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This makes me nuts. Don’t get me wrong here I have nothing against Delta on this one. I think Delta should have taken it a step further and simply banned them like they did with the so called “hover boards”. Considering how many folks ignore phone rules on-board, I think it is just a matter of time until something happens on a jet with one of these phones.
I love the Samsung brand and have been a loyal Samsung user for years and years. Both my wife and I have Samsung tablets and use them almost every day. I just loved my Samsung Note 2 phone and was reluctant to upgrade to the Note 4 but now feel it is the best phone I have ever had after OS upgrade to Android 6. And I am clearly a huge Android fan as all my devices that do not run Windows run Android of some flavor.
So why am I irritated over this do not use order? There should not be one. There is nothing wrong with the Samsung Note 7 phone itself it is all about the battery being soldered into the phone. With my Note 4 I have flip flopped back and forth with the use of my Zero Lemon battery that does make a phone into a 1 pound brick. I still use it during the summer time and I can give you one simple example. Over the past few days I have been enjoying a number of rounds of “free” golf at an amazing golf course, that is, Bay Harbor up in northern Michigan (more on this later). But with my mega battery yesterday I could use my phone until tee time, run the GPS all day and even on the 5-ish hour drive home (as a passenger) stream TV content to my phone the entire way and have power to spare without needing to plug in. The battery is a beast and works.
But it only works because… (drum roll please)…. you can remove the battery.
And this is why I did not upgrade to the Note 5 yet (nor will I) nor will I upgrade to the Note 7 unless they rework it with a replaceable battery. Samsung could have avoided this entire mess if they had not soldered them in to begin with – just send in the old battery and we have a new one on the way to you.
Now I am going to tie this in with Delta as a comparison, that is, Samsung made the dumb move with the Note 5 and continued this bone headed soldered battery choice with the Note 7 and Delta’s choice to keep the award charts hidden from us is a comparable continued dumb move. Delta has made a number of frequent flyer program changes and most of them the other major airlines have copied one after another. Some will say this validates their changes. Maybe, but if you feel that way then the other airlines around the world should have also hidden and stopped using the award charts.
But they didn’t – did they!
Clearly this battery mess, that was not Samsung’s fault to begin with, could have been avoided and simply fixed and been a non-issue. Now it has come to this – don’t fly with your phone unless it is off! A phone you cannot use is all but worthless. To me, a frequent flyer program that you cannot compare value of a ticket purchased is in many ways the same. – René
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“Clearly this battery mess, that was not Samsung’s fault to begin with,”
Ahhh…yeah it was. They knew the problem and released it anyway. Just like Google steals all content based on their version of innocence that some of it may be legal, when in fact the majority is counterfeited so we all suffer.
All smart-phones should be banned on all aircraft. It’s that simple. A Silicon Valley raid and complete shutdown would be wonderful.
Also a huge Samsung fan here and one reason I won’t upgrade from the S5 is the new models don’t have user replaceable batteries.
Now that this is going to potentially cost Samsung billions having to replace the entire devices rather than just sending out new replacement batteries, perhaps they will stop copying Apple and their next versions will once again include removable batteries.
@Melissa – There is nothing wrong with the phone itself. It is a battery issue.
@Kevin – I agree with every word you posted!
Get an iPhone 7 Plus. You will never look back.
@Santastico How would you know that, seeing how they’re not even available yet? (I won’t get in to Apple vs Samsung here by the way… they both have their strong points and the blog is already biased anyhow!)
I agree with Kevin. I am keeping my S5 with it’s removable battery. I could have gotten the 6 when I got my 5 but thought the 5 made much more sense.
@santa, The reason we non-apple folks are thus is because we resent the whole proprietary “i-verse” strategy. That’s why many of us avoid things like non-removable batteries. We are free agents and want to remain such.
Samsung themselves are urging immediate exchange do to the issue.
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/samsung-tells-korean-customers-stop-galaxy-note-41992747
It’s not just Delta that is urging people not to use the Note 7, FAA Statement. I flew DFW-MSP today and I heard several airlines issuing that same notice.
https://www.faa.gov/news/updates/?newsId=86424
@rene This is a reply to “@Melissa – There is nothing wrong with the phone itself. It is a battery issue.”
It actually is the phone, it’s the charging circuitry that is causing the battery to go over spec voltage, which is is why they are specific about saying you may not charge it on the plane.
@Scott – A replaceable batter would still have fixed this as they could send out one to work with the phone. I guess it is splitting hairs as since the battery is built in it IS the phone that is as one unit the problem. Again, why a removable battery is such a good choice.
Are flight attendants told they must be vigilant and make sure folks keep the phone turned off? What assurance do we have that all passengers will comply? Hopefully the flight attendants are prepared to handle an issue if it arises.
@Rene- “There is nothing wrong with the phone itself. It is a battery issue.”
Uh… What? The battery is indeed part of the phone and does show the actual phone is as fault.
Your assertion is that engine trouble isn’t car trouble. Or that if anything on a phone malfunctions, save for the antenna, then somehow it’s not a ‘phone’ issue.
@Bon – Should all the 787s be scrapped too according to your comparison?
@rene,
I had been given a Note 7 as a birthday gift and had to promptly return it to T-Mobile. The day before the recall they told me it was an issue caused by cheap third party cables being used to charge the phone and there would be no problem using the QI charger. Since I had not opened the box yet and did not want to have to transfer all my information twicei want going to wait for the replacement.
The main reason for going with a sold ered battery is it allows the battery to be a custom shape and potentially have more capacity. That’s how Apple did it on the first iPhone…. Huge battery taking up most of the phone.
I currently use an lg g3, which I got after my note 2 died as I couldn’t justify the cost difference to the note 4.
Now before getting a note7 2.0 I am waiting for the lg V20 to come out so I can compare them.
You are correct about cell phone abuse!!!I agree they should ban the samsung stuff to be really sure!!!