Phone

Even though the Galaxy Note brand was retired a few years ago, the iconic S Pen lives on through the Ultra-labeled Galaxy S flagships and Galaxy Tabs. And if you are an S Pen user, here's an interesting finding you might want to be aware of to avoid S Pen issues.

It turns out that some magnetic phone cases and accessories can meddle with the S Pen and render it unusable.

S Pen problems? Get rid of magnets

Here's one example of this problem: Third-party cases with MagSafe-like designs incorporate strong magnets, and the magnetic field they generate can interfere with the S Pen's electromagnetic resonance field.

This field allows the display to determine the S Pen's position with pinpoint accuracy. And when the electromagnetic resonance field is disturbed by an outside magnetic field generated by an accessory, the S Pen can become inaccurate or even unresponsive.

Such an issue revolving around a MagSafe-style case for the Galaxy S23 Ultra was highlighted by ETnews. We tested this theory and found that any magnetic field can interfere with the S Pen — not just MagSafe-style cases.

For testing purposes, we stuck the charging puck of a Galaxy Watch to the back of the Galaxy S23 Ultra and tried to jot something down using the S Pen. Even though the charging puck has a relatively weak magnetic pull, it still caused the S Pen to be unresponsive. You can see how the S Pen behaved in our short screen recording below.

The good news is that the issue is not permanent. Magnetic cases and accessories for Galaxy phones shouldn't permanently break the S Pen, but as long as their magnetic fields interfere with the S Pen, the input device will seem defective.

Needless to say, if you experience such issues with the S Pen, the obvious solution is to remove any magnetic accessories from your Galaxy phone.

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Mihai Matei - Blogger

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First Samsung device: SGH-A800

Mihai is a blogger and column writer at SamMobile. His first Samsung phone was an A800 which took a lot of beating, and a part of him still misses the novelty of the clamshell design. In his free time, he enjoys watching shows, documentaries, and stand-up comedy; listening to music, taking walks, and occasionally playing old(er) video games.

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