Pengate blues? Video shows how to safely get the Note 5 S Pen out

The Samsung Galaxy Note 5 has quickly become the subject of its own “gate”, pengate as some are calling it. If you haven’t already heard, inserting the S Pen backwards on the Note 5 will cause it to get stuck inside and removing it could break an important S Pen sensor. Thankfully, a new video demonstrates a way to get your pen out safely without damaging the sensor.

Basically, a piece of paper can be pushed into the hole and used to safely lift the sensor. Once this is done, you can pull out the S Pen without a problem. The video goes into a great length of detail about how the sensor gets stuck, how far you have to insert it, and more. You also get to see the inside of the Note 5, making it much easier to follow along.

Is Pengate a big deal?

Is this really S Pen drama really a big deal? Personally, I don’t think so. Sure, it is a design flaw, as making it impossible to fully insert the S Pen backwards would have been a good failsafe to prevent people (or, more likely, young kids) from doing stupid things with an $800 device. That said, the odds of this happening to your Note 5 are pretty slim and we have a feeling most of the reports of stuck pens came because people were curious if the “pengate” claims were legit.

For what it is worth, I currently have the Note 5 in my possession, and while I’m not foolish enough to fully insert the pen in backwards, I did test putting in just the “eraser tip” and can tell you that, even if you aren’t looking while inserting, you should be able to feel/hear the difference in my opinion.

It is true that there is no resistance or forcing needed to put it in backwards, but it still feels and sounds differently. The pen side slides in without fully touch the sides, while the Note 5 eraser goes in easily but you can slightly feel/hear it touching the sides thanks to the metallic plate with the “Samsung” logo on it. While it would be possible to ignore or miss this, those that are careful probably would detect the difference before fully inserting into the holder deeply enough for it to get stuck.

What do you think, is this S Pen drama being blown out of proportion or do you think that Samsung really messed up big here? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.