Samsung launched the Galaxy Note 7 over a month ago and it received great response from consumers, with millions of units being sold within a short period of time. However, things started to go downhill for the South Korean company when reports regarding explosions of Galaxy Note 7 units while being charged started to emerge. This forced the company to launch an official investigation and through its findings, it was discovered that a faulty battery was to blame. An official recall of all affected units has since been put into effect, but some Galaxy Note 7 owners who still have affected units, have not given up their faulty device for a new unit.
As Samsung wants to avoid any further incidents, the company is now working with carriers in the US on a software update which will allow users to tell if their Galaxy Note 7 device is safe for use. The update will show a green battery indicator on the new units, while the battery indicator will remain white on all affected units. In order to get all affected users to return their units to Samsung, a warning which urges users to power down and stop using their device will pop up on the device. This warning will be shown whenever the device is turned on or put to charge. Before Samsung issued the worldwide recall, more than 2.5 million Galaxy Note 7 devices were sold worldwide, with one million units having been sold in the US itself. Unfortunately, it has been reported that less than 15% of those one million units have been exchanged or returned by users.
If you own an affected Galaxy Note 7, do return your device to your point of purchase, be it Samsung, a retailer, or a carrier, and get an exchange as soon as possible, to avoid any incidents which may cause bodily injuries or damage to property. As for those currently returning their devices for an exchange, Samsung plans to move 500,000 unaffected units to retailers and carriers by this Wednesday. The Galaxy Note 7 exchange program has also been kicked off in other parts of the world, including Samsung’s home country of South Korea, where the program is slated to end on September 26th.