Samsung just announced that they will replace all 2.5 million Note 7 sold so far.<p><a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2016/09/02/reuters-america-brief-samsung-says-will-replace-all-problematic-note-7s-sold-or-shipped.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.cnbc.com/2016/09/02/reuters-america-brief-samsung...</a>
Got mine 5min after @Samsung told me they stop delivery.<p>Now unopened package on my desk.<p>Very angry at Samsung, their ecommerce shop (3 tries until ordering worked), delivery notification (10 hours late for every update), delivery (wrong delivery address from their system to DHL) has been very bad already. For an 850 EUR premium device. I will never buy from them again.<p>And now this.<p>Probably returning and getting an iPhone7.
My, rather cheap, Samsung phone had it's battery puff up and after I put the battery in a metal container for a month, it did catch fire and burn for a short time inside the container. That's a rather known problem for a Galaxy S3 Mini and such. I had to buy a new battery. So it might not be surprising that a same problem has occurred with the Note 7, it might be a bad battery supplier.
The timing re the iPhone 7, which is coming out in a few days, is terrible for Samsung. I imagine customers will have to return their Note, and then many will strongly consider the new iPhone. If this happened even a month ago, that would be far less of an issue.
I feel a sense of schadenfreude over this after Samsung decided to disregard their loyal Note series customers and put a non-removable battery in the Note 7. Terrible decision.
Reuters has a short article (sans any named source) that Samsung will issue a global recall [1].<p><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/samsung-elec-smartphones-recall-idUSS6N19U01C?type=companyNews" rel="nofollow">http://www.reuters.com/article/samsung-elec-smartphones-reca...</a>
Unfortunately the last two release cycles of the Note series have been feature downgrades ever since Note 4.<p>Fun fact - this is not a maths error, Samsung skipped Note 6 branding and went straight to 7 to match their S7 release names.
If they'd just made the damn thing with a removable battery like the note4 and older this would be a much easier, and cheaper, problem to deal with.
I hope Samsung (and others) learn from this clusterfuck and decide to employ user-replaceable batteries in the future.<p>I had my Note 1 battery also expand in volume - probably due to a crappy charger and the electronics didn't filter voltage fluctuation enough - and had to get rid of it before it exploded.
I have to respect Samsung for doing a recall correctly, not like how Whirlpoint are bungling their dryer recall. Years wait for someone to come around and fix it! In the mean time do they really think that people can just stop using the dryers.
Never liked Samsung phones (Google Nexus 5 user still), but this is really annoying for their customers. I'm even sadder for those who buy these expensive phones unsubsidized.
<i></i>EDIT:<i></i> The Korea Herald indicates that the issues appear to be originating from faulty ITM battery packs [2].<p><i></i>OLD:<i></i><p>Going along with the assumption there is some fault with the devices...<p>Essentially they should just sit there in shipping unless there is an external/internal battery short, extreme temperature or puncture. I assume the batteries were not punctured sitting in their target package after all the testing they must do and the fact these batteries can handle the temperatures of shipping (this is done all of the time).<p>"Sister company Samsung SDI Co Ltd (006400.KS) said that while it was a supplier of Galaxy Note 7 batteries, it had received no information to suggest the batteries were faulty." [1]<p>These batteries are made and tested all of the time, I would hope the technology is quite well understood my now which for me would rule out the likelihood of internal battery failure. Samsung also tend make quite high quality equipment in general in my personal opinion.<p>For me that leaves two likely possibilities, the phones were somehow switched on during travel (potentially through vibration or bad software) or bad circuit design meaning some current draw in given scenarios allowing the batteries to warm up.<p>My money would be on the devices turning on during shipping due to a crate knock or large shock. If a pallet fell of a fork lift or some semi-large force to the devices, I wouldn't be surprised if the low-profile power button was pressed inwards, switching the devices on.<p>If I remember rightly, Samsung devices ship in cardboard, acting both as insulation and something to get the fire going. A nice large hot display and hot battery well insulated would be enough to do a bit of thermal escalation. I would imagine it would only take one to turn on to do the trick. If I were Samsung I would switch one on, stick it back in it's packaging and wrap it in bubble wrap to simulate the condition of being in the middle of a pallet.<p>[1] <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-samsung-elec-smartphones-idUSKCN1161BL" rel="nofollow">http://www.reuters.com/article/us-samsung-elec-smartphones-i...</a><p>[2] <a href="http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20160901000855" rel="nofollow">http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20160901000855</a>
I know news sites making viewing a paid-for experience is relatively new, but it feels kind of wrong to bring closed source information onto HN. Regardless of quality, it's generally frowned upon.<p>This link could be replaced by the link below without sacrificing quality (it may actually be the original source too):<p><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-samsung-elec-smartphones-idUSKCN1161BL" rel="nofollow">http://www.reuters.com/article/us-samsung-elec-smartphones-i...</a>