Mobile Devices

Feds will formally recall Samsung Galaxy Note 7

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Comments (54)
  1. khalil.weimann says:

    I wonder if Samsung had stuck to removable batteries this probably wouldn’t be that complicated. Just do a battery exchange, But no they gotta be all sleek like Apple. When my Note 4 goes I’m getting the LG V20 or the Asus Zenfone 3.

  2. Jarvis Kuvalis says:

    @JMaggs1313

    Agreed. What (real) advantage is there with non-removable batteries? Oh…wait…waterproofing. 

    But really, how important is that anyway?! I say that b/c even Apple isn’t selling the waterproofing eventhough the new iPhone 7 is still a “closed” device with a non-removable battery. Samsung should drop the waterproofing gimmick.

  3. Judge O'Connell says:

    This is what happens when you try to skip over the Note 6. I have owned a Note 4, 5, and 7. But returned my Note 7 and now I’m stuck with the Note 5 which I hate because it restarts on it’s own, it don’t have an expandable memory and no removable battery.  I guess I wait for the Note 8 or switch to the iphone. 

  4. morissette.tad says:

    @superzeb28 Curious as to why you stopped using the Note 4 for the 5 considering the specs. And switching from the Note to the iPhone? Really? 

  5. cabernathy says:

    @superzeb28 @yamamancha I don’t see anything wrong with that. I mean is like hating an iPhone and switching to Android. Everyone has the freedom to choose.

  6. Ed Mraz says:

    I heard they are going to rebrand it the Galaxy Pinto 7

  7. Arvid Schroeder says:

    There’s nothing like fast action. We’ve been waiting since May, 2015 for Toyota to replace the potentially shrapnel-shooting airbags in our Corolla—so if you get your Galaxy 7 replaced anytime soon, feel lucky!

  8. Tod Osinski says:

    @vestige my understanding is that the automakers are taking turns with recalls because there simply are not enough new airbags to replace them with. 

  9. Javonte Bogisich says:

    If the CPSC is involved, Samsung CANNOT sell refurbished Galaxy Note 7’s with the fixed battery to any user.

    The best solution is for Samsung to admit defeat, recall and destroy every Galaxy Note 7 built before production was halted, and start all over again with a “fixed” Galaxy Note 7 with new, safer batteries and improved charging circuits. 

  10. Luz Reichert says:

    @SactoGuy018 Doesn’t make sense destroying something that isn’t broken, it’s the battery that’s defective, not the phone.

  11. Efren Hyatt says:

    @CNET username @SactoGuy018 I’d skip straight to Note 8 and call Note 7 a day – loss of confidence.  How can anyone sleep well at night when they’re charging their Note 7 overnight?  Sucks.  My brother got the Note 7 and he really, really liked it.

  12. kbogan says:

    @sactoguy018 @jlee_02134 it’s simple. Whoever reads the news knows it needs to turn off the phone and return it. No need to panic 🙂

  13. emerson00 says:

    @Ed Os X Over the weekend, one exploded in a six year old’s hands in Flatbush, NY. He suffered burns and is now scared of all devices. Samsung may remotely kill any unreturned units, so there’s no point of hanging on to them.

  14. bogisich.emmet says:

    If only they designed it with a replaceable battery. This recall could then have been already done.

    Now Samsung knows how it feels like to have a sealed phone with a crapped out battery.

  15. meda.jenkins says:

    @thatshowiseeit
    Samsung also knows that the Note 7 will never be allowed to be used on planes. Ever.
    It’s the only way airlines can be sure of the safety of this particular device. They will never be sure that every Note 7 is a replacement phone so won’t take the risk.

  16. wilhelm.bernier says:

    @europodboy @thatshowiseeit Yeah I don’t think that’s going to happen. And if it does, Samsung will rebrand the phone and problem solved.

  17. efren.cummerata says:

    @europodboy @thatshowiseeit
    How are they going to rebrand a used phone? Call it The Samsung Galaxy PreOwned?
    These things are headed for very expensive landfill.

  18. edgar28 says:

    What’s going to happen to all 2.5 Million traded-in Note 7’s?
    I’ll tell you what. They’ll get their batteries swapped then will be offered for sale as if they were a new device.
    That means 2.5 Million new customers are going to end up paying full price for a second-hand, reconditioned phone.

