News

How to tell if your Samsung Galaxy Note 7 has faulty or ‘safe’ battery

Published

September 6, 2016

Monch Lopez

Samsung has decided to replace all Galaxy Note 7 units free of charge and temporarily cease sales of the top-end phablet in most countries, in what could be the most high-profile case of exploding batteries the consumer electronics industry has seen in decades.

Citing battery-heating issues that might cause the Note 7 to burst into flames during or after charging, Samsung has been forced into a sweeping recall of an estimated 2.5 million units that could cost the company $1 billion. The Korea Herald reports that Samsung will stop using batteries produced by its own subsidiary, SDI, which is reportedly responsible for the faulty cells.

However, as Samsung itself has pointed out, not all Note 7s are made equal, as some of them carry parts from different manufacturers. That extends to the battery pack, of which 30 percent are produced by Chinese supplier ATL. The ATL-made batteries are supposedly safe and are being used to produce Note 7 units for the Chinese market where sales continue.

Getting replacement Note 7s in the hands of customers will take weeks, but if you would rather hold on to your Note 7 rather than turn it over, there’s apparently a way to figure whether yours is possibly defective.

The key is knowing where to look: Phone Arena claims you can simply look at the back of your phone, or go to “Phone info” under the Settings app to get the information you need. Or you can take your Note 7 apart, which is easier said than done with a glass-and-metal construction.

We’ll let the site take it from here:

If it says ‘manufactured in China,’ there is a nice chance it will have ATL-packaged battery cells inside, though T-Mobile, whose model is made in China, is also taking part in the voluntary recall that the other US carriers issued as well. If it says ‘manufactured in Korea’ or ‘in Vietnam,’ well, we’d return the unit to the vendor.

Phone Arena cites the labels above as examples, though keep in mind that regardless of make or model, there’s no way of fully confirming if your unit is in the clear. Either way, it’s in your best interest to return your unit as soon as possible, so do so.

[irp posts=”9766″ name=”Everything you need to know about the Note 7 investigation”]

Source: Phone Arena

Related Topics:battery Galaxy Note 7 recall Samsung

Laptops

Apple raises the prices of iPad and MacBook lineups

Price hikes start at $100.

Published

June 26, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

Hey, remember when Apple launched the MacBook Neo, and it had the most attractive price for an Apple-branded laptop? Those were good times. Unfortunately, it was too good to be true. Responding to the ongoing RAM crisis, Apple has now increased the prices of its hardware, starting with the MacBook and the iPad lineups (via Reuters).

The “highlight” here is the price of the MacBook Neo. To be fair, the affordable MacBook is still the cheapest one of the lot, but that’s not saying much. From a starting price of US$ 599, the Neo now costs US$ 699.

Now, we’d love to say that a US$ 100 price hike is the most you can expect across the board. But that’s not true at all. Most will bring up the price by a few hundreds and up to a whopping US$ 1,300. Here’s a list of devices you’re going to see changes for:

Model	Original price	New price
MacBook Neo	$599	$699
MacBook Air (13-inch)	$1,099	$1,299
MacBook Air (15-inch)	$1,299	$1,499
MacBook Pro (M5)	$1,699	$1,999
MacBook Pro (M5 Pro)	$2,199	$2,499
MacBook Pro (M5 Max)	$3,599	$4,099
iMac	$1,299	$1,499
Mac Studio (M4 Max)	$1,999	$2,499
Mac Studio (M3 Ultra)	$3,999	$5,299
iPad	$349	$449
iPad mini	$499	$599
iPad Air (11-inch)	$599	$749
iPad Air (13-inch)	$749	$949
iPad Pro (11-inch)	$999	$1,199
iPad Pro (13-inch)	$1,299	$1,499
Vision Pro	$3,499	$3,699

The current price hikes do not include the iPhone lineup. It might only be a matter of time, though. Recently, Tim Cook confirmed that Apple can no longer shoulder the expenses of the RAM crisis by themselves, essentially signaling a huge wave of price hikes. The brand will likely continue the increases heading into the iPhone launches in September.

News

Honor is reportedly working on a 14000mAh battery

How much is too much?

Published

June 25, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

Nothing goes together more than a Chinese smartphone brand and the relentless pursuit for a bigger battery. For years, Chinese brands have engaged in a war for this particular component. Now, the latest salvo has been fired. Honor is reportedly working on a phone with a gigantic 14000mAh battery.

Today, the biggest battery capacity you can find on an Honor phone is 11000mAh. The Honor X80 Pro Max already offers a battery that can last you more than a single day. At this point, it’s certainly more than enough for our daily needs.

According to Digital Chat Station on Weibo, a smartphone brand is currently working on a 14000mAh battery. Though the leak does not explicitly pinpoint Honor, the emoji used (a wolf) is historically used to imply the Chinese brand in Weibo parlance.

A 14000mAh is just absurdly huge. With a battery larger than some powerbanks, battery anxiety becomes moot. It’s bordering on “can we bring this on a plane” territory.

As with all rumored features, the next question is when this battery will arrive on a consumer-ready device. Given how serious the battery wars are for the Chinese market, it’s only a matter of time.

News

Nothing Phone (4b) shows up online, spoils some specs

It’s a step below the Phone (4a) series.

Published

June 25, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

Yesterday, Nothing officially teased the Phone (4b), an all-new line positioned below the Phone (4a) series. At the time, the teaser revealed nothing but the design of the upcoming phone. However, ahead of its July 7 launch, the Phone (4b) suddenly appeared on Geekbench, spoiling a few of its mysterious specs.

According to the listing, the Phone (4b) will run the SM6650, more popularly known as the Snapdragon 6 Gen 4. It’s a modestly powered processor built for the budget to midrange segments of the performance spectrum. Having this processor does confirm that the phone belongs to the step below the Phone (4a), bringing affordability to a name other than CMF.

Besides the processor, the new phone will come with an Adreno 810 GPU and 8GB of RAM. Inside, it will ship with Android 16 out of the box, but this will likely be upgradeable to Android 17 later this year.

It’s already confirmed that the Phone (4b) will be quite the looker. The phone will slightly depart from the design philosophy of the Phone (4a) series. Though it will still have a sizable rear island, the camera setup will just be a small vertical strip on the top-left corner. Additionally, the lighting element typical of all Nothing phones will be a small horizontal strip on the bottom-right corner.

Thankfully, the wait for more specs won’t be long. Nothing has confirmed that the phone’s launch is set for July 7.