Samsung: “About Half” of Recalled Galaxy Note 7 Devices Exchanged
With exchange stock arriving in stores this week, owners of the Galaxy Note 7seem to finally have the motivation to swap out their unsafe Note 7 for a safe model. Samsung announced yesterday afternoon that “about half” of the recalled Galaxy Note 7 devices in the wild have already been exchanged. That’s a good number knowing that just days ago, we were only at about 25%.
Samsung also mentioned that about 90% of Note 7 owners have stuck with the Note 7 even after the recall. Media pundits would have you believe that people were running scared from Samsung phones and helping Apple return to glory, but that’s clearly not the case. Samsung phone owners, especially Note owners, are loyal.
On a related note, I hope you took advantage of that initial shipment of 500,000 exchange devices if you do own the Note 7. Tim and I tried to swap one yesterday, a day after stock arrived, and most stores around Portland were already out of devices. In fact, we stopped at two, were turned away, called two more, and found one that had all of two phones left for exchange. By the time we were out of that store, another guy came in and was turned away.
We aren’t sure when additional exchange stock will arrive, but my guess is that Samsung is shipping them as quickly as possible.
Galaxy Note 7 Sales Could Start Back Up on October 21
Even though Samsung said that new Galaxy Note 7 stock would be available “no later” than September 21 for those looking to exchange unsafe Note 7s or seek a replacement, they have yet to say when general sales of the phone will resume. According to Venturebeat, October 21 may be the day.
If true, that would be a full month from replacement stock arriving to when the phone can actually be purchased. That’s also a full two months since the phonefirst launched in stores before being recalled and more than a month since the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus arrived. While the logistics and time constraints around a global recall and then re-production of millions of phones has got to be a daunting task, you have to wonder how Samsung is going to ever turn the Note 7 into the success it was on track for.
The phone received mostly glowing reviews across the board when media first spent quality time with it. We’re big fans of it, as you could probably tell after reading our review. But two months is a really long time in the smartphone industry, especially with new iPhones already available and Google’s new Pixel phones coming alongside LG’s new V20 handset. That’s not me suggesting that the Note 7 is inferior to any of those phones, but people tend to have short attention spans in this space and may jump on what’s shinier and newer before Samsung can ever get its second-half flagship back in the spotlight.
On the flip side, if you were going to re-launch a phone, late October isn’t exactly a terrible time. Samsung will still get in before Black Friday and the rest of the holiday shopping season. They just better have a hell of a campaign planned.
Samsung Pay V2.3 Update Adds Iris Scanning, Card Restoring
In the update, Samsung says that the mobile payment system now supports “more of your favorite gift cards” and membership cards, restores those cards when you sign back in to Samsung Pay, and supports “iris based authentication” on supported phones. There is a single phone with an iris scanner at the moment, the Galaxy Note 7, so should you find yourself in the possession of the non-exploding variety, give the iris scanning a go!
To update, open Samsung Pay, hit the “More” button in the top right of the app, then “Announcements,” then jump into the “What’s new in 2.3” announcement to see the changelog. Once you have checked that out, tap anywhere on the announcement to load the update page.
Samsung: Only 25% of Note 7 Devices Exchanged so Far, 500,000+ New Units Available Tomorrow in the US
Samsung updated press today on the status of the Galaxy Note 7 recall and exchange program, announcing that over 500,000 new replacement devices are in the US and on their way to carrier partners. They also reminded us that a software update to make you feel warm and cozy about your new phone is rolling out, but you already knew that.
Some of our readers were pinged by Best Buy over the weekend with a note about picking up their replacement phone, so we know that some exchange devices are and have been available. But we are aware that most of you are still waiting (Tim would be a part of that crowd), even though Samsung told us to expect them “no later” than September 21. As it turns out, the 21st is more than likely the day you will all get the chance to pickup a new Note 7. Samsung has essentially said that if new Note 7 devices aren’t already at your local carrier or retailer, they should be there no later than tomorrow for you to make the swap.
Samsung also told The Verge that they have seen about 25% of Note 7s exchanged in the US, which seems low to me, but they seem satisfied with that number at the moment, stating that 25% is “an extraordinarily fast start toward achieving our goal of removing every single affected Note 7 from circulation.” Either way, that means 75% of Note 7s sold that could be a fire hazard are still in the wild.
As we mentioned last week, it’s time for everyone to get rid of their Note 7s. If you have friends who own them, you should probably tell them the situation and that their phone isn’t safe. If only 25% of Note 7 owners have attempted to exchange, we have a lot of bad Notes just waiting to do damage.
THE GOOD The Galaxy Note 7 is a beautiful, capable Android phone that showcases Samsung's best in design, battery life, speed and features. The 64GB base model leaves you plenty of space for photos, videos and games, and it's a real improvement over 2015's Note 5.
THE BAD It's pricier than almost every other Android phone, and a little heavy. After seven iterations, there are still minor problems writing with the S Pen stylus. Fine particles, like beach sand, can wedge the stylus in its holder.
THE BOTTOM LINE We loved our first few weeks with the Galaxy Note 7, but we're holding off on embracing it until we're satisfied that its battery issue has been completely resolved.
by:Driss Nexus