    Would anyone buy a Note 7 knowing it could be already used?

  19. Dr. Mathilde Emard DDS says:

    @Europodboy Good point.  Samsung has to recall all of the 2.5M and destroy them so they don’t get resold.

  20. fernando.greenfelder says:

    @JLee_02134 @Europodboy LOL, that’s like saying it’s time to buy a new car because the tread on the tires wore off. Most people just go to the tire store…

  21. terry.triston says:

    @CNET username @JLee_02134 @Europodboy I would’t charge a Note 7 overnight while I’m sleeping.

  22. dach.edison says:

    @europodboy @jlee_02134
    So would you be happy paying full price for a phone that someone else has used and is now refurbished?

  23. usporer says:

    Let’s face it–

    Anyone who owns a Galaxy Note7 will probably be a normal person until they’re without their interwebs device. 

    Without access to the interwebs, and most likely, they’ll be needing to meet people.  So without access to websites, snapchat, email, or sultry websites, it’s quite possible that Samsung owners will need to hook up with people in-person while their phones are in the shop.  

    Ladies, please respond to their posts on Craigslist before they go gay and buy a Terrible Tim Cook Phone.   They say it requires “Courage” to buy one of those devices which lacks a headphone jack and also closes the “Analog Hole” (See Wikipedia for proper definition of “Analog Hole”)

  24. Dr. Marlon Renner says:

    Turned off fast-charging, my Note 7 hasn’t gotten hot nor warm. This is waaaay overblown. Samsung’s response was adequate. Once the government gets involved, things get over-stupified with too much unneeded red-tape with it.

  25. Emily Kihn says:

    @Mozpow The phones are catching fire even when they are not charging.

  26. xstark says:

    @mozpow Yeah no be careful. If you have a Note 7, return it. Otherwise if something does happen and you refused to take action, then any accident including to peers is on you. People can sue you in this case.

  27. aiyana.huels says:

    @mozpow
    Waaaay overblown until someone dies?

  28. Leola Cole says:

    I have a note 7. The only time it ever got hot was when I used a 3rd party charger in my car. From that point on I never used a 3rd party charger

  29. zokuneva says:

    @Damian_0823 If the issue is only with third-party chargers, then this wouldn’t be Samsung’s problem, and Samsung wouldn’t have decided to recall every Note 7. The fact that Samsung advised everyone to stop using their Note 7’s and turn them off indicates the fires can happen even when you’re not charging the phone. “We are asking users to power down their Galaxy note 7 and exchange them now,” Tim Baxter, president of Samsung Electronics America said in a statement on the company’s website.

    The US Consumer Product Safety Commission statement also says it doesn’t matter whether the phone is charging or not: “These incidents have occurred while charging and during normal use, which has led us to call for consumers to power down their Note7s.”

  30. smaggio says:

    This is the right way to recall a phone.  Get people to stop using them now period.  Take the pain and the hit now to avoid much worse later (see GM,Toyota,Takata,etc.).  Unfortunately, the replacement process is going to be slower and tick people off.  Samsung should just bite the bullet and give Note 7 users S6’s as loaners if they want them — there must be an abundant supply of them at the various retailers.  I would think that most Note 7 users can go back to their old Note’s or previous device.  Samsung Executives need to lose their job over this.  Do it right the first time.  Test and burn in with the cheap garbage people buy off the internet to avoid paying Samsung for expensive OEM parts.  There is no excuse for this.  I am guessing steps were skipped to meet an aggressive pre-iPhone7 announcement date.  How’s that working out for you Samsung?  As a Galaxy Note 4 user (ahem, replaceable battery) I hope Samsung learns a critical quality lesson from this.  And, to put salt in the wound, how about going back to a replaceable battery???  Those battery designs are pretty bulletproof.  Pushing the limit too far with built-in batteries led to this mess.  

