Samsung was in such a hurry to launch the Galaxy Note 7 well ahead of its expected debut, and to beat Apple’s iPhone 7 to market, that it may have missed a thing or two during quality testing. The company on Wednesday confirmed that it had to delay shipments of the phone so it can perform additional tests. The report follows a story from Korea that said the recent Galaxy Note 7 explosions are what convinced Samsung to halt shipments.
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The Galaxy Note 7 is a flagship device that has been highly praised in reviews. People loved its features, its design and build quality. In our Galaxy Note 7 review, we called it the best Android phone that has ever existed.
“Shipments of the Galaxy Note 7 are being delayed due to additional tests being conducted for product quality,” Samsung told Reuters.
That’s a major admission from Samsung that something’s not right with the Galaxy Note 7, even if the company would not offer any specifics. Samsung also didn’t say which markets are affected — we can confirm that the Note 7 is still being sold by all US wireless carriers and major electronics retailers. But whatever the problem is, the issue seems to be serious enough to warrant a quality control check after the phone started shipping around the world.
Comparatively, Apple faced plenty of criticism for its Antennagate (iPhone 4) and Bendgate (iPhone 6) quality issues in the past, but the company did not halt shipments at any point, even as it worked to resolve the problems.
It’ll be interesting to see whether Samsung does admit battery issues are to blame for the temporary halt in shipping, and whether or not the company will be forced to issue a recall. You can still order the Galaxy Note 7 in all markets where the phone has been released other than South Korea, but you might be better off waiting to see what Samsung discovers.
