Galaxy Note 7 finally goes on sale in Europe on October 28th

Samsung's Galaxy Note 7 was originally set to go on sale in Europe on September 2nd, but on that very day the launch was pulled and a global recall issued on account of their tendency to explode without warning. This made the regional recall process a little simpler for Samsung, given only those who had taken advantage of early delivery preorder promotions had devices in hand, but it also meant Europeans have never actually been able to straight-up buy -- battery defects aside -- Samsung's finest smartphone yet. That changes October 28th, however, when the Note 7 will finally go on general sale in the region "subject to full completion of the exchange programme." Though whether consumer confidence has been irreparably damaged already remains to be seen.

Alongside announcing the European launch date, Samsung has provided a number of updates on how the recall process is going today. In Europe, 57 percent of handsets have been handed over since exchanges began just over a week ago, causing Samsung to predict it'll have every defective device back by early October. In the US, over 60 percent of Note 7s have been tracked down, up from roughly 50 percent last week -- the pace is understandably slower as sales started on August 19th, so there are more handsets out in the wild.

Over 60 percent of phones sold in South Korea have also been exchanged, with Singapore residents leading the pack with more than 80 percent of handsets returned. In the immediate aftermath of the global recall, Samsung lost many, many billions in market value; but apparently people that wanted a Note 7 in the first place are happy to stick with the device, with roughly 90 percent of those choosing to receive a new, non-exploding model. Better the devil you know, we suppose.