14 DAY TRIAL // “Committed to Quality” seems to be Samsung’s tagline today as the company announced the results of its Galaxy Note 7 probe and the measures it has implemented so that the situation doesn't happen again. Until now, 96% of the 3 million sold Galaxy Note 7 phones were returned to Samsung, with some fans from the US and Korea still keeping their units.
For the investigation, Samsung brought together 700 engineers who tested more than 200,000 devices and 30,000 batteries. Three separate third-party labs also conducted investigations, and after all aspects of the phone were tested, Samsung concluded that it was in fact the faulty batteries that led to the phones catching fire.
Samsung presented a set of reasons why such incidents won’t happen again. Firstly, the company developed the 8-Point Battery Safety Check which consists of a number of tests for addressing safety issues throughout the production process and up until shipping. The phone maker conducts durability tests, visual inspection, x-ray tests, disassembly tests, OCT tests, charge and discharge tests, TVOC tests, and accelerated usage tests.
Samsung put together a team of advisory experts
Durability tests would be conducted on all Samsung smartphones and they involve testing the battery’s overcharging scenarios, nail puncture tests and extreme temperature stress tests. TVOC (Total Volatile Organic Compound) tests are also carried out in order to spot the possibility of leakage of volatile lithium-ion organic compound. OCV (Delta Open Circuit Voltage) tests refer to checks for any change in voltage during the manufacturing process.
Moreover, Samsung enhanced the protocol for multi-layer safety measures in order to implement stricter safety standards on every element of a product, including design and materials used, device hardware strength and capabilities, improved software algorithms for safer battery charging temperature, current and duration. The company also added new Brackets around batteries for increased protection.
The South Korean smartphone maker has put more focus on battery assessment and contracted external advisers, including academic and research experts to make sure that battery safety measures are met.
