Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra owners are taking it to community forums to report an unusual issue with the flagship phone: an awful odor that smells like burnt plastic. Users are reporting that this smell is coming from the phone’s stylus, the S Pen.
Users’ complaints originally started from Reddit, where an S24 Ultra owner who goes by the username LatifYill reported that the S Pen on his phone “absolutely reeks.” This problem was quickly confirmed by several others in the comment section.
Comments on the Reddit post included several people describing the same issue with different words. One user called the S Pen a “stinky boi” while others described the odor as that of burnt plastic. Some even said the smell was something similar to that of a “cybertruck”, for some concerning reason.
While certain users speculated about the source of the odor emanating from the S Pen, Samsung’s EU community forum moderator offered a different perspective. According to the moderator, the proximity of the S Pen to internal components results in heat buildup during storage. This phenomenon, he explains, gives rise to a distinct “hot plastic” aroma, akin to the scent experienced in a car left under the sun.
The issue is not limited to the latest generation Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra either as several owners have pointed out that the S23 Ultra and S22 Ultra have similar problems, as reported by 9to5Google. Folks over at Gizmochina also confirmed that their S22 Ultra had a similar smell, though it was not that strong.
The smell appears to be limited to S series phones as 9to5Google added that their Note 20 Ultra did not have the same problem. This disparity could potentially be attributed to its glossy finish in contrast to the rubberized coating found on newer models.
