The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 was first released on August 19, 2016 and it was the hottest(pun obviously intended) android device of 2016, until it became too hot then it exploded due to a battery malfunction and was recalled on October 11, 2016. Blah Blah Blah! Everyone knows what happened... Samsung’s third attempt at selling the Note 7 now rebranded as the Samsung Galaxy Note FE, released on July 7, 2017, which is the same as the Note 7 but with a smaller battery. Should you buy one in 2017?
Performance (The main reason persons upgrade their phone each year)
The international variant of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 had a Exynos 8890 Soc which is now the only available Soc option for the Note FE. Performance wise, the 8890 is equivalent to Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 821 Soc.
The Exynos 8890 uses big.LITTLE technology where all of its 8-Cores are not equal. 4 of its energy efficient(LITTLE) cores are ARM Cortex-A53 to make your phone last the whole day without needing to find an outlet by 2PM, Meanwhile, the other 4 are Samsung’s first in-house custom designed high performance cores (big) based on 64-bit ARMv8 architecture. Even though the Samsung Galaxy Note FE uses a slightly outdated Soc from last year, it still faster than a few of the 2017 flagships(well...just the LG G6 comes to mind).
So to dumb it down, The Samsung designed performance cores will make sure your phone doesn’t lag when playing Candy Crush Saga, Asphalt 8 or when using VR. And the Energy efficient cores will be used when performing basic tasks such as using Whatsapp, Instagram and streaming music to maximize battery life.
Design
By now we all know how the Galaxy S8 and S8+ looks, it basically Samsung trying ditch the design that has been present on most of their Galaxy branded smartphone(and on the S line of devices since the Galaxy S2) where the physical home button is guarded by two capacitive-touch buttons and a fingerprint scanner built into the Home button. On the S8/S8+ and most likely the Galaxy Note 8, the physical and capacitive-touch button are replaced by on-screen button navigation buttons. Additionally, Samsung shifted the fingerprint scanner to the rear of the device (to the side of the camera) making it very hard to reach and relying solely on the Iris scanner for biometric authentication requires placing the device close to your eyes and opening them wide (most of the times) which looks worst in public than how cool it is to unlock your device using your irises.
If you are not a fan of on-screen Nav button or hard to reach rear fingerprint scanners, the Galaxy Note FE or the S7 Edge are excellent purchases you are already invested in the android ecosystem or a sucker for Samsung phones.
There’s also that issue of having black bar on both sides of screen or parts being cropped off when watching video and other content in the traditional aspect ratio of 16:9 on the Galaxy S8/S8+ screen’s 19.5:9. With the 2017 samsung flagship, you are just getting a larger screen and not making full use of it. So buying last year's samsung flagship may be a excellent choice for those of you that uses your mobile devices for primarily media consumption.
Global Network Coverage
The Note FE has Full coverage of the cellular network bands used in most countries, therefore it will work with most GSM and even CDMA networks. The phone may require extra tweaking to get a working LTE signal.
Camera
The camera in the FE is the same one found the S8/S8+ but feature a slightly older sensor and minus the software tweaks . Saying it has a older senor may sound a turn off, but it’s camera is able to produce stunning 12 MP stills and 4K video that is comparable to the 2017 flagships.
NOT to BUY
Software Updates
The Samsung Galaxy note 7 was shipped with Android 6.0.1 (Marshmallow) which was extremely laggy(for some users) because it proper lacked software optimization, with the Galaxy Note FE Samsung went ahead and installed Android 7.1.1(Nougat). But they didn’t stop there, they went all out (Kinda) and also installed the new Samsung Experience UX currently found on the S8/S8+. Samsung’s AI assistant, Bixby, is present(-ish) on the Note FE, well just the Bixby Home, the Bixby voice and camera features are absent. Boo!
Samsung only sold the Galaxy Note FE because the environmental group, Greenpeace, said that dumping 4.3 million devices is no joke and that it could harm the planet forcing them to sell the Note FE in south Korea in a limited quantity of 400,000 and scrap the remaining devices to extract valuable metals. Therefore, there aren’t many people with this device and there won’t be hoard Samsung fan-boys demanding updates. so it wouldn’t be a surprise if Samsung stopped issuing software updates after a year or just a few months.
Bloatware BLOATWARE Bloatware!
I am not going to read long paragraphs just to tell you that Galaxy Note FE is completely filled with Korean carrier bloatware that can only be disabled through ADB, but being disabled they will still occupy space on the device.
Dat Price!
In South Korea, the FE retails for a whopping 699,000 Won which is equivalent to approx. $609 USD. But if you reside in the country or know someone who do. Sellers on eBay and Amazon who have already imported the device placed an addition $200-$300 USD on the already high price to make profit. The internet is currently filled with deals on the S8/S8+ as low as $424.99 directly from Samsung. :-)
Wrapping up
The Galaxy FE is a great purchase if Samsung disappointed you with the S8/S8+, you missed the Note 7 and have a lot of money.
I didn’t mention features such as HDR video, IP68 water resistance, and Iris scanner because i was giving reasons to buy and not to buy a Galaxy Note FE (more specifically a device with technology from last year that cost more than some of the 2017 devices) and those features already exist in the 2017’s Galaxy S8/S8+.
This is my first time writing an article except for school purposes, so excuse any grammar errors, typos or misspellings, and please correct me and give tips on what to do to improve my writing skills and suggest topics for the future.