Confirmed: the S Pen smells kind of bad

The stinky stylus successful question. | Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge

I smelled the S Pen, and the reports are true: it benignant of stinks.

The S Pen is 1 of the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra’s signature features — it’s a stylus that lives successful the phone. A study from Reddit idiosyncratic LatifYil kicked disconnected the S Pen aroma discussion earlier this week, noting that the S Pen connected their Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra “absolutely reeks.” Dozens of commenters with S24 Ultras (and earlier stylus-toting Galaxy phones) responded successful affirmation: their styli stank.

As noted by SamMobile, a moderator connected Samsung’s EU assemblage forums offered a tenable explanation for the smell:

This isn’t thing to beryllium acrophobic about. While the S Pen is successful its holster, it is adjacent to the interior components of the phone, which volition make vigor portion successful use, and origin the integrative to vigor up. This tin odor similar burning, but it is akin to the odor you mightiness acquisition aft leaving your car successful the prima for a fewer hours. The seats and integrative fittings successful the conveyance mightiness odor hot, but this volition diminish aft it cools.

Being a precise superior reporter, I conducted my ain exhaustive research: playing Pocket City 2 for 20 minutes successful escaped roam mode. That truly heats a telephone up, and the S24 Ultra was rather lukewarm to the interaction by the extremity of my gaming session. I popped the S Pen retired of its silo and gave it a sniff.

It’s a benignant of concern aroma to me, and I deliberation commenters who called it a “burnt plastic” odor are spot-on. My husband’s statement was little charitable: “It smells similar [expletive] farts.” I besides surveyed a person who owns an S24 Ultra. His effect erstwhile I texted asking him to odor his phone’s S Pen: “Excuse me?” We’ll telephone that 1 inconclusive.

The forum moderator who explained the S Pen’s smelliness mentioned that the odor diminishes implicit time. I tin corroborate that aft sitting extracurricular of the telephone for astir an hour, the stylus is little stinky than erstwhile it archetypal came out. And if thing else, astatine slightest present we cognize what the S successful S Pen stands for.