The birth and death of Samsung Galaxy Note 7

The birth and death of Samsung Galaxy Note 7

It was the month of June/July, I can't remember it correctly, the Note 7 was announced that its going to make its way in the month of August worldwide. I still remember the money I was stashing for this superbly looking smartphone which is nothing but a beast in its performance. I always liked Sony a lot and thought that I was drifting away by this new smartphone which just has all the key parameters that a smartphone should have. I was eagerly waiting for the moment it to be released and also bit worried about the money I had. The money for this smartphone hasn't been announced yet and it made me little bit worrisome. Finally, in the month of August it was released, more likely was announced globally. This had all the features that a person would be dream about perfect phone. Amazing body, both front and back made of glass. Having dual curves both in front and at back made it something special. It had this neat design of home button which also acted as a finger print scanner. And it was lightning fast [0.4 s]. At the top, one can see the Iris scanner, a camera and an ambient sensor. The iris scanner was one of the treats from Samsung which no phone had it come that neat. Although Lumia phones had but they were in terms of beta and sometimes we rounded ourselves in trouble of getting into the home screen. At the back, it has this gorgeous 12 mega pixel camera which boasted about the low light photography and fast auto focus on the subjects. What Samsung calls it phase detection and uses all the pixels i.e., 100% pixels to focus in on the subject. By doing this one can simply look in to the photos that are quite good. Focusing and shooting the snaps were amazingly fast. And all this with a buttery flow of Android Marshmallow. Although it had this stock Touch wiz UI, it didn't matter a lot since it had this smooth operation. Now moving down, it has this water proof body which is IP68 certified, meaning mobile can be dunked in water for 30 minutes with a depth of 1 meter. It also had dust proof/resistance. At the bottom, it showcases the speaker which is water proof and a USB type C port which allows for fast charging and its USB 3.0 for faster data transfer. Beside that is a small microphone. At the top we have this 3.5 mm audio jack and a port where it can house dual sim card or a single sim card with a micro SD Card of 256 GB. It has this superb design which clearly hide the antenna and also includes wireless charging [Qi charging].

Once you boot this beast you can see the android marshmallow boot screen and setup screen. Finishing with the setup you can just dive into exploring the features it has. Now I really can't emphasize on all the features since it as over a ton of them. I just concentrate on the ones which might come in handy. Oh, I forgot to let you know that since it's a phablet, it has a stylus which is slimmed down a little. The tip is of a size of 0.7 mm only. Just like your pen tip. It also features more than 4000+ pressure sensitiveness. That means it can adapt to any type of pressure which is applied. The pen also features water proof capability and also has few shortcuts that might come in handy.

The moment you hold the phone, you can feel its amazing grip with its famous thin profile. One need not be careful along with this phone since it's made of corning gorilla glass 5. Which hypothetically is unbreakable and scratch proof to any indentations. The glass also promises an oleo-phobic coating which is anti-finger print coating! Although the promise isn't going to stand a chance, which in contrary is a finger print magnet. Most of the reviews and also unboxing of this phone will substantiate this.

Let's talk little bit about the specs. The main brain of this phone is Snapdragon 820 or home baked Exynos processor. On one side SD 820 is Quadcore processor and Exynos 8890 which is a Octa core chipset. Both has its own share in performance. Although SD SoC gets a little higher in terms of benchmark and other processing markings. Exynos processor don't get heated up like SD does. The chipset is supported by a staggering 4 GB ram which LPDDR4, that's quite good for the current tech. It also has a good GPU [Mali-T880 MP12] which promises a good playback of videos with some games that hungers for strong gpu and RAM. The GPU is supported by a software touch of new Vulcan API. This also supports for smooth playback or playing video games. The most important thing was the phone never heated a lot while playing games. The phone had a battery of 3500 mAh juice, that could last a day. The juice can be filled either by conventional charging method, of course, fast charging or wireless fast charging using the new Samsung Fast Wireless Charger. Samsung did hear out the cries of its customers over the expandable storage. Yes, it has an expandable slot, up to 256 GB storage. Luckily, now we can add all those storage hungry apps and movies. It is supported by a virtual reality technology which delivers an amazing display with 1440 x 2560 pixels (~518 ppi pixel density). Now this is more than enough to get you the crystal-clear video quality with all the details. I must admit that Samsung has been doing a great job in building the screens. It almost has accurate color reproduction engine and runs any video pretty solid. Almost all pictures at this WQHD sounds pretty neat and accurate. Hat's off Sammy. It has an headphone jack which can parse in 24-bit/192kHz audio, lossless audio neatly. It has Bluetooth 4.1v and a reversible USB type - C for fast data transfer and charging. The sensors include Iris scanner, fingerprint, accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer, heart rate & SpO2. The colours can be Blue Coral, Gold Platinum, Silver Titanium and Black Onyx. The camera has a f/1.7, 12 MP and 23 mm sensor which encompasses both OIS and phase detection.

