It looks all but certain that the Galaxy Note 7 will be relaunching under the name Fan Edition.
We’ve known for a while that Samsung is planning to re-release its ill-fated Galaxy Note 7 handset, which was recalled late last year over a serious battery flaw that caused spontaneous fires. The new phone will be refurbished, and is supposedly set to arrive on July 7 this year.
It’s also been heavily reported that the new version of the phone would be dubbed Galaxy Note 7 FE, with the latter two letters standing for ‘Fan Edition’. This seems to be supported by a newly leaked storefront poster that was published on China’s Weibo social media platform (via TelefoonAbonnement), as seen below:
We can’t verify this snap, but given the significant number of sources suggesting Fan Edition is the name we’re inclined to believe that it’s legitimate. Still, take this with a pinch of salt until Samsung makes an official announcement.
In any case, it’s looking likely that the phone is nearly here, and is expected to be effectively identical – apart from battery fixes – to the original handset.
That means it will feature the same 5.7-inch Super AMOLED QHD display, the same Exynos 8890 system-on-a-chip, the same 4GB of RAM, and the same 64GB of storage. We’re also expecting to see the impressive 12-megapixel f/1.7 camera making a return.
We gave the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 a well-deserved 4.5/5 score when it launched last year, praising the handset’s glorious screen, incredible camera, water-resistant design, and excellent battery life.
Our original verdict read as follows:
“I started this review saying the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 wasn’t for everyone, and it really isn’t. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t a truly fantastically complete phone. Galaxy S7 aside, there aren’t any other phones (iPhones very much included) that are this close to perfection.”
“The screen is sublime, the camera makes me want to go out and take pictures and the engineering that must have gone in make a phone with a 5.7-inch display this good to hold is beyond impressive.”
But despite the handset’s widespread critical acclaim, the phone was recalled twice within two months of launching, after it emerged that some users’ devices were catching fire. Samsung eventually stopped manufacturing the phone and killed sales globally, eventually citing a number of battery design flaws as the reason for the fires. However, with such a large number of Galaxy Note 7 units stockpiled at Samsung warehouses, it made sense to re-release a refurbished version of the device.
Related: Best Android phones
Would you be interested in purchasing a refurbished Galaxy Note 7? Let us know in the comments.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
