Galaxy Note 8 battery has a different but serious problem

YemenExtra

Just when you thought Samsung has the Galaxy Note 7 fiasco well behind it, another battery-related problem pops up. And unsurprisingly, it affects its successor. Users, mostly concentrated in the US, are reporting that their Galaxy Note 8 phablets have stopped charging and won’t even start up after it has been fully drained. And while Samsung seems to be replacing practically bricked devices, the randomness of the problem, not to mention Samsung’s silence, is making owners anxious and apprehensive.

It’s not unusual for batteries to be completely depleted. Sometimes it’s unavoidable, when you have no means to give your phone a few minutes of life through a power bank or, better yet, a wall socket. Sometimes it’s intentional, following the old advice to let batteries fully drain once in a while.

Whatever the reason, it’s an expected phenomenon. What’s not expected, however, is for a phone to remain dead after it has been drained, even when the phone is plugged in later. Sadly, such seems to be the case for some owners of the Galaxy Note 8 who had the misfortune to let their battery meter reach zero.

Complicating matters is the fact that it’s currently impossible to trace down the issue. At least not without sacrificing some units in the process. It seems to hit US owners the most, which suggests it might be limited to Snapdragon models. The phones sometimes do show signs of life, like the phone heating up or the charging circle appearing, suggesting it might be a software bug that got through in a recent update. Nonetheless, the phone remains dead.

Samsung’s response, or rather the lack of it, isn’t exactly encouraging either. It has not yet made any official statement, despite the widespread reports, pretty much like the case of the Galaxy Note 7. And to add insult to injury, Samsung is replacing affected phones with refurbished units, even when the Galaxy Note 8 is still well within warranty.