Here's how to make sure your Samsung Galaxy Note 7 is safe to use

If you still have a Samsung Galaxy Note 7 that was bought around the time the phone first launched, stop what you're doing, turn it off, and go return it. The US government formally recalled the device last week after numerous reports of it combusting while charging, so to keep using it is to put yourself and everyone around you at risk.

For those that plan on buying a new Note 7, however, Samsung has set up a few resources that should help you be sure your particular device won't malfunction. In a company blog post, it says that new, post-recall Galaxy Note 7 devices will include a new green battery icon, which'll be displayed on the phone's status bar, Always On Display screen, and Power Off screen.

It'll look like this:Technobuffalo

Beyond that, Samsung says safe phones will have a black square near the barcode on their respective boxes.

That'll look like this:

Samsung

If you decide to buy a used Galaxy Note 7 - which, again, is probably a bad idea - you can also head to Samsung's Galaxy Note 7 Safety Recall page, and verify whether or not your device is at risk by entering its IMEI number. That can easily be found in the "About Phone" section of your Settings menu.

None of this is likely to help the financial or perceptual damage the Note 7's issues have already caused, but they should make actually using the device at least a little more comforting.