Samsung to recall Galaxy Note 7, will replace all devices

Shawn Knight

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Update: Samsung on Friday issued a statement in which it said they have stopped sales of the Galaxy Note 7 and will voluntarily replace all sold devices over the coming weeks.

Samsung earlier this week said it was delaying shipments of its flagship Galaxy Note 7 smartphone in order to conduct additional product quality tests. Although the Samsung representative didn’t specify the nature of the tests, scuttlebutt suggested it may be related to a potential battery defect.

Those tests have reportedly resulted in the discovery of a faulty battery that will trigger an unprecedented recall of all new Galaxy Note 7 handsets according to a report from Yonhap News Agency.

Citing a Samsung official that wished to remain anonymous, the South Korean electronics giant will announce the results of its investigation as early as this weekend or early next week. The official said products installed with the faulty battery account for less than 0.1 percent of the entire volume sold and that the issue can be resolved simply by swapping out the battery.

The most important thing, the official told the publication, is the safety of their customers and that they don’t want to disappoint their loyal fans.

The recall likely won’t happen Friday as Samsung is still talking with US-based wireless carriers and other business partners on the matter. That said, the official affirms that Samsung has no intentions of delaying the recall announcement or hiding the results of its investigation.

Industry watchers tell the publication that Samsung could use the recall to upgrade its credibility with customers, assuming of course that it handles things promptly and convincingly.

Keep in mind that as of writing, nothing has been confirmed by Samsung which puts this squarely in the rumor category.

Image courtesy TechRadar

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Well, no matter what you think, it is nice to know that there are still a few companies out there that go out and do the right thing without having to be dragged through courts for 5 years before acting! A tip of the hat to the Samsung management.
 
If it is indeed 0.1% of the volume, I do give them credit for the recall but it is no secret that Li-ion batteries are a huge safety risk and that has been very prominent over the last few years. I'm pretty disappointed that the QA was so poor that they have needed to issue a product recall of their flagship phablet product.
 
Now if they just called back everything else they make shoddily. Had couple of monitors and a tv from them and they all sucked in quality, most broke right after warranty. Says something that the biggest store here gives 3 years warranty to every tv except samsung.
 
...the issue can be resolved simply by swapping out the battery.
I must know more about this! Is it possible that their built-in battery is not actually built-in?
 
LiOn batteries are nothing more than a BOMB waiting to go off. So much energy stored in such a compact spot.
If the thermistors or thermal cutoffs in the battery fail, the destruction potential is HUGE.
 
LiOn batteries are nothing more than a BOMB waiting to go off. So much energy stored in such a compact spot.
If the thermistors or thermal cutoffs in the battery fail, the destruction potential is HUGE.
there is no energy literally being stored.
but it can start a fire really easily if there is a fault in how the battery is constructed, as you mentioned.
 
...the issue can be resolved simply by swapping out the battery.
I must know more about this! Is it possible that their built-in battery is not actually built-in?

Well... technically speaking, Yes? Built in as far as not being able to easily swap it out. I mean, yes, It's built in.... but it looks like there's a simple connector, and that it's not soldered directly to the pcb.

Take a look at the teardown.
https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Samsung+Galaxy+Note7+Teardown/66389
 
This is a nice contrast to last week's news of Apple telling their customers to go and buy a new phone. How a company handles after sale support is pretty indicative as to what kind of company it is.
 
Have had my Note7 from T-mobile since the release date and I have not noticed any issues when charging. Although I use induction charging 95% of the time, and the only time I plug it in directly to a charging cable is in the car but the phone. I don't very often let the phone get down below 20 or 30% as I have it charging most of the time. The phone gets a bit warm when charging, especially if I do let it get down to 15 or 20% battery life, but it doesn't seem to get warm enough to be any concern I don't think. I'm using original Samsung cables, not 3rd party cables and I wonder if that may be an issue. Has anyone heard the batteries that failed did so while induction charging or cable charging? Just wondering.
 
Have had my Note7 from T-mobile since the release date and I have not noticed any issues when charging. Although I use induction charging 95% of the time, and the only time I plug it in directly to a charging cable is in the car but the phone. I don't very often let the phone get down below 20 or 30% as I have it charging most of the time. The phone gets a bit warm when charging, especially if I do let it get down to 15 or 20% battery life, but it doesn't seem to get warm enough to be any concern I don't think. I'm using original Samsung cables, not 3rd party cables and I wonder if that may be an issue. Has anyone heard the batteries that failed did so while induction charging or cable charging? Just wondering.

The problem is the battery so either charging method should be affected but the fact that wireless charging is only 5 watts vs the stock wired charger of 15w is definitely a larger factor. It's obvious anyone using wireless charging aren't going to be nearly as affected.
 
