I haven't changed a word in my Note 7 review, and I won't.
Samsung's is easily the biggest recall of a single phone model, and one with a serious amount of danger behind it. In the past two weeks we've seen this story progress from theoretical small possibilities of failing batteries up to legitimate damage being done to people and property in dozens of cases around the world.
And as the news surrounding the Note 7 recall escalated, so have the calls for Android Central (among other sites) to revisit our review of the Note 7 in light of the new information. In short, I completely stand by every single word — the only change that has been made to it since the recall began was a notice at the top pointing potential owners and buyers to the recall information.
Every other part of the review is the same as it was the day I published it, and that's for a multitude of reasons — most pertinent among them being I still agree with my original assessment of the Note 7, even today. Even after the recall.
There are so many reasons why the Note 7 recall is a horrendous situation. It's bad for Note 7 sales going forward. It's bad for Samsung's reputation as a phone maker. Worst, it's bad for those who want to be using a Note 7 but can't for a couple weeks while they wait for new phones to be available. It's also bad for myself, because I don't get to use my own Note 7 until I get a replacement — I still want to use this phone, and I'll be using it again once a new one arrives.
This recall is horrendous for Samsung, but that doesn't change my review
But the one thing this Note 7 recall isn't bad for is my original review. That review was based on my initial time with the phone prior to launch and the review period clearly communicated in the "About this review" section we put in every review here on AC. We put that information in our reviews to clearly communicate the circumstances under which the review was written — in this case, a bit over a week using a Note 7, with no knowledge or expectation that a month later it'd be the subject of a global recall.
I can't tell you how to feel about Samsung's current ability to make phones or its quality control and safety standards going forward — at some point that's a personal decision. We've already had about what the recall may or may not do to Samsung's market position and reputation. But none of what this recall means for the public perception of Samsung will change my mind about the Note 7 review that I wrote and published on August 16.
My Note 7 review stands today as it did when it was first published.
There's no caveat to be added to the Note 7 (or any other phone) review based on the recall situation, nor will I be second-guessing my conclusions therein or feel as though I was duped or swindled by Samsung. I won't be adjusting the rate at which I was recommending the Note 7 to friends, family and AC readers who asked me which phone they .
The reason is pretty simple. Not only did we have no indication ahead of time that a manufacturing issue would be present or a recall of any size would be required for the Note 7, we had absolutely zero reason to be hesitant that such a situation would arise in the future. Past experience of , many of them from Samsung, had led us to consider at the time of the Note 7 review tempering our expectations of the phone for fear of a global recall due to a component issue.
For that reason not only does read the same today as it did when it was first published, today I still completely agree with everything I wrote.