Samsung could bring back the Galaxy Note 7, refurbished, with a smaller battery

One would think that the Galaxy Note 7 rests in the past and Samsung’s future is with the Galaxy S8, and then eventually, the Note 8. But it seems Note 7 isn’t quite ready to stop making headlines just yet. A new report in the South Korean media claims that refurbished Galaxy Note 7 could actually go on sale in a few months.

According to South Korean news website The Korean Economic Daily, this could happen as early as June this year. Samsung is said to be swapping the larger 3500mAh batteries with 3000mAh to 3200mAh batteries since that was the cause for all the fires according to Samsung’s own investigation.

After the first recall, Samsung did try to resell the Note 7 with new batteries but they started exploding as well, because Samsung did not correctly identify the problem with the batteries back then. This time around though, even as the core components will be reused, the cases will be newly made.

I’m sure while many would rather not trust Samsung again with a Note 7, there are many who would still do. And so here’s a bummer, if you’re one of those. According to the website, the refurbished Note 7 will only be available in emerging markets, such as India and Vietnam. This move is said to be part of Samsung's plan to recover the costs from the initial device recall as well as minimizing or avoiding altogether, environmental penalties from the estimated 2.5 million or so Galaxy Note 7 units it will have to otherwise dispose of.

The only official word from Samsung that could even be remotely connected to this report was even before Samsung’s investigation had concluded, when a spokesperson from the company had said that the company was “reviewing possible options that can minimize the environmental impact of the recall.”

Would you be interested in buying a refurbished Note 7? For a cheaper price of course. 

Via : ZDNet

Kailash Sadhikar

An engineering undergrad student who loves all things tech. He has a soft spot for Android.