Samsung Galaxy Note Fan Edition Torn Down; Earns Same Repairability Score as Galaxy Note 7

BY Rajesh Pandey

Published 14 Jul 2017

The limited edition Galaxy Note Fan Edition went on sale in South Korea earlier this month. While it is still unclear when Samsung will be selling the Galaxy Note Fan edition in other markets of the world, that has not stopped the iFixit team from going ahead and posting a teardown of the handset.

Unsurprisingly, the teardown reveals that the Galaxy Note Fan Edition uses the exact same components and has the same internal layout as the ill-fated Galaxy Note 7. The battery is the only exception here since the Fan Edition Galaxy Note comes with a 3200mAh battery. Apart from a lower capacity, the battery is also slightly smaller, thinner, and lighter than the 3500mAh faulty batteries the Galaxy Note 7 shipped with.

This led the Galaxy Note Fan Edition to have the same repairability score as the original Note 7. Many components used in the handset are modular in nature that makes replacing them easier. Nonetheless, the handset still gets a repairability score of 4 out of 10 due to the use of glass at the front and back that are stuck to the frame using copious amount of glue. The curved screen at the front does not help things either as it is laminated to the front cover glass which means one would have to replace the entire set in case of any replacement.

Samsung has so far released 400,000 units of the Galaxy Note Fan Edition for sale in South Korea, and despite being based on the ill-fated Galaxy Note 7, the handset has been doing exceedingly well. So far, it is unclear in which other markets Samsung will be selling the Note Fan Edition.

[Via iFixit]