Samsung ready to relaunch Galaxy Note 7 with new battery, low price

Samsung killed the Note 7 after dozens of phones overheated and caught fire. Photo / AP

Samsung appears ready to put its most controversial smartphone back on sale within weeks, and will reportedly relaunch the device under the Note 7 banner.

But the smartphone, twice recalled after causing a series of fires, is unlikely to be sold in Australia and will feature a new, smaller battery.

The news comes just as the South Korean technology giant prepares to launch its first flagship phones this year, the Galaxy S8 and S8+, in Australian stores, and threatens to steal attention from its already recordbreaking comeback effort.

After pressure from environmental groups including Greenpeace, Samsung committed to refurbishing and reselling some of the estimated four million Note 7 smartphones recalled from customers last year.

But the troubled Note 7 could come back as early as June, according to Korean news agency ET News, which reported the phone would be called Galaxy Note 7R.

The second coming of the big-screen smartphone would feature a smaller, less powerful battery - reduced from 3500mAh to 3200mAh - and would launch at a 30 per cent discount, pricing the phone at $825.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 7R is expected to launch in South Korea in late June, though it's not yet clear what other countries will receive the phone, and how well it will be received after being the subject of so many in-flight announcements.

Samsung was forced to recall its Note 7 handsets twice after many caught fire or erupted in smoke, burning hands, furniture, and even causing the evacuation of a US flight.

Faulty batteries were later blamed for the problems.

More than 50,000 Note 7 smartphones were reclaimed from consumers in Australia, where Samsung later crippled the smartphones with software updates and forced them off local phone networks.