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US carriers halt Samsung Note 7 sales and replacements

bbc.com

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Re: US carriers halt Samsung Note 7 sales and replacements

#101

Post by chrisseaton »

bogomipz wrote: post #13
maxpert wrote: post #4

I don't know how fatal this will be for Samsung next time they go out and sell phones; but people have got a taste of buying from a company that doesn't have any sales or customer rep centers easily accessible where people can go and complaint. I really hope it doesn't turn out to be fatal for them but I also hope it breaks the Samsung monopoly over Android and let brands like LG, HTC shine.

Outside of Apple iPhones, dont most people just go to their carrier's retail outlet if they have an issue with their phone?

Right, and consumer law means any problem with a phone you bought from them is something you need to take up with them rather than Samsung, is that right? You bought your phone from a retailer. Where the retailer got it from and who they complain to about issues is their problem not yours.

Re: US carriers halt Samsung Note 7 sales and replacements

#102

Post by usrusr »

CookieMon wrote: post #16

Why did Note 7's have this problem? I assume the fault is entirely in the battery (?), so did Samsung change how the batteries were manufactured this year? Does the Note 7 have power demands that mean they can't go back to tried and tested battery manufacture? (Hoping there are EE's or manufacturing people here that might have some educated guesses)

Considering how easy it would be to turn batteries into time-fused bombs (that pass QA) with the tiniest of impurities in the manufacturing process, I sometimes wonder if the note 7 problems could be the visible part of Samsung trying to stand up to a protection racket. I guess it would not take that big of a network of infiltrators or blackmail-handles on factory floor workers distributed over a range of suppliers to go all "nice phones you have there, would be a shame if they burnt..." on a phone brand.

The weak point of this theory is that the risk/cost of going public about this kind of threat would not be terribly high, unlike e.g. in plain old hostage taking.

Re: US carriers halt Samsung Note 7 sales and replacements

#103

Post by LeifCarrotson »

usaphp wrote: post #31
CountSessine wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really hope it doesn't turn out to be fatal for them but I also hope it breaks the Samsung monopoly over Android and let brands like LG, HTC shine. OLED displays are so good they still sell themselves, and Samsung is the only handset maker that seems to be committed to the technology. I doubt this will change much.

Isn't "burn in" a big drawback for OLED screens?

Anecdotally, my Moto X 2014 hasn't suffered anyburn-in, even on the taskbar or buttons, and I haven't heard other owners even commenting on it. Also, I haven't taken any measures to reduce it. I just love it for the near-zero brightness available through my Twilight/Flux app, no problems checking notifications in the dark!

Re: US carriers halt Samsung Note 7 sales and replacements

#104

Post by exhilaration »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #90
eksemplar wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

After 2 years my S2 became a slow unfunctional piece of dead tech. I tried resetting it through the Samsung tools, which didn't help, so I rooted it and tried different versions of basic android on it, which didn't help. At the same time I had two friends who were experiencing the same kinds of problems, who let me toy with their phones. It's completely anecdotal but three similar model phones breaking in exactly the…

To match an anecdote with an anecdote - I've been using S4 for 3 years, and then gave it to my brother (I've upgraded to S7 with contract renewal), who's been using it for the past year too. The phone is still going strong. Feels slow-ish today, true, but still better than some of the cheaper Android phones OOTB. I blame Android's continued bloat creep[0] for that slowdown though. My brother had S3 before, and so doe…

My second S4 is still going strong -- the first one was replaced by Sprint in early 2015 after the screen died. Pretty good for a phone released in 2013.

But to be fair I don't do system updates so I don't experience the gradual slowdown that comes with increasing software bloat.

Re: US carriers halt Samsung Note 7 sales and replacements

#105

Post by vamur »

maxpert wrote: post #4

I don't know how fatal this will be for Samsung next time they go out and sell phones; but people have got a taste of buying from a company that doesn't have any sales or customer rep centers easily accessible where people can go and complaint. I really hope it doesn't turn out to be fatal for them but I also hope it breaks the Samsung monopoly over Android and let brands like LG, HTC shine.