  31. laurel.barrows says:

    @daehttub2000 I traded my Note 4 for a Note 7. If Samsung has stuck with a user replaceable battery this recall would have been so simple as ship everyone a new battery. I would not mind a thicker or heavier phone to maintain that feature. If I could get my Note 4 back I’d trade it back in, but I am going to wait until the new Note 7’s arrive. I need a decent phone for work, I use the S-Pen everyday, and I can’t get stuck with a crappy loaner.

  32. Maritza Flatley says:

    @HighwayHacker @daehttub2000 Sorry to hear that.  They should offer Note 5 Loaners perhaps but it’s so inferior to the Note 4 (SD Card, etc, etc.). and I’m not sure they are that plentiful at the various retail outlets.  They will have to pry my Note 4 from my cold dead fingers unless they come out with a removable battery Note 8.  It would also be nice to get that IR blaster back too.  I am very much into having backups so I always keep my old smartphones — which is why the replaceable battery is so important to me.

  33. wadams says:

    @HighwayHacker @daehttub2000 it may not be just the battery. it could also be the power circuitry. 

  34. Cathy Hyatt says:

    @VisualSeed @HighwayHacker @daehttub2000 Though in this case it is just the battery.

  35. nschinner says:

    Battery issues are not new with Samsung. I had two batteries that were bloated when the S4 came out in Asia. Luckily the bulging Samsung issued batteries were removable and Samsung gave me free replacements. Would’ve definitely exploded if I kept charging them. The batteries came from a particular supplier and did not affect all countries, same thing happening now but on a larger scale and unfortunately the phones are sealed. I still use Samsung phones to this day, the S4 I’ve passed on to one of my staff and I’m now using Note 4. I’ll upgrade to Note 7 once the smoke clears

  36. kling.jaron says:

    @daehttub2000 Replaceable batteries are an awful idea in terms of security and durability. A sealed battery helps keep the water a dust out and if your phone is stolen, a thief can turn your phone off just by removing the battery. Then go to a location and do what they need with the phone to make sure it doesn’t get tracked. And this recall is way over blown, for such a minuscule amount of reports (35) out of 2.5 million Note 7s sold, it’s a knee-jerk reaction. I will keep my current Note 7, if I turn off fast charging, it never gets hot nor warm. They can’t test every single Note 7, stop being a sour old grape thats shaking his stick at something different than he’s used to.

  37. Adrien Predovic DDS says:

    Just my 2 cents – I think there are, as of today, 36 cases of the phone blowing up or catching fire. In each case from what I have read, the phones were plugged in charging – some in a car, some not. The Note 7 comes with its charger and cable. This cable has a 56k ohm resister in it to limit the flow of electricity and protect the device, especially at fast charge. While most cables purchased on line state 56k resistor in them, not all have it. I think it is more likely than not (deflate-gate speak) that in these 36 cases that a non-oem charger and/or cable were used. Now, I certainly don’t know this for sure, but cheap cables/chargers are known to cause damage. In this particular phone, that damage includes spontaneous combustion. I have a Note 7. I have charged it once plugged in using the OEM charger/cable and the battery never even got hot, even at fast charge. I use a wireless Qi charger, and again the battery never even gets hot. I charge it once a day and have no issues. I love the phone. I am certainly going to exchange it due to the recall, but I think when all is said and done, it will come down to cheap cables exposing a battery issue that would have otherwise been dormant.

  38. andreane.jacobs says:

    @HighwayHacker If the Note 7 batteries only catch fire or explode when inadequate or faulty third-party chargers and/or cables are used, that means Samsung decided to recall all Note 7’s even though there is nothing wrong with the batteries they shipped with. After they replace them, and customers start using the same dodgy chargers with the post-recall Note 7’s, the fires and explosions are likely to resume. Why would Samsung do that???

    Also, there have been several more reports of Note 7 fires that occurred after Samsung issued the voluntary recall.

  39. lewis.auer says:

    I’ve called Verizon today 9/10,, and was told they are not giving out loaner phones to use until a new Note 7 can be provided, they just want me to return my phone and get a different model.  So Samsung’s email to me that my provider will give me a loaner phone is BS.  Neither Verizon or Samsung can tell me when they can replace my phone.  I refuse to return my Note 7 until a replacement Note 7 is available.  

