Even after an explosive exit last year, the Galaxy Note 7 may be coming back from the dead very soon enough. Samsung has already confirmed that it will be releasing a limited quantity of refurbished devices to the masses in certain developing markets. Real-life leaked images of the smartphone have today surfaced on the interwebs and they suggest the Galaxy Note 7 is nearing its re-release.
As seen in the images attached below, both the front and the rear of the device have been shown clearly. No significant changes are being introduced on the outside of the Galaxy Note 7 except for the addition of a rather noticeable ‘R’ badge on the rear of the device at the bottom-right corner. This will help easily differentiate between the defected and refurbished models (Samsung could collect back only 96 percent of sold handsets).
Engraving the said character on the rear end of the device coincides with the rumors that the refurbished Galaxy Note 7 will be renamed to Note 7R. But, there have since also been reports that the Korean giant will try to make light of the situation and is planning to drive positive attention towards this refurbished product.
Therefore, it is expected to be called Galaxy Note 7 FE as in Fandom Edition. It is expected to retail as much as 300,000 devices, starting with its home country in the coming weeks. It is not going to make its way to the United States to keep the negative PR at bay. The sales are expected to begin sometime towards the end of next month, suggest reports.
As for the underlying changes expected to be introduced in the refurbished Galaxy Note 7, the battery used in the existing device are being nixed. The 3,500 mAh batteries are now being replaced with smaller 3,200 mAh non-removable batteries, which are exactly identical to the international variants of the device. This means Galaxy Note 7 FE will include an Exynos 8890 chip, coupled with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal flash memory. It is expandable up to 256GB with the use of MicroSD card.
While all this is justified, some of you may be pondering over the reason for relaunching a defected device back in the market. It is known that the Korean giant was planning to recycle all the 2.5 million devices it has collected back. But, the environmental groups had been fussing over the company’s decision, even when it assured everyone that its facilities were equipped to handle the process of recycling. But, no one wanted a liability to happen again so it was finally decided to single out Galaxy Note 7s quirks and relaunch the device in the coming months.
However, the biggest looming question will still be whether the refurbished device be safe or carry the danger of random explosions?
