This post is brought to you by Samsung Malaysia
Let’s not beat around the bush. What happened to the Samsung Galaxy Note7 was really unfortunate. It was borderline nasty. And although Samsung has sort of redeemed itself with the Galaxy Note8, there are people who were still apprehensive.
Imagine what people started saying when Samsung launched the Galaxy Note Fan Edition (FE), which many mistook to simply be a “refurbished old Note7”. Queue the explosion jokes. Here’s the thing though, it isn’t an old Note7 and here’s why this phone won’t explode.
First off, Samsung’s Galaxy Note FE uses brand new parts that haven’t been tainted by someone’s grubby hands yet. Samsung openly stated that the Note FE is produced using unopened Galaxy Note7 smartphones in Samsung’s inventory with a bunch of unused components that have been reworked for this new device.
This means that it is a new smartphone because the parts going into the handset are pretty much factory fresh and that includes the brand new 3,200 mAh battery that keeps the Note FE’s lights on.
It took them awhile but Samsung, and independent industry groups, figured out that the root cause of the Note7’s issues lay with the battery. So, with the Galaxy Note FE, Samsung ditched the old batteries and put in a brand new cell inside, a fact that was confirmed when iFixit tore down their Note FE.
Although it occupied the same space as the old Note7 and, to the layman’s eye, they look pretty much identical, the battery in their unit was dated 20th June 2017.
After what happened with the Note7, Samsung completely revamped the quality and safety checks for the batteries in their devices with their 8-Point Battery Safety Check which consists of the following tests:
1. Durability Test: Frequent and heavy battery testing such as overcharging, nail punctures and exposure to extreme temperatures.
2. Visual Inspection: Visually inspect all batteries against enhanced criteria.
3. X-Ray Test: Additional inspections to view the inside of the batteries for any abnormalities.
4. Charge & Discharge Test: The batteries undergo a large-scale charging and discharging test.
5. TVOC: Additional testing to ensure battery integrity.
6. Disassembling Test: Increased battery disassembling test to assess its overall quality, including the battery tab welding and insulation.
7. Accelerated Usage Test: Intensive test simulating accelerated consumer usage.
8. △OCV Test: Checking every device for any change in voltage throughout the manufacturing process from the component level to complete device.
Samsung even implemented multi-layer safety measures for battery safety design, hardware design and an improved software algorithm to manage battery charging temperature, current and duration at the product planning stage.
So no, Samsung’s Galaxy Note FE is not the old Note7. In fact, with how rigorous Samsung tests its batteries now, the Note FE is probably one of the safer smartphones out there.
Couple that with some solid flagship specs like a gorgeous 5.7-inch Quad HD dual-curved Super AMOLED display, Iris Scanner, IP68 Dust and Water Resistance, the ever-productive S Pen, and you’ve got a really solid flagship smartphone on your hands.
The Galaxy Note FE is priced at RM2,599 and is available for purchase in Malaysia at Samsung retailers nationwide. If you purchase a Galaxy Note FE before the end of the year, you will receive an RM200 rebate through the mySamsung activation. In addition, Samsung Malaysia’s also having a year-end promotion where customers who purchase selected Samsung Galaxy models can enjoy 20% off AirAsia X flights. Terms and Conditions apply.
