Demand for the Galaxy Note 7 upon launch was high, breaking pre-order records in South Korea and causing international releases to be delayed in some markets due to supply shortages.

Samsung suspended sales of the Galaxy Note 7 and announced an informal recall on 2 September 2016, following the discovery of a manufacturing defect in the phones' batteries, which caused some units to generate excessive heat and combust.

However, after reports emerged of incidents where the replacement phones also caught fire, Samsung recalled the Galaxy Note 7 worldwide on 10 October 2016, and permanently ceased production of the device a day later.

[22] The Galaxy Note 7 is supplied with Android 6.0.1 "Marshmallow" and an updated version of Samsung's proprietary TouchWiz user interface and software suite codenamed "Project Grace".

Secure Folder is based on the Samsung Knox 2.7 technology, which also added the ability for enterprises to control the distribution of system updates, and improvements to mobile device management and Microsoft Exchange Server integration.

The Note 7's refreshed design was commended for being smoother and more ergonomic than previous Samsung devices with curved screens, although the company was panned for using glass on the rear panel rather than metal.

[33] Upon release, technology journalist David Ruddock of Android Police criticized the Samsung Galaxy Note series for no longer being targeted towards power users like it was years prior.

[41] On 23 January 2017, Samsung stated that these batteries had suffered from a manufacturing defect in the welding process, which pushed electrodes up and caused damage to the separation between the positive and negative tabs.

Samsung reported that these oversights resulted from the vendor's push to ramp up production of batteries for the replacement phones in order to meet demand.

[44] On 1 September, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported that Samsung was preparing to recall the device worldwide due to these battery issues.

On 2 September, Samsung suspended sales of the Galaxy Note 7 and announced an informal recall after it was found that a manufacturing defect in the phones' batteries had caused some of them to generate excessive heat, resulting in fires and explosions.

However, after reports emerged of incidents where these replacement phones also caught fire, Samsung recalled the Galaxy Note 7 worldwide on 10 October 2016, and permanently ceased production of the device a day later.

[7][44] Samsung stated that the hazard was limited to a small fraction of phones manufactured, and released a tool on its website on 19 September to identify affected units by their unique IMEI numbers.

[46] The European Aviation Safety Agency made a similar statement on 9 September, stating that "passengers are reminded of the need to inform the cabin crew when a device is damaged, hot, produces smoke, is lost, or falls into the seat structure.

"[47] On 15 September 2016, the Galaxy Note 7 was officially recalled in the United States by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, who advised all owners to shut down and cease all usage of the device and return them in exchange for a replacement.

[41] These replacement models, which Samsung purportedly[50][51] classified as being safe, had a prominent marking on their packaging to distinguish them from the first wave of recalled units[52] and render all software battery indicators with green icons.

A Galaxy Note 7 owner in Kentucky was hospitalized with acute bronchitis due to smoke inhalation after his replacement device caught fire in the early morning of 4 October 2016.

[50][37] On 5 October 2016, a Southwest Airlines flight preparing to depart from Louisville was evacuated before takeoff when a passenger's replacement Galaxy Note 7, obtained from an AT&T retail outlet, began smoking and popping as they were turning it off.

[38][59][60][61][62] On 10 October 2016, Samsung officially announced that it had "[asked] all carrier and retail partners globally to stop sales and exchanges" of the Galaxy Note 7, and urged all owners to power them off and "take advantage of the remedies available, including a refund at their place of purchase".

[40][64] Samsung began issuing special kits to package the devices for returns, which consist of an antistatic bag that the phone is to be inserted into, and three layers of boxes—the last of which is lined with ceramic fibre paper for fire protection.

[78] On 20 December 2016, a Virgin America flight from San Francisco to Boston was nearly diverted mid-flight after it was discovered that a passenger on the plane had been operating a Wi-Fi hotspot with the SSID "Samsung Galaxy Note7_1097".

[82][83] In December 2016, Samsung announced its intent to cripple the functionality of unreturned Galaxy Note 7 phones in Canada and the United States via software updates.

[84][85] Verizon announced that it would refuse to distribute this update due to the "added risk this could pose to Galaxy Note 7 users that do not have another device to switch to" because it would "make it impossible to contact family, first responders or medical professionals in an emergency situation", especially during the holiday season.

The arguments were based on data released on 13 September 2016 by the research firm Apteligent, which stated that Galaxy Note 7 usage had been "almost exactly the same" since the announcement of the exchange program.

He suggested that Samsung could "lead the pack" in the future by switching back to removable batteries, as with other "responsible" OEMs such as HP and LG Electronics.

[92] Analysts argued that the recall had hurt Samsung's brand, and would likely result in the company losing its market share to competitors, including Apple and Google (which had recently unveiled their respective iPhone 7 and Pixel models) and other Android vendors.

[94] On 18 October 2016, McCuneWright LLP sued Samsung and filed a proposed class-action lawsuit over its handling of the recall, stating that the company had "failed to reimburse consumers for monthly costs associated with owning an unusable Note 7".

[96] In the wake of the recall, Samsung, along with UL LLC, Exponent, and TÜV Rheinland, performed internal testing and analysis to determine the exact causes of the defects.

[98] Concerns were also raised over the creation of electronic waste resulting from Samsung's announced plan to destroy all returned phones rather than recycling and refurbishing them into new products.

[66][67] In February 2017, The Korea Economic Daily reported that Samsung had been considering refurbishing the Galaxy Note 7 into a modified version with lower battery capacity to be targeted at markets such as Vietnam.