  40. Mrs. Bernita Marvin says:

    I’m with you on that. I love my Note7. I was a long-time Apple fan but to hell with them and their incremental improvements. Not taking my Note7 back until they get replacements.

  41. Zetta Tremblay II says:

    @Earlando86 Guess you got incremental hazzards instead.

  42. Ms. Gabriella Jast says:

    @khmahoney88 I had the same issue with Tmobile. Their off shore Philippines training of employees was a joke. I got 4 different answers from 4  different customer support reps including a Supervisor. Ultimately, I insisted that I talk to a rep in the United States. That led to me reading the ‘loaner’ words right from Samsung and Tmobile’s site. Then I had the US customer service rep do a 3 way call with a local store. In the end, the local Tmobile store gave me a Samsung S7 edge as a loaner via the proof I provided at their own site and at the policy on Samsung’s site. You have to just keep trying until you get someone with a brain that understands the words you are reading to them. 

  43. Destany Harber I says:

    @khmahoney88 i have the same issue with both att and costco. they both refuse to give me a loaner phone and want me to switch with samsang galaxy 7 or edge. so i will not surrender my phone even with the recall unless there is a note 7 replacement available! i will just sue costco and att if my phone burst or lit in fire for refusing to provide loaner phone. 

  44. Lucas Kerluke V says:

    If only Samsung listened to owners of previous note Phones who wanted a replaceable battery on the Note 7. Then this recall could have been handled in a week with free batteries shipped to all customers and this would be done.

    But oh no. They had to seal the battery in and now they understand what customers go through with a 1-2 year old phone with a degraded battery that costs a bunch to replace.

    So perhaps the Note 8 will have a replaceable battery. When I replace my older Note phone it will be for a phone with a replaceable battery. Thankfully LG and others are making such phones.

  45. mosciski.ross says:

    @thatshowiseeit I suppose they sealed them to make them look more fashionable/professional or whatever. Unfortunately the masses choose fashion over function, and of course they are gonna cater to the masses as that’s where the money is.

  46. Alvah Yost says:

    @CNET username @thatshowiseeit That’s what makes me mad.  The huge craze about oh I want the phone to look super nice and the feel of the phone is very important blah blah blah  is crap:  YOU ARE GOING TO PUT A CASE ON IT ANYWAY!!!!!!!!

  47. Blanche Dooley says:

    It’s the price you pay to be an apple wanna be

  48. rtrantow says:

    @thatshowiseeit I too like to be a sour old grape afraid of change. I mean, even though the pros outweigh the cons, still my favorite hobby, I’m sure the same as you, is shaking my cane at things I don’t understand. Who needs better water and dust resistance with a sealed battery, and why wouldn’t I want to make it easier for a thief to turn my phone off by removing the battery so I can’t locate it.

  49. cummings.ellsworth says:

    @thatshowiseeit Excellent point. I want my SD slot AND replaceable battery! 
    I just don’t know if my current phone will last until the presumed release of the Note 8. Neither non-edge version of the Note 4 nor the Note 5 were released where I live and I skipped the Note 3 so I’ve been using my Note 2 for over 4 years… At this rate my phone will die before Japan sees a new Galaxy Note. The thought of a smartphone other than the Note is so unfathomable, I may go back to a flip-phone and light tablet combination. 

  50. Colleen Hansen says:

    (pokes head out of dark closet)

    My windows phone has never caused me any problems.  Works pretty well.  Lumia 950 is buy on get one free unlocked. Just sayin’

    (goes back to the closet)

  51. Mr. Maurice Rau Jr. says:

    @too-much-sense Go back to your hole!  Honestly I want to try a Windows phone.  I just don’t want to spend $400 on a Lumia 950 just to play with it, but I also don’t want to buy a cheaper Lumia 650 and not get the full experience lol.  I would love to see a $300 middle of the road Lumia offered.  I will try it one day though.  

  52. Rylan Robel says:

    @too-much-sense Stay in there and don’t come back out!

  53. alberta.murray says:

    @too-much-sense Some day, I’d like to get a Windows phone.  I’m just not there yet.

  54. lesley.fritsch says:

    @too-much-sense Yeah, my Lumia 950XL hasn’t exploded or anything. Plus, it has a headphone jack!

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