Have had my Note7 from T-mobile since the release date and I have not noticed any issues when charging. Although I use induction charging 95% of the time, and the only time I plug it in directly to a charging cable is in the car but the phone. I don't very often let the phone get down below 20 or 30% as I have it charging most of the time. The phone gets a bit warm when charging, especially if I do let it get down to 15 or 20% battery life, but it doesn't seem to get warm enough to be any concern I don't think. I'm using original Samsung cables, not 3rd party cables and I wonder if that may be an issue. Has anyone heard the batteries that failed did so while induction charging or cable charging? Just wondering.

From what I've learned and read about batteries, it's good to exercise their full potential. I forget what the term is called, but if you always keep it charged, or only let it drop to 50% then it starts to think that's all the power that exists within the battery. Maybe someone more knowledgeable than myself can give you the details or just google the information and you'll find what you need.
 
Hmm.. with replaceable batteries, they could publicize what S#/lot number of batteries are failing and Overnight a replacement battery to the affected users at a Huge cost savings..
jus' sayin'..
 
On a more positive note, you can expect about 2 million factory refurbished Note 7s to hit the market world wide in a couple of months from now, hopefully at a good price (and VERY thoroughly tested).
 
On a more positive note, you can expect about 2 million factory refurbished Note 7s to hit the market world wide in a couple of months from now, hopefully at a good price (and VERY thoroughly tested).
all of them will be sold at the normal price.
 
all of them will be sold at the normal price.
Whoa, not so fast. That's going to depend on the company in particular.

I'm routinely able to get, "refurbished" Nikon DSLR bodies at substantial savings. Some of these, I believe, are merely overstock, as you can't tell them from new. I read out the shutter activations on one of my "refurbs", and as it turned out, the only ones recorded, were the ones I did while testing it.

This is granted sort of an apples to oranges comparison. But still, a maker gets to "white box" those goods, and generally speaking, the warranty goes from maybe a couple of years down to 90 days.

It does, I'll grant you, perhaps depend on the vendor. Still, they can't ethically sell you a "used" product from a recall and call it "new".
 
Replying to (ever growing - see also 'usual suspects') Absolute Statements based upon Insufficient Data (or None) will definitely keep your callouses firm, lol.
 
I'm kind of wondering why they started shipping to the market before completing all quality tests : \
 
Whoa, not so fast. That's going to depend on the company in particular.

I'm routinely able to get, "refurbished" Nikon DSLR bodies at substantial savings. Some of these, I believe, are merely overstock, as you can't tell them from new. I read out the shutter activations on one of my "refurbs", and as it turned out, the only ones recorded, were the ones I did while testing it.

This is granted sort of an apples to oranges comparison. But still, a maker gets to "white box" those goods, and generally speaking, the warranty goes from maybe a couple of years down to 90 days.

It does, I'll grant you, perhaps depend on the vendor. Still, they can't ethically sell you a "used" product from a recall and call it "new".
it's not ethical, but they will indeed will be sold as new. they have no reason to sell them as refurbished since these phones are still factory new even with the replaced battery. this does not depend on the vendor, but on Samsung.
 
it's not ethical, but they will indeed will be sold as new. they have no reason to sell them as refurbished since these phones are still factory new even with the replaced battery. this does not depend on the vendor, but on Samsung.
. "The official said products installed with the faulty battery account for less than 0.1 percent of the entire volume sold and that the issue can be resolved simply by swapping out the battery".

So, none of them hit customer's hands, even though they are calling them "sold"?
 
. "The official said products installed with the faulty battery account for less than 0.1 percent of the entire volume sold and that the issue can be resolved simply by swapping out the battery".

So, none of them hit customer's hands, even though they are calling them "sold"?
yes, most of those will get "cleaned up" and be sold as new. you have to remember than it's Samsung that is recalling them, not the vendor. even the phones that weren't sold are being recalled.
 
LiOn batteries are nothing more than a BOMB waiting to go off. So much energy stored in such a compact spot.
If the thermistors or thermal cutoffs in the battery fail, the destruction potential is HUGE.
That's not really the point. It's the way they can spiral out of stability which is unlike other mainstream battery tech.
 
yes, most of those will get "cleaned up" and be sold as new. you have to remember than it's Samsung that is recalling them, not the vendor. even the phones that weren't sold are being recalled.
You still have me a bit confused. It's pretty much always the "manufacturer" who does recalls. In the case of an automobile, the "vendor" (car dealership), would be the one actually doing the repairs. (OK, in this scenario, "new", "used", or, "refurbished" are all out of context, moot points if you will, as the car is simply not going to be replaced).

AFAIK, "vendors" don't do recalls, they act as the agent of the manufacturer.

So, I can see new, never sold stock being exchanged by Samsung, having the batteries replaced, and returned to dealers as "new". (it is, after all, "new").

What I can't picture is a phone which has been in a customer's hands, exchanged, and then being sold as "new".
 
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