After issuing a recall of more than 2.5 million Galaxy Note 7 smartphones sold around the world (including a million phones sold in the US), Samsung has begun providing customers with replacement phones. But that could lead to a bit of confusion: how do you know if you have an old Galaxy Note 7 or a new one?
It turns out there are a few simple ways to find out.
First, before you even open the box a phone comes in, check the label. if you see a square symbol in the upper right corner of the label, you’re looking at a new Galaxy Note 7.
Once you turn the phone on, you’ll get another indication: the battery icon will be green instead of white.
You can see the green battery icon in three places: the status bar at the top of the phone, the always-on display screen, and the power off screen.
Samsung issued the recall after receiving and confirming a number of reports of Galaxy Note 7 handsets catching fire. The company traced the problem to a battery manufacturing error and says only a small percentage of phones were actually affected. But since it’s hard to tell a good first-batch Samsung Galaxy Note 7 from a bad one, the company recalled all of them.
Customers that take advantage of the recall program can either trade in their phones for a new model (and get a $25 gift card), or swap them for a Galaxy S7 or S7 Edge smartphone (and receive a refund for the price difference).
So far there are indications that a lot of people haven’t yet traded in their phones or stopped using them… which makes me wonder if airlines, the FAA, or other agencies will be lifting their bans on using Galaxy Note 7 phones in flight anytime soon.