They will sell the phone in BRICS and EU where consumers are more risk tolerant. Still plenty of profit. Also, I suspect US consumers will buy directly from Samsung anyway as Note 7 is still the best phablet out there.

>>also hope it breaks the Samsung monopoly over Android and let brands like LG, HTC shine.

LG phones have bootloop issues. And HTC phones are overpriced.

Re: US carriers halt Samsung Note 7 sales and replacements

#106

Post by vamur »

CountSessine wrote: post #61
acchow wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's so great about OLEDs? They consume much more energy and don't produce the most accurate colors.

They only consume more energy when displaying white. They consume very little energy when displaying black. OLED displays have a very wide color gamut. If you have source material that was tuned to it, there's really nothing like it. To get a similar gamut with LCD you need a quantum dot backlight. Samsung devices all have a screen mode where they constrain their gamut to sRGB for more accurate colors, though. In ter…

One issue with Samsung AMOLEDs I've noticed is the PWM effect - you can see it in any review of a Samsung phone where the phone is not on max brightness. The PWM effect can cause headache for people who are susceptible to the flicker.

Re: US carriers halt Samsung Note 7 sales and replacements

#107

Post by vamur »

eksemplar wrote: post #28
kayoone wrote: post #25

Screwing up once happens, even if it shouldn't. Doing it twice will seriously shatter peoples trust in these devices and make them think twice before purchasing a new Samsung phone again. Samsung is a behemoth but this can really hurt their smartphone division.

After 2 years my S2 became a slow unfunctional piece of dead tech. I tried resetting it through the Samsung tools, which didn't help, so I rooted it and tried different versions of basic android on it, which didn't help. At the same time I had two friends who were experiencing the same kinds of problems, who let me toy with their phones. It's completely anecdotal but three similar model phones breaking in exactly the…

You have either filled the phone storage or installed too many apps.

Re: US carriers halt Samsung Note 7 sales and replacements

#108

Post by rayiner »

CountSessine wrote: post #61
acchow wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's so great about OLEDs? They consume much more energy and don't produce the most accurate colors.

They only consume more energy when displaying white. They consume very little energy when displaying black. OLED displays have a very wide color gamut. If you have source material that was tuned to it, there's really nothing like it. To get a similar gamut with LCD you need a quantum dot backlight. Samsung devices all have a screen mode where they constrain their gamut to sRGB for more accurate colors, though. In ter…

> They only consume more energy when displaying black.

So just the entire Internet?

Re: US carriers halt Samsung Note 7 sales and replacements

#109

Post by vamur »

So far there isn't any hard evidence (e.g HD videos) that the replacement phones really have the issue. All claims are based on hearsay and "reports".

But if true then Samsung really needs changes to its management and product line. It makes too many phones - right now there they have A, C, J, E lines besides the Galaxy line, confusing and aggravating customers and likely employees as well.

It can also mean that manufacturers are hitting a safety wall with lithium batteries, which is bad news for future phone battery capacities.

Re: US carriers halt Samsung Note 7 sales and replacements

#110

Post by vollmond »

vamur wrote: post #105
maxpert wrote: post #4

I don't know how fatal this will be for Samsung next time they go out and sell phones; but people have got a taste of buying from a company that doesn't have any sales or customer rep centers easily accessible where people can go and complaint. I really hope it doesn't turn out to be fatal for them but I also hope it breaks the Samsung monopoly over Android and let brands like LG, HTC shine.

They will sell the phone in BRICS and EU where consumers are more risk tolerant. Still plenty of profit. Also, I suspect US consumers will buy directly from Samsung anyway as Note 7 is still the best phablet out there. >>also hope it breaks the Samsung monopoly over Android and let brands like LG, HTC shine. LG phones have bootloop issues. And HTC phones are overpriced.

I love LG phones, but it's going to be hard to convince me to buy another one after the G4 bootloop stuff. On my third one a year in... (TMo keeps replacing them for me)
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