In my recent review of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 (CLICK HERE) I included a link to my post on why I was furious with Samsung and their handling of the Note 7 issues in the UK.

I also added that I did not believe the official line that there had been only 35 incidents worldwide. So now the Note 7 in the USA has been officially recalled and is illegal to be sold in the USA. However, the phone is not being recalled officially in other countries, Samsung is still saying it is voluntarily replacing the phones.

Well, now the phone is being officially recalled the facts are not good. The U.S. C.S.P.C (Consumer Product Safety Commission) stated that of 1 million potentially dangerous phones sold to consumers, Samsung has received a total of 92 reports of batteries overheating, just in the United States alone. And of those 92 reports, 26 involved burns and 55 involved property damage, including fires in cars and a garage. I wonder what the global figures and how many people did not report a problem too. So that’s –

– 92 reported incidents
– 26 people suffered burns
– 55 caused property damage (this includes cars too)

No wonder the Note 7 has been banned by –

– Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has taken to Twitter the other day to urge its customers “not to use or charge their #Samsung Galaxy Note 7 mobile device on trains and buses.”
– Jersey’s Stockton University banned the phone on its campus and classrooms
– FAA and other airlines and trains have banned its usage on their planes and trains.This is not just US Airlines either. Airlines from around the world are reacting the same.
– Others

So what is Samsung’s solution. Well the replaced Samsung Note 7s will have a “S” or other marking on the outer box. That is useless as who nobody carries their phone packaging with them. Secondly, Samsung has set up a website with an IMEI checker. This works, but again, airlines and others are not going to type in your IMEI to check your phone is safe to use on their flight. The next option is Samsung will change the battery icon from white to green on replaced phones. This option is stupid. All users will have to do is use a third party battery app to overwrite the battery icon.

In my mind the only solution left is for Samsung to re release the new Note 7s with a different hardware name. Eg the Note 7+ or Note 7S and with an extra hardware spec inside the phone. That means all unsafe Note 7 will have a different hardware configuration to make it easier to identify.

Samsung need to use the words “Official Recall” and globally and also come up with a clear solution to identify new phones. Maybe all new colour shades just for replaced phones.

Whatever Samsung decide, as mentioned before my trust of the brand has been destroyed and I will never buy another Samsung product.

Sources – US CSPC, Pocketnow, Engadget, The Telegraph

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