The Galaxy Note 7 is in the news once more. After the torrid PR firestorm last year, Samsung has decided to relaunch the device exclusively in its home country. The Galaxy Note, now dubbed the ‘Fan Edition’, will be released on the July 7 and only around 400,000 units are being produced, although this number is expected to increase. According to reports, the phone will cost around $610 USD, about $300 USD cheaper than the original Galaxy Note 7 when it came out just under a year ago.
Around that time it was the most anticipated Android device of 2016, up until Samsung issued an unprecedented recall. Several online postings from buyers at the time, revealed the phone combusting while charging. Samsung took immediate action to address the situation, with a worldwide recall. It was shocking to see a manufacturer issue a recall on such a grand scale. Usually if reports filter in about problems with a product, the company would offer a refund or to exchange the device with a new one. Samsung on the other hand, seemingly knowing the full scale of the issue, took a giant step to bring back in their flagship device for investigation. Several online publications at the time estimated that the recall’s cost amounted to $1-2 billion USD. Now they say the cost was close to $3 billion USD.
Issuing the recall certainly made them look noble in their customers’ eyes. Samsung was terrified of a damaged reputation, however phone combustion is not something customers would forget in a hurry. Not to mention this might affect their stance with the increasing competition from other companies such as Apple and Huawei.
After a three month investigation to solve the mystery of the Note 7 Fiasco, two different issues were the culprit. According to Samsung, the problem which affected the first batch of Galaxy Note 7 phones was the battery being too large for the casing. This battery defect caused some of the released devices to overheat. Having issued the initial recall for the Note 7 phones, Samsung started manufacturing the new ones with batteries from a different supplier. The South Korean company however was in a rush to get the new phones back onto the market, and completely missed another defect in the newly provided batteries. This caused the new phones to experience overheating problems similar to the previous batch. In an effort to prevent such a situation from every happening again, Samsung developed a new eight-point battery check ensuring future devices won’t suffer the same fate as the Galaxy Note 7.
Beneath recall incident the Galaxy Note 7 is arguably the best Android phone released last year, with highly favourable reviews from multiple sites and individuals. It’s surely Samsung’s hope that last year’s incident does not totally overshadow what is still considered to be an A class product.
This news of the Note 7 relaunch comes on the heels of the latest Samsung Galaxy Note 8 leak, which revealed some of the device’s specifications and starting price. With the Galaxy Note 8 expected to drop sometime in the upcoming months, Samsung’s future plans for the Note 8 will be worth keeping an eye on.
