Rising from the ashes: Samsung will sell refurbished Galaxy Note 7 devices

The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 looked to be one of the best phones of 2016 until manufacturing problems killed the device off. In case you haven’t yet heard, a manufacturing defect in the Note 7’s battery would cause the device to catch on fire and even explode. As such, Samsung issued a massive recall, and carriers have been actively pushing updates to disable network connectivity in an effort to render the phone useless and move consumers away from the device.

Samsung isn’t one to take a setback lying down, however. The Korean tech giant has confirmed rumors that they will try to sell refurbished Note 7 phones that were returned as part of the recall. Independent analysis confirmed that the battery was the sole cause of the fires; thus, swapping out the battery should make the Note 7 safe for use. Samsung will work with “regulatory authorities and carriers” when considering what makes a recalled device applicable for refurbishment. They’ll also consider other market factors, such as demand for the device, before releasing it in specific areas.

Phones that don’t make the cut will be fully disassembled and recycled. Samsung said that “components such as semiconductors and camera modules” will be removed and used “for test sample production purposes.” Samsung will then extract precious metals (think copper, gold, nickel, silver, and some others) from the phone and recycle the rest.

Exact pricing and availability are obviously still undetermined, but we hope to see the triumphant return of one of the most promising phones of 2016 soon.

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