Don't put your pen in backwards!

[jdhooghe]

So just like "bendgate" take personal responsibility for your 800+ dollar device and treat it with respect and awareness. We can't put labels on everything.

Sent from my sexy Note 5 beast

 

[KillerNut]

I can hear the scraping noise and feel the difference the second the wrong end goes in.

If this truly is the case, then I would agree it isn't a design flaw.

 

[anon8380037]

Early Note devices had an S-Pen where the end had a little edge on it with a slant (see pic below) where it could only be inserted one way (edge had to be pointed to the back of the device). People complained about it wanting the ability to put the S-Pen in either way. So with the Note 3 they re-designed it removing the edge on the end. Obviously that opened up the possibility of inserting it backend first. But IMHO, it is easily avoidable with a little attention to which end you're about to put in!

What's avoidable with constant vigilance and attention?
If the danger doesn't exist there's nothing to avoid.

 

[Erika Criger]

What wording did you use when you called? When I called Samsung, they told me that it would cost money to repair it.

 

[debdroid1a]

The bottom line to me is that it should not be this easy to damage your device. I can imagine kids running around phone stores doing this to all the Note 5s on display, once they know about this "vulnerability".

If this happens to you please speak up. That's the only way to get Samsung to listen and fix the issue or make future versions better.
.

The T-Mobile store I went to took out the Spen after I got there, just in case. They've been known to "walk off". But it could still happen with others trying out the phone and not realizing. I had never used a note before so it might not have occurred to me and done by accident. I'm glad I saw this thread.

 

[Erika Criger]

Called Verizon. Verizon said to call Samsung. I called Samsung and described the situation. They said since it's a hardware issue under warranty, they will repair it for free. They are sending me a shipping label. Turn around time is about 1.5 weeks.

So I guess this is good news. BUT PLEASE DO NOT TRY THIS if this didn't happen to you. If enough people call in with this problem, I am afraid Samsung may decide to say enough and stop offering free repairs.

What wording did you use when you called? When I spoke with Samsung they told me it would cost money to repair it.

 

[anon(394005)]

What's avoidable with constant vigilance and attention?
If the danger doesn't exist there's nothing to avoid.

Haha, life is fraught with it. I was trying to be tactful with my previous post, but to be honest I think Forest Gump and Ron White had the best expressions on the topic...

 

[GalaticBoar]

What wording did you use when you called? When I spoke with Samsung they told me it would cost money to repair it.

I specifically said that there was nothing in the manual, on the device, or the pen itself saying you are not supposed to insert it the other way. I said it should have something to prevent inserting the wrong way. I also said previous Note devices didn't have this problem.

I guess it depends on who you talk to also.

 

[GalaticBoar]

If this truly is the case, then I would agree it isn't a design flaw.

I am not sure what Kelly Kearns was describing. For me it went in very smoothly. There may have been a little bit of resistance when the clicker met the notch but it only took a tiny bit of force to push it over.

I made a video to demonstrate. Obviously my pen doesn't have the clicker anymore so I am not sure how realistic of a demonstration this is... but I believe the clicker and the middle part of the pen have very similar rectangular dimensions. I cannot post links but if you go to YouTube and search for "Galaxy Note 5 - S Pen sliding in backwards on gravity alone" you will find my video.

 

[Snarky_TX]

[Inappropriate attacks on ambassadors removed by moderators]

Anyways, this is going to be a common issue popping up for sure, 2 days in and I already have seen a bunch of users with this problem. It is simply a bad design and it is quite easy to ruin your 50$ s-pen with this problem. There is no reason they should have designed it in the matter. The button tip should be bigger than the hole and there should be an area in the casing machined out slightly bigger to allow it to sit flush. It will be an easy revision if they choose to do it, otherwise I foresee some social media anger in the not too distant future, if the Note 5 Active doesn't quickly overshadow this model.

This major problem is that the S-pen clicker gets stuck in the holster port after you extract it after putting it in backwards. Inside the holster port is little catches that normally keep the s-pen in place, when the clicker button engages this it becomes stuck to the point where it can pop off the s-pen when extracting it. The good news is that the button can be extracted, you have to build a tool to do so.

The tool you need a long, thin rod with a small barb on the end of it. You insert this tool into the space between the button body and the holster port walls, you twist it in so the barbed hook engages the button body then you pull. Eventually you can work the button out.

You can build this tool from a relatively thick paper clip. Straighten the paper clip out, bend one side into a handle and the other side into a small hook. Use a pair of wire cutters to cut the hook into a small sharp point. When using this extraction tool you make need to utilize a small pair of pliers on the handle to get enough force both when twisting and when pulling out.

