Samsung Confirms the Note 7 Is Coming Back as a Refurbished Device

Megalith

Megalith

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The Note 7 just refuses to die: Samsung has announced that the device will be re-sold in specific countries, probably with a smaller battery and possibly under a different name. I think there is some risk here of another incident, but the decision does make sense to some degree—aside from the battery, practically all of the other components that comprise the Note 7 are perfectly usable, so it would be a severe waste to just trash all 4.3 million recalled devices.

…the company has released a statement regarding its plans to recycle Note 7 devices. The process comes in three parts: save salvageable components such as camera modules and semiconductors, extract metal parts with the help from “eco-friendly” third-party companies, and sell refurbished devices “where applicable.” The announcement appears to walk back on what Samsung initially pledged last fall, when it said it would dispose of the Note 7 and had no plans to repair or refurbish them. Instead, Samsung has confirmed it will work with local authorities and carriers to sell it as a refurbished device, rumored to come with a smaller battery to prevent it from overheating and catching fire.
 
something tells me that it'd be hilarious/disastrous if the root problem turned out to not be the battery but something else.

But I think SS knows better and have already gone through rigorous testing to check for any potential flaws.

Still, I will most likely treat this as a refurbished device, IE avoid at all costs.
 
If I could ship one in with a fixed battery for super-cheap, I'd probably do so. I'm basing this on the assumption that they're going to dump these in emerging markets for somewhere barely north of the component value of the phones. Given the choice between a "refurb" Note 7 with the additional functionality of the Note series and other phones likely to be in the same price range, it seems like a good deal.
 
chenw said:
something tells me that it'd be hilarious/disastrous if the root problem turned out to not be the battery but something else.

But I think SS knows better and have already gone through rigorous testing to check for any potential flaws.

Still, I will most likely treat this as a refurbished device, IE avoid at all costs.
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They already released the investigation notes..it was the battery. The battery had a defect that combined with a space with no room for expansion basically made the device a failure waiting to happen. For that matter it is always the battery, there hasn't been a single instance of phones exploding that it wasn't the battery. This is why some of us are adamantly opposed to non removable battery designs. Not to mention the laundry list of other reasons why it is a terrible design.
 
Not going to be sold in the US is what I read. Good luck to them but not a chance that I would buy it.
 
Dekoth-E- said:
They already released the investigation notes..it was the battery. The battery had a defect that combined with a space with no room for expansion basically made the device a failure waiting to happen. For that matter it is always the battery, there hasn't been a single instance of phones exploding that it wasn't the battery. This is why some of us are adamantly opposed to non removable battery designs. Not to mention the laundry list of other reasons why it is a terrible design.
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Then why not just replace the battery with ones that weren't defective?
 
Dekoth-E- said:
They already released the investigation notes..it was the battery. The battery had a defect that combined with a space with no room for expansion basically made the device a failure waiting to happen. For that matter it is always the battery, there hasn't been a single instance of phones exploding that it wasn't the battery. This is why some of us are adamantly opposed to non removable battery designs. Not to mention the laundry list of other reasons why it is a terrible design.
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I am well aware that the Battery is the thing that explodes, there is literally nothing else in that phone capable of exploding in such a fashion.

Even with the investigation, a lot of people also expect the battery to also be the CAUSE of the explosions.

I am not entirely sure of it, I am a bit more open to something causing the battery to explode. Saying the battery design is flawed and it was a disaster waiting to happen is a bit too convenient, that design should have never left the drawing board in the first place.
 
Hypergreatthing said:
Then why not just replace the battery with ones that weren't defective?
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because they already had a stigma for being blowy-uppy.

so recalling all phones and refurbishing them means there are no phones in captivity that still have the blowy-uppy battery.

they'll still have the stigma and still won't be allowed on planes or anything so....
 
If you could pick one up super cheap, root it, disable the cell signal you could have an awesome mp3 player.
 
Master_shake_ said:
because they already had a stigma for being blowy-uppy.

so recalling all phones and refurbishing them means there are no phones in captivity that still have the blowy-uppy battery.

they'll still have the stigma and still won't be allowed on planes or anything so....
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But i could take the battery and put it in a different samsung and still get the same blowing up effects.
 
They need to rename this phone to "The Phoenix." Explanation is pretty self-explanatory. :LOL:
 
chenw said:
I am well aware that the Battery is the thing that explodes, there is literally nothing else in that phone capable of exploding in such a fashion.

Even with the investigation, a lot of people also expect the battery to also be the CAUSE of the explosions.

I am not entirely sure of it, I am a bit more open to something causing the battery to explode. Saying the battery design is flawed and it was a disaster waiting to happen is a bit too convenient, that design should have never left the drawing board in the first place.
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The actual investigation pointed out a specific flaw in the battery that was a result of the manufacturing process of the battery. Did you not read it? It was really damn clear.
 
They'll probably sell them in places that have no consumer protection laws. Just in case they blow up again
 
If they made these dirt cheap, I'd buy one. I'm assuming Samsung wouldn't dare re-release these unless they were sure the battery issue was completed fixed. From what I hear it was a pretty nice phone other than the one rather serious issue.
 
Hypergreatthing said:
Then why not just replace the battery with ones that weren't defective?
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They tried but the replacement batteries also blew up so they decided to just pull/recall the phone. If I remember correctly from reading, Samsung used two battery suppliers for the Note 7. The original battery issues were supposed to be limited to one supplier's batteries but when replacement batteries also started to blow up, they decided to recall/stop sale of the device rather than wait for the full investigation. I think it turned out that during the rush to make replacement batteries/phones from the second supplier, there was a defect with the new batteries as well.

