Samsung Galaxy Note 7 Faulty S-Pen Exposed; Apple Rival Offers Free Replacement

Despite marketing the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 S-Pen as a stylus that can be inserted into the phablet backwards, it seems that the redesigned stylus is not flaw-free.

GSM Arena reported on Wednesday that the new S-Pen could get stuck in its slot when its mechanical button stops clicking. The tech site noted that when the button fails to click, ejecting the stylus would be a problem, unless the Galaxy Note 7 owner does not mind hitting the S-Pen’s hole so the stylus could come out.

The faulty S-Pen for the Note 7 may be a sporadic problem for now since there are only few complaints about the stylus online. On YouTube, there are a couple of videos (like the one below) that expose how this mechanical failure exist. And while some users claim that the problem is only present in devices that have been submerged in water, there are actually complaints from users who have never exposed their handsets to water.

To address the issue, Samsung has been handing out S-Pen replacements to Note 7 owners with faulty S-Pen. The South Korea giant, per an unnamed employee who disclosed this matter to GSM Arena, has acknowledged the problem, so it has instructed its employees to offer replacements to customers for free.

Owners who can remove their faulty S-Pen with a pin will be provided with new styluses on site, while those with faulty styluses that are seemingly impossible to remove will be asked to have their devices sent for service removal and for them to receive replacement S-Pen styluses.

This problem with the Note 7’s S-Pen is actually reminiscent of the “pen-gate” issue the Galaxy Note 5’s stylus came with. In January, TechnoBuffalo reported that the S-Pen of the older device would get stuck when it is slid into its slot in the wrong way. And this is seen as a problem because Samsung also marketed the Note 5’s S-Pen as one that could be slid in either direction.

At the time, Samsung reportedly addressed the issue by modifying the S-Pen slot of the newer copies of its Galaxy Note 5. However, the company failed to provide a solution to older copies of the device.

The report about the faulty S-Pen of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 comes amid complaints of exploding handsets and bootlooping and bricking devices.