Let me be clear, I have no idea if this make cause damage to the internals of the holster port, but it beats sending it out for warranty with a button stuck inside it. Once replacement Note-5 S-pens are out I'll test to see if there is any damage. I may try to repair my s-pen with a small bit of epoxy on the button mating nib. But I'll do some testing before I try to stick it back inside (in the correct orientation).

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Finally, here is that little bugger extracted. Like I said, I'm going to see if I can reuse it.

Thank you guys, hope this helps some of you.

 

[anon8380037]

Haha, life is fraught with it. I was trying to be tactful with my previous post, but to be honest I think Forest Gump and Ron White had the best expressions on the topic...

You may have thought I was coming from the "there's no problem" side, I wasn't, but OK.

 

[Aquila]

Please observe the previous moderator statement regarding trolling. Thanks!

 

[anon(394005)]

You may have thought I was coming from the "there's no problem" side, I wasn't, but OK.

No problem, my bad. I got you. Don't mind me, I'm often in left field not making any sense (even to myself! ).

 

[LeoRex]

OK... I've spent the better part of my adult life in quality assurance. One of the biggest efforts in any kind of project is negative path testing. It is the most challenging and the the area of biggest risk. It is figuring out what could go wrong and trying to find a way to avoid the situation and keep it from happening.

So should people be careful with inserting the S-Pen? Of course! This is a device that is worth several hundred dollars and isn't designed for outright abusive operation. But.... if inserting the pen backwards causes a permanent malfunction even if you don't do it with a lot of force, which this appears to be a case of, well, than I think it is something that should be (or should have been) addressed. Yes, it is a mistake on the part of the user, but the damage that is caused seems as if it could be easily avoided. All our products have design elements that are there specifically to keep bad stuff from happening when a user/owner does something stupid. Plugs that only go in one way, switches that can't be turned unless they SHOULD be turned, kill switches on snowblowers so you can't walk around to the front and stick your hand in while it is turning, etc... Yes, we shouldn't do silly things, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't design our things to not rip our arms off when we do.

If I was doing any product testing on this, putting it in backwards would have most likely been one of the first things I would have tested... and I would have raised it as a design flaw and pushed to have it addressed. Now, what happened in this case? I don't know... I don't work at Samsung. But I find it hard to believe that they weren't aware of what would happen.

 

[Aquila]

If I was doing any product testing on this, putting it in backwards would have most likely been one of the first things I would have tested...

I would have punched the phone in the face to see how it does with sudden impacts...

The rest of your post I agree with. This Pen doesn't seem like a last second idea that was just thrown in there, the device is sorta built around it.

 

[anon8380037]

It sparks of a very deferential culture within Samsung, where hierarchy is everything, and an engineer can raise a concern once, but if it doesn't fit in with their manager's targets, or it will make themselves look incompetent to their peers, it is brushed away.
If true, Samsung would need to recognise it and change their South Korean ways.

I think Japanese car makers, for example, who have plants in the UK and I'm sure the US, have established a good listening culture among staff.

Reminiscent of the old deferential culture in an airliner cockpit, where the co-pilot would see a problem, but was afraid to overrule the captain.

Pure speculation on my part, and I could be talking balderdash, but human nature - don't you love it?

 

[OceanView]

Plugs that only go in one way, switches that can't be turned unless they SHOULD be turned, kill switches on snowblowers so you can't walk around to the front and stick your hand in while it is turning, etc... Yes, we shouldn't do silly things, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't design our things to not rip our arms off when we do.

If I was doing any product testing on this, putting it in backwards would have most likely been one of the first things I would have tested... and I would have raised it as a design flaw and pushed to have it addressed. Now, what happened in this case? I don't know... I don't work at Samsung. But I find it hard to believe that they weren't aware of what would happen.

Product testing for an item like a snow blower is expected as it can kill or severely maim a person but a stylus from a phone? Common, this is a phone mostly used by adults who should understand that if you pulled the stylus out in one direction, you should put it back in the same direction.

 

[anon(394005)]

Product testing for an item like a snow blower is expected as it can kill or severely maim a person but a stylus from a phone? Common, this is a phone mostly used by adults who should understand that if you pulled the stylus out in one direction, you should put it back in the same direction.

Exactly! I've had three Note devices to date (ex. Note 2, OG Note 10.1, and Note 4) and have NEVER ever attempted (even inadvertently) to put the S-Pen back in its silo the wrong way!

 

[LeoRex]

Product testing for an item like a snow blower is expected as it can kill or severely maim a person but a stylus from a phone? Common, this is a phone mostly used by adults who should understand that if you pulled the stylus out in one direction, you should put it back in the same direction.

It's an extreme case, but it's the same concept. These things can be avoided. And yes, you can't make everything foolproof, but you still try.

 

[barry99705]

Tell that to the kid in the back seat that want's to play Angry Birds. Yes, most adults know better, but most kids? Probably not. Besides, who would have thought it would physically break the phone by inserting it backwards?