Robert Triggs/Android Authority
long story short
- The S Pen inside the Galaxy S24 Ultra has a smell similar to burnt plastic. The S Pen on previous Ultra models also had this smell.
- The internal heat of the Galaxy S24 Ultra may react with the plastic on the S Pen, which may cause this smell.
The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is one of the best Android flagship phones you can buy right now. It has many amazing and unique features, from the anti-reflective coating on the display to the versatile camera setup to the innovative S Pen. But if you have a Galaxy S24 Ultra or a previous Galaxy S Ultra, you may want to avoid sniffing the S Pen. It turns out that the S Pen smells really bad.
Reddit user LatifYil posted an interesting observation about the Galaxy S24 Ultra’s S Pen. To them, the S Pen “absolutely stinks” and is like “being grilled on the inside.” A post on Reddit prompted many people to smell their S Pens, and sure enough, many thought the S Pen on the Galaxy S24 Ultra stinks.
Just for science and science purposes, I smelled the S Pen on the Galaxy S24 Ultra and it sure smelled bad. The smell is best described as “semi-burnt plastic.” You need to hold the S Pen under your nose to smell it, so there won’t be too much smell here. However, some users noticed a smell of burnt plastic while playing mobile games, although they did not associate it with the S Pen.
The Galaxy S24 Ultra’s S Pen smells like burnt plastic.
Once you smell the smell of burnt plastic, you can’t undo the experience. As far as I’m concerned, the Galaxy S24 Ultra’s S Pen isn’t used that frequently, so its hygiene isn’t compromised in any way. Just to be doubly sure, before you comment, I wash my hands thoroughly before smelling it.
To me, the theory that the Galaxy S24 Ultra’s internal heat is slowly cooking the plastic on the S Pen seems to have some weight. But I don’t think this is an issue of particular concern as I saw no obvious damage to the S Pen or its plastic cover. I’ve owned the Galaxy S21 Ultra, Galaxy S22 Ultra, and Galaxy S23 Ultra in the past, and after a year of ownership, the S Pens on those devices remain the same shape and quality (although I didn’t smell the S Pen, so I can’t confirm it Does it smell bad on these devices too).
When a similar question was posted on the Samsung Community Forum, one moderator responded that heat from inside the phone could cause the S Pen plastic to heat up.
Users mentioned that previous Galaxy S Ultra models had the same S Pen odor. An externally mounted S Pen may not have this burnt plastic smell, but its hygiene may be just as problematic.
I have contacted Samsung for comment on the S Pen smell. I will update this post when I hear back from them.
If you can smell the smell on your device, let us know in the comments. Yes, that means a lot of us are sniffing the S Pen right now. For science!