Camera: The best treat is the camera. The camera is a 12 MP, 23mm and f/1.7 aperture sensor which literally captures good photos. The photos even though can't be cropped 100% for its 12 MP, but hey, who'd count mega pixels? And MPs don't matter a lot since 8MP gets you an amazing photo at A4 size. Which still is more to our human eye [which on contrary human eye has more than 576 MP]. The real treat starts when sun sets down. Yeah, the low light photography [without flash] is still the best in its class with this mobile. It makes sure that exposure is right with wide aperture [f/1.7] and can minimize the noise in the photos. Most probably because of its higher ISO rates, but kudos for the wide aperture. I really appreciate Sammy for this.

Gaming and multi-tasking: Gaming and multi-tasking has one of the other perks. The mobile is surely a beast in this chapter. The phone promises a low heat at its back while playing games, thanks to the liquid cooling technology. It also features out of the box Android Marshmallow which runs the phone smoothly and dearly. The Vulcan API, features smooth running of games and others apps. Although there are less games that are compatible with Vulcan API.

Thanks to new Android 6, Marshmallow, the multitasking has been too smooth too. The moment you want to switch between apps or you want to stack one below the other has been so simple that it only takes one tap to do it. Yes, one can stack the programs or apps one over the other without much effort.

Stylus: With grand style comes the stylus which is quite thin in its profile. The tip has been reduced to 0.7 mm which is equal to one of normal day pens. There is also a good news to the buyers of note 7 i.e., even if the stylus is put backwards it won't break any integrity in the system unlike note 5. And it stops the way in! The stylus is equipped with a tick-tock design at its top just like our normal pen does and has a button on its body to open up the shortcuts or use as an eraser.

Security: The most important feature of all is the security. Holding a premium phone also calls for premium features like Iris scan! Yes, you heard me right. This premium phone has an Iris scanner which works swiftly most of the time in day or good light conditions. The phone features something called secure folder which allows the users to keep their private photos, docs, or any other files safe. This feature can be activated by going into the settings menu. The private folder can only be unlocked by the irises which it's scanned! So be careful. Note 7 also features a finger print unlocking system which only takes 0.4 seconds. Of course, it also has all the conventional unlocking system like password or pin or pattern.

State of the art design: Even though most people don't appreciate it's design I give my kudos to Sammy on this. The real design has to come from a person who uses the phone daily and wishes it to be holding friendly. Yes, note 7 has curve on its front and back too which still offers a better grip compared to its predecessor, Note 5 or S7 Edge. Even though most design resembles to S7 edge, note 7 has smooth improvisations over that! 

Smart Features:

1. Note 7 like other Samsung flagships has Samsung Pay. Which allows the users to pay without swiping your credit/debit cards in any of the stores that allows swiping magnetic strips.
2. Note 7 can record videos at 4K @ 30fps resolution i.e., 4096 X 2160 which is typically called UHD or Ultra High Definition. It even has slow motion capture in 720p @ 240fps. It also has optical image stabilization [OIS] and HDR video and photo capture.
3. Note 7 has a decent battery accompanied by wireless charging. It can be stationed on a Samsung's Fast wireless charger that which basically works on Qi charging. 0 - 100% of juice in 120 minutes.
4. Note 7 features Super Amoled display of WQHD and superior colour reproduction system. Touch sensitivity is best in its class.
5. Note 7 is a water and dust proof smartphone. 
6. Note 7 has Always on Display feature too, which means you don't to use the power on button always to see what time is it.

 Pros & Cons:

• Good design and holding grip
• Good battery
• High security
• Features Samsung pay and Bluetooth 4.1v
• Has Iris scanner and finger print scanner
• Best camera in its class
• Fast fluid OOB Android Marshmallow
• Good stylus and pressure sensitiveness
• Offers wide angle, wide aperture lens at front for selfies
• Plays lossless audio formats for HD music lovers
• Features corning gorilla glass 5
• Supports VR with new VR 2nd generation by Samsung
• Can track life logs including heart rates, SP02 and others

Cons include,

• SD versions heats up a little
• Bad RAM management
• Still Samsung pay hasn't been used widely
• Iris scanner might let you down in low light conditions
• Screen replacement could cost a fortune
• and that's it.

