May 16, 2017 05:10 AM EDT
The refurbished Galaxy Note 7, which comes with a 3200mAh battery, is on its way to China and South Korea. With a speculated price of $440 or almost half of its original price before the exploding battery resulted in its recall, the Galaxy Note 7R just got a Bluetooth Special Interest Group certification. It came just days after the smartphone also got a certification from the Federal Communications Commission.
Although the FCC is in the U.S., the Galaxy Note 7 has slim chances of being sold in the United States or Europe. Android Headlines reports that Samsung would be picky in what markets to release the refurbished smartphone since the South Korean tech giant just released the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus. It is also about to release the Galaxy Note 8.
BGR points out that while the Bluetooth certification could be an indicator of the Galaxy Note 7’s release in certain Asian markets, a report from Korea says otherwise. More testing might be needed before the Galaxy Note 7R reaches consumers’ hands even if the Bluetooth SIG website already gave SM-N935F as the phone model number.
The Korea Herald writes that no application from Samsung for the Galaxy Note 7 has been received by the Korean Agency for Technology Standards and the National Radio Research Agency. Those two government agencies are the country’s regulators that also need to issue a certification before the Galaxy Note 7R hits the South Korean market again. Experts add there might be a need for more reviews which explains why no launch date has been announced by Samsung yet.
The National Radio Research Agency says if Samsung would file an application for the Galaxy Note 7, the regulator would examine and verify the smartphone’s safety by placing the safety of the user as its top priority.