Samsung to begin selling refurbished Galaxy Note 7s

March 28, 2017 | 11:34

Tags: #battery #fire-hazard #galaxy-note-7 #note-7 #recall #recycle #refurbish

Companies: #samsung

Samsung has confirmed that it will be refurbishing returned Galaxy Note 7 handsets, recalled after a pair of battery manufacturing defects caused overheating and fires, for global sale.

Samsung's issues with the Galaxy Note 7 began in 2016, when the company issued a recall notice following 35 reports of the units overheating and in some cases bursting into flame. During the recall Samsung blamed faulty batteries for the issue and assured customers that units which had their batteries replaced would be absolutely fine, only to have additional supposedly-fixed Galaxy Note 7s self-immolate post-recall. The fallout from the issue was severe: the company recalled all Galaxy Note 7s worldwide in the face of airlines calling the device out by name and preventing it from being brought on board, and effectively cancelled the model by pulling it completely from the market.

When the company's claims that there was no design flaw in the smartphone itself were seemingly vindicated by an external investigation, which blamed faults in the batteries instead, it became fair to wonder what Samsung was going to do with devices that are now known to be perfectly usable if you're not unlucky enough to have replaced a faulty battery with another equally faulty battery. Now, we have an answer: Samsung will refurbish at least some of the Galaxy Note 7s returned during the recall and put them up for sale.

Samsung has, however, warned that the details of the Note 7's re-release are still up in the air. 'Regarding the Galaxy Note 7 devices as refurbished phones or rental phones,' a statement from the company has explained, 'applicability is dependent upon consultations with regulatory authorities and carriers as well as due consideration of local demand. The markets and release dates will be determined accordingly.'

Devices not refurbished and resold will be broken down for parts and their unusable components recycled, the company added.
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