Samsung may have another Galaxy Note 8 problem on its hands, following reports that some users are having difficulties with their Galaxy Note 8 handsets after allowing the device’s battery to drain until it turns off. That’s according to complaints posted to Samsung’s official support forums, as well as from several other sources. More specifically, some users are claiming that allowing the battery in their Samsung Galaxy Note 8 to fall to 0-percent results in devices that are completely unresponsive. Fortunately, there are no reports of exploding devices and the problem does not seem to be affecting the vast majority of users.
If the reports are accurate, plugging the device in or placing it on a wireless charger to power it up seems to have no effect at all, with the notification LED remaining unlit and the display showing no signs that the device is charging. Some of those users have said that their Samsung Galaxy Note 8 does feel warm to the touch when plugged in, despite remaining unresponsive and failing to power on. Meanwhile, other users are also reporting that the usual signs of charging activity do show upon plugging their device in or placing it on a wireless charger, but that the devices fail to charge or turn on. Samsung has, as of this writing, acknowledged the complaints via its support forums and has reportedly been replacing devices for users that have reported the problem. However, it isn’t immediately clear how widespread the problem might be or how accurate reports of the problem are.
There has been some speculation that the issue may be software-related, as devices don’t turn on but do seem to be registering that they have connected to a power source. The problem does seem to predominantly affect the U.S. variant of Samsung’s Galaxy Note 8 flagship – which sports a Qualcomm-built Snapdragon 835 SoC, while the global variant features Samsung’s own Exynos chipset. However, there also hasn’t been any word as to which version of Android OS the affected devices are running and the problem could be related to the software environment rather than the optimization between hardware and software. Unfortunately, there also hasn’t been any verification of either scenario since the company has not released an official statement. Until the company does release a statement, there’s no way to know what is really going on for sure.