This article may contain personal views and opinion from the author.
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The year of 2016 has proven to be one of the most interesting ones for the world of mobile tech. Apple's decision to play it safe the with iPhone 7, Google's release of the Pixel phones and killing of the Nexus brand, and the release of Android Nougat and iOS 10 have all proven to be huge shakeups and changes in the mobile technology landscape. However, among all the headlines and articles, the biggest and most infamous story for the entire year is undeniably that of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7.
Even if you've been living under a rock for the past month and a half, you've still heard some murmurings about what's going on with Samsung's latest iteration of the Galaxy Note line. Back on August 24, we got an official report that a Galaxy Note 7 had exploded for one user while they were charging the phone's battery. This was certainly a scary incident, but at the time we were thinking that this was just a one-time deal. This wasn't the first time we'd heard about phones allegedly catching on fire or exploding to some degree, so we simply chalked this one up as a freak accident. However, as the days and weeks progressed, more and more reports came to light about the Galaxy Note 7 exploding for other users around the world. After more of these incidents popped up, Samsung officially halted all shipments for the Galaxy Note 7 in the US on August 31. Shortly after this halt of shipments, Samsung was forced to issue an official recall on the handset for the 2.5 million units of the phone that they had shipped at the time.
Throughout the next few weeks, the Internet was bombarded with reports and stories surrounding the Note 7 and its explosive nature. After learning why some Note 7 units have a tendency to explode, we got word that another Note 7 completely destroyed a man's Jeep in Florida, by September 13 more than 70 cases of Note 7 batteries overheating had been reported to Samsung, and the FAA even made it illegal to use a Galaxy Note 7 while on an airplane. The magnitude of issues the Note 7 was causing was unlike anything we'd ever seen before, but there did seem to be some light at the end of the tunnel.
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On September 21, sales in the US resumed for the handset with the new replacement units that Samsung had sent out. Various carriers and other retail outlets set up exchange programs for the device, and things were really looking up. However, on the fateful day of September 27, there was a report that one of the replacement models of the Note 7 - where the battery issue had supposedly been fixed - exploded. Throughout the tail end of September and into this month of October, more and more reports made their way online about the new Note 7 handsets that were deemed "safe" were actually anything but.
Today, on October 11, 2016, Samsung has officially discontinued the Galaxy Note 7. And, as a result of this and everything I just recapped, I've lost complete and total faith in Samsung.
I've lost complete and total faith in Samsung.
That might sound a bit harsh and overkill, but I personally don't think it is at all. Samsung is one of the largest tech giants out there - both in the department of smartphones and other gadgets. Although a recall and safety issues like we saw with the Note 7 isn't something a company like Samsung ever wants to deal with, they should still be completely prepared for such an event if and when it does happen. In the case of the Note 7, that issue did happen and Samsung completely dropped the ball with it.
Samsung has said that they may make the move to resume sales of the handset at some point in the future. There's no word as to whether or not the latest halt is going to be permanent or not, but even if Samsung does decide to sell the Note 7 again in the near future, I can't imagine too many people out there will be jumping at the gun to be first in line to purchase it. At this point in time, the Note 7 has established itself as the Exploding Phone of 2016. No matter what Samsung tries to do to breath new life into this handset, I think the company is better off cutting their losses and ensuring that no such issues occur with the Galaxy S8.
People's lives were put at risk.
Even if the company is able to release the Galaxy S8 and Note 8 with no reports of exploding batteries, I still don't think I'm going to be comfortable with purchasing a Samsung product for quite some time. The Note 7 recall has proven to be one of the biggest recalls that we've ever seen in the tech world. Money was lost, property was damaged, and people's lives were put at risk. Taking the Explosive Galaxy Note 7 Saga into consideration, I'd feel much more comfortable spending my dollars elsewhere when it comes time for me to upgrade. And, judging by what we've seen online throughout this whole issue, I have a feeling that that's going to be the mindset for a lot of people for the foreseeable future.
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Joe Maring, a reviewer and tech news writer at PhoneArena, specializes in thorough analyses and updates on cutting-edge mobile technology, helping readers stay informed about the latest trends and product features in the rapidly evolving smartphone market.
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