A few days ago a report revealed the results of Samsung’s Galaxy Note7 investigation, before the Korean tech giant had the chance to do it itself. But today, the official report finally came in as scheduled.
Although previously we weren’t offered too many details, this week we’re finally given a clear explanation of what went wrong with the controversial Galaxy Note7.
So it is finally official – the battery was to blame for the overheating tendencies of the Galaxy Note7.
Samsung hired three independent contractors to investigate and assess the problematic. The company says Samsung engineers tested approximately 200,000 Note7 devices and 30,000 batteries and managed to replicate the incidents which led to the massive Note7 recall.
The results concluded that the Note7’s design, hardware or software were not the culprit – the battery was. As you probably remember, initial Galaxy Note7 units shipped with batteries supplied by Samsung SDI (type A). When the fires started happening, Samsung quickly issued a recall, only to start sending out replacement units shortly afterwards. These new Galaxy Note7 phones run on Amperex batteries (type B), but were soon found to be plagued by the same fiery issues.
Now Samsung’s official investigation report reveals both batteries had major defects which led to the overheating problems so many users experienced.
Samsung provides interested parties with the full technical details on the matter. To make the long story short, what made the both batteries catch fire and explode was a combination of manufacturing and design flaws.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6s4uqr1serU
For the type A batteries, Samsung lists deformations at the upper corners (due to a too small battery casing) and thin internal separators as the main issues. With the battery being squashed in one corner, it forced tips of layer of negative electrodes to curve over.
As for the type B batteries, the culprit lied with missing or misaligned insulation tape (separating positive and negative electrodes) and thin internal separators.
Samsung wanted to show the world that it has learned from the Galaxy Note7 safety scare. The company said it has installed new protocols like “multi-layer safety measures” and the “8-Point Battery Safety Check”. The Korean tech giant also revealed it has assembled a Battery Advisory Group formed of external advisers, academic and research experts to ensure another Galaxy Note7 never reaches retail shelves again.
Samsung is expected to unveil the Galaxy S8 soon, although the latest rumors claim the new flagship won’t be introduced at MWC 2017 as expected.
Earlier this month, it was revealed that despite the Galaxy Note7 debacle, Samsung expects to see a massive 50% increase in profits in Q4 2016. If the prediction turns out to be true, it would represent the highest quarterly profit reported by the Korean firm since Q3 2013.
Well, that is the most explanation I’ve seen yet, so it must be true. Still, to me it seems yes, the batteries had manufacturing defects, but maybe to sacrifice thickness of the device, trying to squash a 3500mAh battery into such tight quarters was not a good idea either? Just saying. And I’m a very satisfied Samsung Galaxy S7 owner, so it’s not like I’m a Samsung hater.