3 Samsung Galaxy Note 7 Issues Uncovered Ahead Of Global Recall

Samsung Galaxy Note 7 has officially been recalled by the South Korea tech giant that prides itself on being a leading innovator in the smartphone industry. Though this decision could be regarded as a brave move from Apple’s greatest rival, it would definitely lead to setbacks and consequences that could readily cloud the reputation of the Asian electronics manufacturer.

To paint a clear picture on how bad the situation is that Samsung decided to discontinue the shipment and sale of the Galaxy Note 7 for the time being, we bring you a rundown of the three major issues that were exposed and reported in the days leading to the drastic recall.

1. #Brickgate
Early this week, reports about Galaxy Note 7 owners complaining that their handsets kept on crashing and bootlooping surfaced. There were also complaints about bricked devices. In these instances, the problems may have possibly been caused by the phone’s software. However, Phone Arena reported that #brickgate seemed to only affect Exynos-powered variants. Samsung’s response to these problems? Nothing. Owners of problematic handsets just said that they were able to get replacements, since even Samsung’s own shops were not aware of how to nip the problem in the bud.

2. Exploding batteries
On Wednesday, Samsung announced that it has decided to halt shipments of the new batch of Galaxy Note 7. While the South Korea tech giant did not divulge at the time its specific reasons for doing so, news sites including Reuters have linked the decision to reported complaints of some users who claimed that their handsets apparently exploded or caught fire while charging. And as it turns out, these claims had truth in them, since Samsung has already confirmed that its Galaxy Note 5 successor comes with problematic batteries.

3. Faulty S-Pen
Though not really a major concern if one is only after the phone features of the Note 7, the faulty S-Pen has also contributed to the hullabaloo that was affecting Samsung. The emergence of complaints over faulty S-Pen styluses came around the same time as the concern over exploding batteries surfaced. The main problem with the styluses were found on their mechanical buttons, which proved to be unreceptive to the sliding motion when they are being inserted into the Note 7’s stylus slot. To address this problem, GSM Arena found out that Samsung reportedly asked its retail employees to simply hand out replacement S-Pen styluses to consumers who would come to any of their stores and complain about their styluses getting stuck in the silo.

These three issues have undeniably affected Samsung’s confidence in selling its high-end smartphone. CNN Money reports that after acknowledging the alarming problem with the battery of the device, Samsung announced that it is recalling and replacing all of the 2.5 million Note 7 smartphones that it has sold since launching the new flagship last month.

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