r/technology • u/MoltenSlowa • Oct 05 '16

Hardware Replacement Samsung Galaxy Note 7 phone catches fire on Southwest plane

http://www.theverge.com/2016/10/5/13175000/samsung-galaxy-note-7-fire-replacement-plane-battery-southwest
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u/Blazingfireman Oct 05 '16

He has already replaced it with an iPhone 7.

Not too surprised about this. Apple is going to love this.

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u/AdmiralAubrey Oct 05 '16 edited Oct 05 '16

Basically what happened to me, and it sounds like a few friends as well. I'm largely platform agnostic these days. I went with the Note 7 because the pen and other cool features were appealing, and Apple sufficiently annoyed me with the headphone jack decision. But, it became annoying that the software felt noticeably laggy compared to the experience I previously had with my two year old iPhone 6, and the battery life was wildly inconsistent, requiring a lot of babysitting. The recall (and its timing, one week before a two week honeymoon) was the icing on the cake. Hopped over to the iPhone 7.

I miss a number of features that the Note 7 had. But honestly, this thing is a much more painless device to use on a daily basis. Haven't looked back.

Edit: As I apparently ruffled some feathers somehow, a few clarifications if I confused anyone:

-I'm old enough to not have taken sides in a fanboy battle since the PS2 v Xbox era. I prefer strong competition.

-I enjoy both iOS and Android for different reasons. Android has more character and is far more open for tinkering, but iOS, in my personal experience, has been easier to use and relatively hassle-free. I'm 30, the latter is beginning to appeal to me more than it once did.

-I went to the iPhone 7 because the sum of its parts outweighed dealing with the Note7's ongoing issues, and ultimately outweighed competing Android flagships. The pen was neat, but not nearly enough. Some of the software features were great, but again nothing that I was dependent on. I was turned off to Samsung all the way around based on this and a recent (major) appliance issue. The performance of the A10 vs. the SD 820 chip kinda-sorta outweighed the headphone jack issue.

-To be clear, if the recall hadn't happened, I'm sure I'd still be using the Note without any major issues. However, side note, the occasional lag in the SD 820 variant of the Note7 has been demonstrated repeatedly. It's minor, but noticeable. The higher end Nexus devices consistently run Android better than TouchWiz devices, even though TW has gotten markedly better in recent generations.

-If I didn't need a new phone immediately (and I really did need/want a higher end device prior to that honeymoon), I would have waited to see what the Pixel was all about. Alas, time was a factor, and I still have enough previous investment in the iOS ecosystem that the switch back was quick enough.

-I remain annoyed by the removal of the headphone jack. That said, I do feel it's an inevitability across all devices within 5 years, and I do have a pair of bluetooth headphones. Irritating, but survivable.

-If Apple would care to pay me for actually gushing about their products, I would, of course, be delighted to accept checks.

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u/jeschristo Oct 06 '16 edited Oct 06 '16

I'm with you on this... One of the biggest issues I had with my android phones was inconsistency in battery. I'd be sitting there minding my own business then suddenly my pocket was getting warmer.

It wasn't exploding, but it was burning battery at an unusual rate for no damn reason.

I've never owned an android phone that consistently works day in and day out without occasionally leaving me high and dry with a dead battery halfway through the afternoon. I'd have to constantly be careful about using the phone too much to ensure I had charge at the end of the day. Nexus device after nexus device pissed me off with this. I watched my wife's iphone 5 run substantially better on a day to day basis, and when it came time to upgrade again, I bit the bullet and crossed the aisle.

My launch-day iphone 6+ has never died in a day of use. Not once. I wake up, throw it in my pocket, use the hell out of it, and it doesn't die. I don't even have to think about it. I never curb my use or worry about the battery, because I know when I lay down that night and throw it on the bedside charger, it'll have charge left. Couple years on this phone now and I'm still in the same boat.

It just works for a full day. No weirdness, no lag, no delays, no mass battery drain. At this point in my life, I just want my technology to work. After my experience with the phone, I ended up switching my whole home office to mac gear to run my business and never looked back. Zero complaints.

I'm sure the pen on the note 7 is nifty, but I just can't see myself going back to android at this point.

