The Note 7 is going back on sale

Samsung is relaunching the Note 7 in South Korea this Friday as the "Galaxy Note Fan Edition", or Galaxy Note FE. The Galaxy Note FE is for all intents and purposes a refurbished Galaxy Note 7 with a less explodey battery.

Samsung's pitching the device as "an eco-friendly" project that will minimise wasted resources by building the phones from unopened Note 7s and unused parts. In terms of hardware, there's two key differences: the Note 7's 3500mAh battery has been replaced with a smaller 3200mAh battery that won't catch fire, and the branding simply reads "Galaxy Note Fan Edition" - presumably so that you can actually take it on a plane.

Other specifications are identical to the original Note 7, including a 5.7-inch Quad HD display, an Exynos 8890 eight-core processor, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of expandable storage, IP68 water-resistance, and a 12MP rear-facing camera.

The Galaxy Note Fan Edition goes on sale in South Korea this week for 699,600 won, which works out to just under $800. For comparison, the Note 7 launched at $1,349 locally.

At present, the Note FE will only be available in South Korea, but Samsung says "overseas sales will be decided later". We've reached out to Samsung Australia for potential on local availability, so we'll keep you updated. If the Note FE doesn't make it to Australia, at least the Note 8 is right around the corner.

Alex Choros

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Alex Choros is the Managing Editor of WhistleOut Australia and an award-winning journalist. He's been writing about consumer technology for over a decade and is an expert on the Australian telco sector, to the point where he knows far too many phone and internet plans by heart. In addition to leading the WhistleOut editorial team, Alex is responsible for ruining the office Sonos with his troubled taste in music.

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