had everything but the kitchen sink on their keychains. GM caught a lot of flak for that, but from a testing standpoint, who would have thought to ask that question during the R&D phase? Now, the simple answer would be "Stop doing that!", but 6 people died as a result of the airbags not going off due to the ignition failure. GM recalled 1.6 million+ cars.

 

[bassplayrguy]

Actually... it is how the real world works. Every product you touch, use, consume, etc... all has several design elements whose sole purpose is to avoid a similar situation and protect you from yourself. I've been in software QA for a long long time and in near every situation where the developer is saying "I'm not going to change it, the user shouldn't do that" and the QA says "Doesn't matter, we can address it so it can't happen", the QA argument wins. And in the few instances where they didn't win, it was usually because it was caught too late in the cycle, in which the issue gets addressed post-release. In instances where the product breaks, it gets addressed, every time.

Now, sometimes these potential problems should have been caught before release.. which I think the S-Pen issue most certainly should have. I can only guess that that switch was the result of a design change late in the development cycle and not properly tested... or they discovered it too late to change it. That happens more than people think. But other issues, well, they just can't be caught.

A perfect example of this, albeit a much more extreme example, is the huge ignition recall that GM had to do back in 2014... the one where the ignition mechanism was getting worn out by people who had everything but the kitchen sink on their keychains. GM caught a lot of flak for that, but from a testing standpoint, who would have thought to ask that question during the R&D phase? Now, the simple answer would be "Stop doing that!", but 6 people died as a result of the airbags not going off due to the ignition failure. GM recalled 1.6 million+ cars.

And this is partly why phones are 800 plus dollars. I see where you are coming from and I agree that a lot of companies do it. I just don't agree with it. I am in transportation and have been a mechanic for years so I see a lot of stupid and if the manufacturers had to go back and redesign antistupid devices everytime I saw someone put gas in a diesel truck or any number of similar stupid attacks, they would all be bankrupt. The public opinion would be there is a design flaw in this truck because you are physical able to put the wrong fuel in it, there by blowing your engine. We can respectfully agree to disagree.