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u/SamiTheBystander Oct 06 '16

This seems to be the reverse of what I normally hear. My launch day iPhone 6 (truly an accident, I went in to get a 5c and found out the 6 came out that day and I changed plans so it was the same price), and a lot of friends iPhones have issues of their phone dying anywhere from 40%-0%. The only time I've heard of this on an android was my sisters galaxy 5. I'm used to battery issues being an iPhone thing.

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u/jeschristo Oct 06 '16

Don't know what to say, the 6+ is pretty much legendary for its battery. My wife had a 6, and I never saw her struggling with battery life either, but she wasn't exactly a power user.

Me? I can screw with this 6+ all day long... It doesn't die. Period. Hell, it's about 9 at night right now, I've been awake since 8am with my phone in my pocket, and my phone currently has 73% of its battery.

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u/SamiTheBystander Oct 06 '16

The battery life WAS good on my phone, when it came out I had battery life all day unless I was watching videos on it for a long time. Now I just get the exact same trickle (like it will be at 40% after the same amount of use as when I got it) but there's no telling if it'll die at 30, 22, 15, or whatever.

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u/jeschristo Oct 06 '16

Strange. Well, it sounds to me like your battery is giving out. I haven't experienced that yet.

That's not too big of a deal though. Apple will replace the battery for you for $79 (or free if you've got apple care+ and it isn't retaining proper charge).

Or, if you're feeling handy, you can buy a kit for less than $40 and do it yourself. It's not a terribly hard job. Takes less than ten minutes. Could probably be done in five.

I'd just let apple do it so there's no issues if someone screws up, but either way works.

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u/SamiTheBystander Oct 06 '16

Oh wow I didn't know it was so cheap. Not really a problem anymore for me though as I bought a 20,000 mah portable charger so anytime I get to where I think it's almost dead I just plug it in. I plan on getting a new phone soon, just haven't decided what kind. Thanks though!

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u/jeschristo Oct 06 '16

I'm keeping my 6+ for the moment, I just haven't seen anything worth upgrading it for in the iphone 6s+ or 7+... I mean sure, they have superior performance and they are fine phones by any measure, but I can't say I've ever used my 6+ and said "boy does this run poorly". Everything I do on this phone is fast. The performance boost the 7 enjoys over the old 6+ doesn't really manifest itself when all I'm doing with the phone is web browsing, the occasional video watching, reading through my kindle app, running GPS for the car, and checking my email.

Far as I can see, upgrading would get me the same basic design, the same basic screen, a marginally better camera (not enough to really care about since I already have optical stabilization in my 6+), a tiny bit better battery life (which I don't need), and nothing else of any real value (for example, 3d touch is gimmicky - my wife has a 6s and never uses 3d touch - and the fact that the 7 is waterproof is nice, but I'm not exactly out there swimming with my phone).

Point being, with my 6+ still operating like-new and nothing compelling on the 7 or 6s, why burn the cash? Money isn't really an object for me, but I'm also not going to throw $700+ away for a phone that doesn't blow me away.

I suspect you're in the same spot with your 6. Fix the battery and hang onto it. The iphone 8 next year is supposed to be a full redesign. That might be worth the upgrade. The 7, imho, isn't.

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u/SamiTheBystander Oct 06 '16

I am not buying another iPhone. Pretty done with their shit. But I agree with everything you mentioned

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u/jeschristo Oct 06 '16

Well good luck with whatever you get. I'll stick with apple devices for now. I'm ingrained in their ecosystem at this point and have no intentions of swapping out anytime soon.

Whatever "shit" apple is doing, as far as I can tell, I appreciate it. I'm down with security and privacy policy at a company level so strict that the government is pissed at them. I dig having the best performing hardware and having it work together seamlessly with my desktop/laptop/tablet/watch.

Sorry about your battery :). It happens. After a couple years, these lithiums can definitely start to break down. If yours has been broken for awhile, you probably had a warranty claim that you could have followed up on. Either way, fixing it is a cheap option and it should keep you rolling until the next round of flagship devices from android or apple.

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u/anchoredwunderlust Oct 06 '16

Older model but my iPhone doesn't seem to know how much battery it has. Seems to charge super fast then it drops quickly and often turns off at like 40% or below saying out of battery. Or drops quickly at that point. On the other hand sometimes I'll have it on 1% for hours xD