Well most of the pros can persuade one to buy this mobile. As I was literally hypnotized with this mesmerizing smartphone I couldn't stand a chance and I gave myself up. Yes, I did order this on 22nd Aug, 2016 as a pre-booking product. The Samsung India did let down the consumers and it didn't offer us as it was in other countries. Most part of the world featured a SD card of 256 GB or a smart band or even a virtual reality headset. All Sammy India did was to offer us a virtual reality headset by paying a discounted price of 1990/- INR. It was a shameful moment to all of us but we are not beggars, aye? 

In mean time when Sammy did try to make it's glamorous appearance in other countries, few people in USA, China, Korea and Australia complained about the explosions that were happening while the phone was resting on the table and getting charged. Some phones did explode with a noise and costing owners much damage to themselves and home. Few did torch themselves up with a cracking sound of glass and smoking the room. One of the owners of Note 7 was in breathing issues due to the smoke it had liberated during combustion. The other owner in USA shared a photo to BGR which had lit his jeep on fire while charging. The nightmares did continue over a month with 90 complaints arising from USA alone. More complaints rushed in over a while from other countries like Australia and home, KOREA.

Samsung did rush to the spot and checked in on all the complaints personally along with few agents of USA. The premature analysis showed that there was a battery cell issue from the Samsung SDI which is a child company of Sammy! Later Samsung announced a global recall on Note 7. But the nightmare didn't stop there, it continued all the way up to stopping of Note 7 permanently till October 13. The company announced a free exchange towards the first batch of phone which was a lethal weapon on its own. The company immediately restocked all the first batch with second batch along with day-night quality checking. By this time Samsung had sold 2.5 Million Note 7 phones worldwide. Luckily, India never had an opportunity to see the note 7 throughout this process. India should have gotten its hand on Note 7 on 02 September, 2016. However, all the recall process did postpone the Note 7 release in India by a week. Later, a week turned into a month and in the end, it never made it to India. Although foreign sellers on eBay sold a few in India. One of the hilarious things was Amitabh Bachchan of Bollywood industry did order one from a foreign country. Later Samsung did replace his device with a new battery cell. The nightmare did continue with strong pungent smell, sniffed by the critics the Samsung was all on its knees over the first and second week of October, 2016. The battle was over just by stopping the production and marketing of Note on 13th of October, 2016 worldwide. The second recall is supported by a refund with 15$ extra cash back or 100$ discount with exchange program by one of the Samsung's old phones. Most of the critics and reviewers stated that s7 edge or s7 could be the best replacement, while Samsung started manufacturing new sets of S7 and S7 edge in India. Later, Samsung India replaced Mr. Amitabh Bachchan's phone with S7 device. Most of the Indian customers who had believed in Samsung did stick with the company. According to the company there were 20,000 people who had pre-ordered, including me. Hardly 2% left getting scared. Well I too gave up pretty late where Samsung said I can either go for S7/S7 Edge or have a full refund. 

"Samsung later announced that people who had pre-ordered Note 7 can get a refund or buy S7/S7 edge instead. If customers opt for S7 or S7 edge they will be gifted with a new virtual reality headset, a bluetooth wireless headset, an oculus virtual reality content worth $50 or 3300 INR and a screen replacement for one time in a year for 990/- INR as a token of appreciation for the loyalty"

It is pretty hard for Samsung these days, which literally had to spend its share to other companies to make up for the loses. An analyst shared a statistics showed that there was a pretty solid $2.5 Billion hole in the Samsung's pocket. And share values coming down with share loses up to $16 billion. Samsung has a veil in front of it which can only be lifted by a perfect galaxy or a note series. Fingers crossed with a notion in mind that things will be good at every failure has lured humans into much good future. Let us hope that Samsung will stand a chance to claim that their devices are still safe from explosions.

With being said this I would like to conclude my writing here, I really hope Samsung will start fresh in keen attention with quality checking process. 

"For a business to run more smoothly and efficiently, a company has to be more productive, should impart high quality checking process and best marketing."

Thank you for reading this.

With Love, Peace and Respects, this is Simon.