The Galaxy Note 7 has been discontinued for two months now, and Samsung is working to reclaim all of the units still out in the wild. Despite all that, though, the device is allegedly being used more than some other high-profile Android flagships.
Apteligent, a mobile research firm, has put out a report that measures the usage of flagship Android devices that’ve launched in the second half of 2016. The report claims that while usage of the Galaxy Note 7 has fallen in the months since it was recalled and discontinued, Samsung’s phone is still being used by more people than the LG V20 and OnePlus 3T, and its usage is fairly close to the Moto Z.
Meanwhile, devices like the Sony Xperia XZ, Google Pixel, and Google Pixel XL are being used quite a bit more than the Galaxy Note 7.
There are a couple of things worth noting about this report. The first is that it only measures devices released in the second half of 2016, so phones like the Samsung Galaxy S7, S7 edge, and LG G5 are excluded. Additionally, this report is based on info gained from Apteligent’s research and not hard sales numbers from the device makers, so these usage numbers may not reflect exact real-word usage.
All that said, these numbers are pretty interesting. There’s no doubt that the Galaxy Note 7 was a huge device when it launched thanks to the Samsung Galaxy brand, a wide release, and positive reviews. What’s crazy is that there may still be more people clinging on to the recalled Note 7 than there are people using LG’s V20, which launched in October across several major carriers.
Samsung has said that it’s still working to regain Note 7s that are out in the wild, but that there are still some people using the recalled phone. For example, 7 percent of the recalled Note 7s in the US are still in use. Those devices will soon receive an update that will prevent their ability to charge and eliminate their ability to work as mobile devices.