Samsung will limit Note 7 battery charge to 30% in the UK

By Harish Jonnalagadda
last updated

Samsung Galaxy Note 7
Samsung Galaxy Note 7

It's been two months since Samsung officially terminated the Note 7, but an estimated 10% of devices sold in Europe are yet to be returned to the manufacturer. In a bid to further dissuade customers from using the phone, Samsung announced that it will roll out a software update to all Note 7 devices in the UK (opens in new tab) that will limit the battery charge to 30%:

As part of our absolute focus on customer safety, from 15th December, all Galaxy Note 7 devices will receive a new battery software update that will limit the maximum charging capacity to 30 percent. This software update is designed to further minimise customer risk and reinforce to customers to replace their device through the Galaxy Note 7 Replacement Programme as soon as possible.

Samsung is taking drastic measures to ensure that it retrieves the remaining Note 7 units in the wild. Note 7 devices in New Zealand, Australia, and Canada are being cut off from accessing cellular and Wi-Fi networks, and Samsung is rolling out an update to U.S. units that will prevent them from charging and connecting to networks, eliminating their ability "to work as mobile devices."

Harish Jonnalagadda
Harish Jonnalagadda
Senior Editor - Asia

Harish Jonnalagadda is a Senior Editor overseeing Asia at Android Central. He leads the site's coverage of Chinese phone brands, contributing to reviews, features, and buying guides. He also writes about storage servers, audio products, and the semiconductor industry. Contact him on Twitter at @chunkynerd.

6 Comments
  • From what I've heard, 2.7 million Note 7s were returned.
  • They should send the forced rom kill order out after sending refund notices etc. Here in the UK we should also get Note 5. Or a credit for the next Note* release but yes I know. Wishful thinking. I ended up with an S7 Edge which was great I'm sure I can wait for another phone. These are first world issues but your money is your money and this is what you use to vote/show your confidence and enforce + support development in new technologies within a company. Pixel ok but overpriced, developmentally underwhelming and lacks a few key ingredients. I miss the one and only properly implemented pen input. No problem patience rules the day
  • It seems UK Samsung customers are more sensible than their US counterparts over the Note 7 issue.
  • How do you come up with that conclusion? I would think that since Samsung is having to come up with a whole new OTA just to get people to return what are basically ticking time bombs, sense has flown by the wayside.
  • Note 7 has to be the greatest phone of all time for people to want to keep a potential time bomb on hand.
  • So I suppose I'm not understanding something correctly here but it seems to me it would be up to the user whether or not they want to install the update..?