Consumer Product Safety Commission Recalls 1 Million Galaxy Note 7 Phones

USA regulators are issuing an official recall of Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 phone because of the risk that its batteries can explode or catch fire.

Samsung Electronics America announced that replacements for Note 7 smartphones will be available at retail locations in the U.S. by September 21.

Samsung will change the color of the battery indicators in newly produced Galaxy Note 7 handsets to allow consumers to differentiate the old faulty units from the new ones, the company has said.

The company has urged consumers to immediately turn off the phones and get them replaced with the new Note 7. And the CPSC asked Note 7 owners last week “to power them down” while a recall plan was in the works.

– Several days after Samsung asked Galaxy Note7 owners to stop charging their phones all the way, the USA government has issued a recall for the smart phones. Samsung had beaten Apple to market with the Note 7 by several weeks, and it was drawing favorable reviews before consumers began reporting problems with the battery overheating, resulting in fires and explosions. Samsung says the problem stems from a manufacturing glitch in the batteries. “We don’t think any internal design changes in the Note 7 are responsible for the exploding batteries – more likely just a manufacturing defect”, IFixit’s Kay-Kay Clapp said in an email. Samsung had previously said its replacement Note 7’s will come in boxes with a blue “S” over the barcode sticker.

Do you have a Galaxy Note 7 that was the subject of an official recall Thursday? Alternatively, the customer could trade in that Note7 for one of two other models and get a refund for the price difference.

After a huge launch, the Note 7 was labelled by many (myself included) as Samsung’s best phone yet.

In an email to ABC News early on Thursday, a Samsung spokesperson said, “We understand that our consumers are waiting for more information, and we are collaborating with the CPSC to deliver a solution specifically for our Note7 owners as quickly as possible”. On Monday, Canada issued an official recall. Samsung is a pioneering leader in smartphones and HDTVs in the USA and one of America’s fastest growing home appliance brands. The recall comes a day before Apple’s new iPhone 7 goes on sale.