Edit: This explains it pretty well. "Samsung is saying that the issue with the first batteries was a design flaw and the one with the second batteries was a manufacturing defect."
http://tech.firstpost.com/news-anal...ng-phones-has-finally-been-solved-358635.html
 
this seems like a TERRIBLE waste of resources after an absolute disaster of a roll out.

Why would you distract from the roll out of the Galaxy S8, which appears to be an awesome phone; self-sabotaging decisions.
SAMSUNG-GALAXY-NOTE-7-GTA-STICKY-BOMB-4.gif
 
fadedlogic said:
this seems like a TERRIBLE waste of resources after an absolute disaster of a roll out.

Why would you distract from the roll out of the Galaxy S8, which appears to be an awesome phone; self-sabotaging decisions.
SAMSUNG-GALAXY-NOTE-7-GTA-STICKY-BOMB-4.gif
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It's not a waste of resources. Those were already wasted with their warehouses full of returned and unsold Note 7s. This is them trying to recover SOME of those losses. They're not complete idiots, they wouldn't release these to ANY market if they hadn't corrected the problem. The only reason they're not releasing them again in ALL markets is because the name has been tainted and they'd have huge marketing issues almost anywhere.
 
Man goes to jail for sending a 'seizure inducing tweet' but samsung can sell exploding phones at no recourse. . .amazing.
 
Presumably it will have different firmware to avoid the bricking of existing note 7s, what is to stop someone from copying this "safe" rom onto an original note 7?
 
Bandalo said:
It's not a waste of resources. Those were already wasted with their warehouses full of returned and unsold Note 7s. This is them trying to recover SOME of those losses. They're not complete idiots, they wouldn't release these to ANY market if they hadn't corrected the problem. The only reason they're not releasing them again in ALL markets is because the name has been tainted and they'd have huge marketing issues almost anywhere.
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I'm not talking the physical phones; write them off, I'm sure they have insurance for completed operations. I'm talking about burying that terrible chapter as deep as they can and focus on the new product line. Wasted resources would be trying to re-market the Note 7 and possibly tainting the new Galazy S8. If one of them has and issue, it would be catastrophic, why risk that?
 
fadedlogic said:
I'm not talking the physical phones; write them off, I'm sure they have insurance for completed operations. I'm talking about burying that terrible chapter as deep as they can and focus on the new product line. Wasted resources would be trying to re-market the Note 7 and possibly tainting the new Galazy S8. If one of them has and issue, it would be catastrophic, why risk that?
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I don't know if they have insurance to replace an entire product line. Twice. That's a lot of material and R&D down the drain.

The risk is why they won't re-sell them in any of the major markets. That being said, I'd still buy one if it was possible.
 
Bandalo said:
The risk is why they won't re-sell them in any of the major markets. That being said, I'd still buy one if it was possible.
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So would a lot of people. And much as I love my Nexus 6P, when I got to use a friend's Note 7 briefly I was pretty amazed at how powerful and polished the thing was.

And much to the disappointment of closet android-haters that hoped this recall would spell doom for Samsung or somehow cast a shadow on Android as a platform, If they sold a revised Note 7 at a discount with a new battery, they'd sell out of them.
 
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I'd buy one in a minute if the price was right. Nothing wrong with that phone but the batteries that were being used.
 
I picked up a new phone last week and as I wanted expandable memory the pixel was out the sales rep in the store (Australia's largest phone service provider Telstra) did not even want to show me Samsung and joked about the exploding range of phones. I got Sony Xperia XZ its OK. But when I was doing the paperwork I watched 2 other reps do the same thing and the guy next to me who wanted his Samsung was told about all the problems with warranty. They where pushing Apple, Sony, LG, and Pixels. 12 months ago all they wanted to sell was Samsung.
 
JohnnyGatt said:
I picked up a new phone last week and as I wanted expandable memory the pixel was out the sales rep in the store (Australia's largest phone service provider Telstra) did not even want to show me Samsung and joked about the exploding range of phones. I got Sony Xperia XZ its OK. But when I was doing the paperwork I watched 2 other reps do the same thing and the guy next to me who wanted his Samsung was told about all the problems with warranty. They where pushing Apple, Sony, LG, and Pixels. 12 months ago all they wanted to sell was Samsung.
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Anecdotal, but sounds like you're assuming personal preference is biasing them, when in reality it probably has more to do with incentives or margins - a better commission on whatever they're pushing.
 
My Note 7 screen was amazing.

I agree, make the phone 1.5 mm thicker, make it 5000mAh, I'm good with it.
 
Yeah, price it right, and even *I*, who hates big screen phones, might pick it up.

I wonder if Samsung will only sell to non-US markets because they don't want to cannibalize their S8 sales on launch. I'd be willing to bet a lot of US consumers would be perfectly happy with a "refurbished but actually like new" Note 7.
 
Dekoth-E- said:
The actual investigation pointed out a specific flaw in the battery that was a result of the manufacturing process of the battery. Did you not read it? It was really damn clear.
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I read it, the report is basically showing how the battery failed, which is EXACTLY my point, the report didn't go deep enough.

It never went into WHY that design was EVER approved of in the first place. That entire report is basically ALL batteries and never investigated whether the OS or management has anything to do with it (IE if the phone was replaced with a non-faulty battery, stress test the hell out of it nor why the design was approved of in the first place).

No accidents happen by having 1 singular cause, that report is basically cutting the chain in 1 place only, where to properly prevent stuff like this happening again, the chain would have to be cut entirely.

I am more astounded at the fact that they allowed this sort of design to happen than I am having batteries exploding.

If management methods has not changed in SS, I am going to bet that something like this will happen again.
 
How did the push to get the stragglers to give their phone back that started around new years where they were disabling charging and what not? Do they finally have 100% back 99%?
 
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