Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 fiasco could easily be described as a series of unfortunate events. When reports of the phone “exploding” started trickling in, they were largely brushed off by media as isolated incidents. After all, this wouldn’t be the first time that a Samsung phone had ever been accused of having explosive issues. However, it was soon evident that this wasn’t a drill as more and more reports surfaced. As a result, Samsung quickly took action and issued a recall for the device.
After the recall was issued, Samsung worked swiftly to isolate the issue and subsequently mass produce replacement Note 7s for consumers. Samsung’s decision to address the problem and come up with a fast solution seemed like a good thing at the time, but the situation quickly turned sour as even the replacement Note 7 devices were prone to overheat and explode. As one could reasonably expect, the replicated incidents in the new batch of Note 7s ended up being the final nail in the coffin for the short-lived flagship.
There was a question of whether the Note line would ever recover, or even if Samsung would continue producing the Note after such an incident. As the issue concerned the safety of its users and affected people in some devastating ways, it will unquestionably go down in history as one of the biggest mobile blunders of all time. Yet, despite all that has happened, Samsung appears committed to keeping the Note brand as well as continued transparency regarding the incident considering they’ve just released an official statement that addresses the reasoning behind the issues.
As it turns out, both Note 7 devices suffered from similar, yet different, problems with short-circuiting batteries. Unlikely? Yes, but also not entirely unbelievable. The first was likely an isolated incident, but the second could probably be contributed to the quick turnaround between recall and replacement.
Either way, it all boils down to the explanation that had been given all along: it’s a battery problem. Which means that if the Note 7’s battery had been removable this whole situation would have been a much easier problem to solve. As such, I believe that the best way to remedy the situation at this point is for Samsung to simply bring back the removable battery.
I strongly feel that Samsung’s dedication and transparency to the issue have helped me keep faith in the company. If they had simply ignored it or kept quiet in hopes that people would forget about it then I would hold a very different opinion, but even with their promise of rigorous quality assurance from this point on, I still think that it would be more likely for people to trust Samsung and the Note brand again if the user had some control over the issue.
A removable battery isn’t the end of the world. There are ways to keep a removable battery while also making a phone look good. Take the LG V20 for example; it has a metal back but you can still remove its battery. The phone might end up a little thicker, but so was the Galaxy S7 compared to the S6 and I have not heard one person complain about it (probably because it’s for a good reason – a larger battery). To put it simply, none of the reasons used to justify a non-removable battery trumps the fact that the Note 7 could have been somewhat salvaged by having one. I think an appropriate phrase here is “Better safe than sorry.”
The Note 8 would probably still manage to get by without a removable battery, and I imagine that Samsung will take extra precaution from now on. However, I still think that the re-implementation of the removable battery would do wonders for peace of mind.