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Samsung celebrates the history of the Note. Forgets about the Note 7

By Preslav Kateliev

Updated: Aug 24, 2018, 6:20 AM

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History of the Note infographic

The Samsung Galaxy Note series is one of the most... noteworthy device family in the smartphone market. Back in 2011, the original Galaxy Note launched with a 5.3-inch display — something that was considered gargantuan and even silly for a smartphone. Also the S Pen stylus — who needed that?

Well, Samsung kept pushing. It kept expanding the display sizes, it kept working on the S Pen. The end result? Large-screened smartphones have become the default and it's kind of undeniable that Sammy's work was a major part of that trend. The S Pen has become an unrivaled stylus in the smartphone market — if you want a superb handwriting or drawing experience on your phone, straight out of the box, a Note is your only option.

Samsung wanted to celebrate the history of the Note line and posted this little infographic, noting all the major upgrades with each model since 2011.

Well, almost each and every model.

Where's the Note 6?

If you're new to the Note fandom, you may notice that there's no 6. That's simply because Samsung skipped a number. See, the Note line used to run a number behind the Galaxy S line. For example, in 2015, Samsung launched the Galaxy S6 and S6 edge in the first half of the year, then the Note 5 and Galaxy S6 edge+ in the second half.

In order to avoid customer confusion, Sammy decided to pull the Note numbers up to match the Galaxy S generation naming scheme. So, in 2016, the company launched the Galaxy S7 early in the year, and the Galaxy Note 7 a few months after, completely skipping the Note 6 name.

OK... then where is the Galaxy Note 7?

Samsung celebrates the history of the Note. Forgets about the Note 7

OK, OK, jokes aside. With the Note 7, Samsung went a bit over the top, trying to squeeze an obscene amount of features in the phone and still have a rather large 3,500 mAh battery inside. Soon after, the phones started exploding. Samsung recalled them and re-launched a "fixed version".

But the phones kept on exploding.

It just turned out that there was not enough room in the phone's battery compartment to hold a juicebox with the size that Sammy planned. The battery's cells were being pushed into one another, causing them to throw a fit... a flaming, smoking, heat-producing fit.

So a second recall was made and the Note 7 was officially scrapped.

But it's all well and good, right?

We're not looking to shame Samsung — the Note 7 already did that. The company did its absolute best to recall each and every phone that was shipped off. It even pushed a few software updates to limit the levels the battery can be charged to. The idea was to at least encourage customers who were stubbornly holding on to their Note 7 to finally give in and return it — for their own safety.

To top it off, Samsung was issuing an apology left and right — for a couple of months, a week didn't pass by without Samsung apologizing to its fans for this massive blunder.

And then, the company developed a sophisticated new battery-testing process and returned with a majorly successful Galaxy Note 8 in 2017.

So, we understand why Samsung chose to omit the Note 7 from this infographic — it didn't live long enough to be considered a part of the line's progress.

However, it's still a part of Samsung's history. And, despite being a massive, massive mistake, which could've went really bad (it almost went too bad in a few cases, actually), there's no denying that Samsung made a true effort to right its wrongs. The company went above and beyond to recall all of the dangerous units, offered discounts to the disgruntled customers, and kept apologizing and thanking its fans for sticking with Galaxy devices.

For this, we feel like this part of history does not need to be swept under the rug. Both because we don't want to see Samsung (or anyone else)repeat this mistake while racing to produce a feature-packed phone in the future, and because a genuine effort to make things right with the scorned customers is a respectable deed and more companies should handle issues — big or small — in this manner.

source: Samsung

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Preslav, a member of the PhoneArena team since 2014, is a mobile technology enthusiast with a penchant for integrating tech into his hobbies and work. Whether it's writing articles on an iPad Pro, recording band rehearsals with multiple phones, or exploring the potential of mobile gaming through services like GeForce Now and Steam Link, Preslav's approach is hands-on and innovative. His balanced perspective allows him to appreciate both Android and iOS ecosystems, focusing on performance, camera quality, and user experience over brand loyalty.