Abstract
- Samsung’s Be aware 7 was praised at launch however was discontinued following widespread battery points.
- The blame was positioned on the big battery’s compact design and points with electrodes.
- Regardless of the fiasco’s monetary affect, Galaxy Be aware fandom remained.
Again in 2016, I gave Samsung’s ill-fated Galaxy Note 7 a glowing review and known as it the “greatest large-sized phablet smartphone” I had ever used.
It was a monumental leap over the Galaxy Be aware 5 (there wasn’t a Galaxy Be aware 6) by way of its general design, energy, and, no less than on the time, water resistance. I am certain there have been probably different IP68 waterproof handsets, however the Be aware 7 was the primary I encountered, and it was really game-changing. I’ve fond reminiscences of overlaying the 5.7-inch “phablet” — which appears small by at present’s smartphone requirements — in water droplets at a neighborhood seashore to snap just a few wet-looking pictures for my overview.
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General, the Be aware 7 was a stellar telephone that, wanting again, was approach forward of its time. It felt like Android’s reply to the iPhone and mixed the very best parts of Samsung’s Galaxy S7 with the stylus-equipped Be aware 5. Certain, utilizing the iris scanner to log into the gadget was removed from an ideal expertise, however it felt like one thing out of Mission Inconceivable on the time. Even its digicam efficiency was nicely forward of different Android units because of its 12-megapixel rear-facing shooter with optical picture stabilization.
Sadly, the Galaxy Be aware 7’s life was reduce quick following widespread, doubtlessly harmful battery points. With the Galaxy S25’s launch looming on the horizon, now is a good time to look again at one of many greatest blunders in Samsung’s smartphone historical past.
An explosive smartphone
The calamity of missteps surrounding the Galaxy Be aware 7’s recall was one thing to behold
Samsung / Pocket-lint
I vaguely keep in mind reviews surrounding Be aware 7 points trickling in very slowly. The telephone was formally launched in late August 2016, and only a few days later, reviews began showing on Reddit, with customers posting pictures and movies of the smartphone overheating, smoking, and, in some circumstances, catching fireplace. As soon as the tech running a blog world began overlaying the issue, a relentless stream of tales in regards to the concern, together with an incident involving a six-year-old boy that was burned by the phone, had been printed. At one level forward of Samsung’s official recall of the Be aware 7, a number of airways worldwide went as far as to outright ban the Galaxy Note 7 from planes.
On October eleventh 2016, Samsung stopped promoting the Be aware 7 worldwide, emphasizing that each one homeowners ought to energy down the gadget and cease utilizing it.
By September 2nd, Samsung launched a voluntary world recall of the 2.5 million Note 7 devices offered to this point, and supplied to both refund or exchange the units. Then, on September ninth, the US Client Product Security Fee acquired concerned and urged homeowners to cease utilizing the smartphone totally. On September fifteenth, the fee issued a proper recall.
It sounds foolish now, however I used to be reluctant to present my Be aware 7 overview unit again and saved delaying returning my gadget (I actually favored it that a lot, and I did not expertise any points with it — no less than not but). Samsung Canada ultimately despatched a consultant to retrieve the smartphone from me (I nonetheless have the telephone’s field in my storage someplace, although — possibly it will be a collector’s merchandise sometime?)
Reddit / Crushader
Sadly for Samsung, alternative Be aware 7 units nonetheless suffered from the identical concern, resulting in a telephone on a Southwest Airline flight smoking and the airplane being evacuated. This resulted in US carriers not issuing Be aware 7 replacements, which was a giant blow to Samsung. Lastly, on October eleventh, the corporate formally stopped promoting the Be aware 7 worldwide, emphasizing that each one homeowners ought to energy down the gadget and cease utilizing it. In some areas, Samsung even deactivated service on Be aware 7 units to encourage homeowners to return the gadget.
In complete, the Be aware 7 fiasco value Samsung $5.3 billion over the course of 2017.
I at all times assumed the Galaxy Be aware 7 would make a triumphant return in some unspecified time in the future, however that by no means actually occurred. The closest factor we acquired was the Galaxy Be aware FE Fan Version, which launched in 2017 in particular areas, together with South Korea. In complete, the Be aware 7 fiasco value Samsung $5.3 billion all through 2017.
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What induced the battery concern?
Samsung was initially reluctant to level to the supply definitively
Most assumed that the Galaxy Be aware 7’s woes had been one way or the other tied to a fault in its massive 3,500 mAh battery, which was large by 2016 smartphone requirements. A number of months after the necessary recall, Koh Dong-jin, Samsung’s then-mobile division president, placed the blame on its battery provider (which was probably Samsung SDI), citing the cell’s compact design, skinny separators, and general excessive power density. Following the corporate’s very prolonged investigation into the issue, Samsung decided there wasn’t sufficient house within the Galaxy Be aware 7’s battery space to accommodate its electrodes, resulting in the overheating points that plagued the gadget.
Be aware 7 options and design cues can nonetheless be present in units just like the Galaxy S24 Extremely, together with the S Pen.
Whereas the tech large blamed its battery division, Samsung additionally admitted that it “supplied the goal for the battery specs for the progressive Be aware 7, and we’re taking accountability for our failure to finally establish and confirm the problems arising out of battery design and manufacturing.”
Samsung
Samsung recovered shockingly shortly from the controversy surrounding the Be aware 7’s battery points, with Galaxy Note 8 sales rebounding the subsequent yr in 2017. On a private notice, everybody I do know who stated they’d by no means buy a Samsung gadget once more after being annoyed with the Be aware 7 scenario purchased the subsequent Galaxy S sequence gadget or Be aware smartphone. Samsung has quite a lot of hardcore followers who stand by the corporate, even by one thing as controversial as this.
The Galaxy Be aware line obtained a number of extra releases, culminating in 2021’s Galaxy Note 20, the ultimate gadget within the stylus-focused line. Nonetheless, Be aware options can nonetheless be present in units just like the Galaxy S24 Extremely, together with the now iconic S Pen.

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