About ten months after the first reported cases of Galaxy Note 7 fires began circulating online, Samsung is gearing up to re-launch the smartphone "initially" only in South Korea, according to people familiar with the company's plans (via The Wall Street Journal). Referred to as the Galaxy Note 7 FE, or "Fandom Edition," the launch is said to be coming on July 7 in the country, and it'll represent the third debut for Note 7 devices following the original launch last August, and a widespread recall and replacement later in 2016.

Even those replacement devices caught fire, but Samsung has chosen to continue the Note 7 brand with the new Fandom Edition and bring a "relatively modest" stock of inventory to retailers in South Korea. In total, it's believed 400,000 Note 7 Fandom Editions will debut among three major telecom companies in the country.

galaxy note7 product l
Samsung will bring the Fandom Edition to market "with different components," instead of the faulty battery components that caused the first launch and some replacement devices to catch fire. Any word on a wider launch for the Fandom Edition was not mentioned by the sources.

A refurbished version of the premium smartphone, whose global recall last year garnered unwanted attention for the South Korean technology giant after some caught fire, is coming to retailers’ shelves on July 7 with different components under the name Galaxy Note 7 FE, according to people familiar with the matter.

The refurbished Note 7 will be priced below 700,000 South Korean won ($616), although smartphone prices are generally adjusted up to the point of release due to fluctuating market conditions, the person said.

Samsung's intent to keep the Note brand alive was detailed in a report earlier this month, which also pointed towards the unveiling of the Galaxy Note 8 coming sometime in August. Since the Note 7 was discontinued, Samsung released the mid-cycle Galaxy S8 smartphone in April, with the company saying pre-orders for the device were its "best ever" and analysts suggesting that the S8's messaging and launch helped it to begin recovering from the Note 7 disaster.

Top Rated Comments

Fall Under Cerulean Kites Avatar
101 months ago
Could we send them to North Korea instead?
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mobster1983 Avatar
101 months ago
MR you have a misprint. Pretty sure FE really means “Fire Edition.” ;-)
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
lunarworks Avatar
101 months ago
And people say Apple fans are nuts.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jiggad369 Avatar
101 months ago
Wait, aren’t these banned from air travel?
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kdarling Avatar
101 months ago
MR you have a misprint. Pretty sure FE really means “Fire Edition.” ;-)
That was my first thought.

Any native English speaker would immediately think of "Fire Edition" with "FE".

Either Samsung wasn't paying attention, or this is just another example of their often wry sense of humor about tech and its bigger fans.

--
In any case, at the right price these will sell like... well... hotcakes! :D
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
5105973 Avatar
101 months ago
Note 7: The Fandom Menace

Jokes aside, if fixed, it compares well to anything that is out now and could be a good buy. If not truly fixed, then it would be a good bye. Okay I'll just show myself out of this discussion.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro 34ths Perspective

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 10 New Features

Sunday March 23, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of March 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
iOS 18

iOS 18.4 Expected Next Week - Here Are the Release Notes

Friday March 28, 2025 2:01 pm PDT by
With the second release candidate of iOS 18.4 that Apple seeded out today, the company finally provided us with release notes that give a full rundown on what to expect. There's an Apple Vision Pro app, new Apple Intelligence features for notifications and additional language support, plus an Apple News Food feature for Apple News+ subscribers, and several updates that should improve the...
Magic Mouse Green

What to Expect From the Magic Mouse 3

Saturday March 29, 2025 10:15 am PDT by
Apple is reportedly working on a new Magic Mouse. Below, we recap what to expect. The two key rumors for the Magic Mouse 3 so far include a relocated charging port, along with a more ergonomic design. It was briefly rumored that the Magic Mouse 3 would also feature voice control, but that was misinterpreted information. Relocated Charging Port While the Magic Mouse switched from...
top stories 2025 03 29

Top Stories: WWDC 2025 Announced, iPhone 17 Pro and iOS 19 Rumors, and More

Saturday March 29, 2025 6:00 am PDT by
Apple's big developer event is a little over two months away, and rumors about what we can expect to see in Apple's next major operating system updates are becoming increasingly frequent. A public release of iOS 18.4 is also imminent with a number of updates and improvements, although we won't be getting the major Apple Intelligence Siri upgrades that had reportedly been planned for this...
Foldable iPhone 2023 Feature Homescreen

Six Things to Know About Apple's Upcoming Foldable iPhone

Friday March 28, 2025 3:54 pm PDT by
We've been hearing rumors about a foldable iPhone for almost a decade now, but it looks like we might finally see the device come to fruition in 2026. We're going to be waiting many more months for the foldable iPhone, but so far we're hearing good things. Apple wants to make it creaseless. It's taken Apple multiple years to design a foldable iPhone that it's satisfied with because Apple ...
iOS 19 visionOS UI Elements

Apple Codename Provides Clue About iOS 19's Rumored New Design

Sunday March 30, 2025 6:40 am PDT by
Multiple sources have claimed that iOS 19 will introduce a new design with more translucent buttons, menus, notification banners, and more, and there is now another clue that points towards this glass-like appearance. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman today said the new design project is codenamed "Solarium" internally. A solarium is a room with glass walls that allow in plenty of sunlight, so this...
Facebook Feature

Facebook's New iPhone App Feature Turns the Clock Back to 2007

Thursday March 27, 2025 1:59 pm PDT by
In the mid-to-late 2000s, Facebook was all about staying connected with friends and family. However, as the social media platform added new features and grew over time, that core experience began to get drowned out. That changes starting now, according to Meta, which today introduced a new feature that will "bring back the joy" of classic Facebook. Specifically, Meta has redesigned the...
Foldable iPhone 2023 Feature Homescreen

iPhone Foldable Display Said to Feature iPad-Style 4:3 Aspect Ratio

Friday March 28, 2025 3:44 am PDT by
Apple's upcoming "iPhone Fold" will feature a foldable screen with a 4:3 aspect ratio, according to a Chinese leaker who previously leaked the book-style device's display dimensions. The Weibo-based account Digital Chat Station claims that Apple will adopt a "roughly" 4:3 aspect ratio on the inner display in order to achieve consistency between the outer display, as well as to ensure parity...