Mike Wuerthele
Amidst reports of replacement stock finally arriving at retail, Samsung is taking additional steps to ensure that Galaxy Note 7 owners turn in devices for exchange, and is in the process of pushing an update to all un-repaired devices urging owners to power down the device and comply with the recall.
On late Tuesday, Samsung confirmed that it was working with U.S wireless carriers on a software update for the beleaguered Galaxy Note 7 for users to be able to easily confirm that the device had been repaired, or had yet to be exchanged.
With update VRS2APHE, users with an older, un-repaired model will see a warning about the recall program, with information on how to turn in the phone. A device showing a green battery icon indicates a new model with the new battery.
At the same time, Samsung confirmed that it had shipped 500,000 replacements for the Galaxy Note 7 to U.S. wireless carriers for consumer replacement. AppleInsider has learned that some of the retail arms of AT&T and Verizon have received "a handful" of devices for consumer swap.
A Samsung spokeswoman notes that the "vast majority" of Galaxy Note 7 consumers have opted for a refund, or a different Galaxy-branded phone.
Samsung issued a voluntary recall worldwide for the device after wide-spread reports of battery fires during charging, and drew criticism from the U.S. Consumer Protection and Safety Commission for how the matter was being handled. All customers who have purchased a Galaxy Note 7 should now be able to swap the device for a new one either online or at wireless carrier corporate-owned stores.
Before the well-publicized battery fires in the Galaxy Note 7 forcing the recall, reviewers and YouTube examiners discovered that the Gorilla Glass 5 used for the screen of the device was significantly more susceptible to screen scratches than other smartphones, iPhone 7 family included.
Verizon has re-launched sales of the device in the U.S., but no consumer delivery date has been announced.
Charles Martin
Christine McKee
Oliver Haslam
30 Comments
Notice how no where in the media, or in any PR release, does Samsung specify if the "replacement" units have had the charging circuit design deficiency (which was also thought as suspect in the exploding phones), re-designed and corrected, or where / who they sourced the replacement batteries from... For all we know, consumers can be getting "replacements" with the same catastrophic design flaw that lead to this in the first place...
And how on EARTH can people be foolish enough to trust a brand that was caught lying about this from the start? From how many phones were affected, to claiming none of the units shipped to China had issues (which they later had to recall too), to putting out a stupid update to limit the charging to 60%? That's basically similar to what VW was doing with their diesel engines!
I've bumped into people who have bluntly told me Samsung has done everything right and are still awesome and that they'll be getting another Note 7... At first I felt bad for people who got burnt (literally), but now I just feel like laughing at their stupidity...
The funny thing is airlines won't be able to tell the difference.
In Australia there was a recall for spontaneously combusting washing machines, is it a Samsung feature?