Have you ever looked into the ZTE Axon 7 - Jason Perlow at ZDNet had a great write up about the quality and it is a $399 buy?
LeoRex - your thoughts are logical and well taken, but they fail to factor in one key ingredient - timelines for returns.
None of the examples that you and others cite of LiPo battery fries involves multiple events in the same model; they are random and can easily be ascribed to the general risk of these batteries. This is now a case of multiple incidents with the same model. If you are on a time clock to return the Note 7, and you don't act, you could be stuck long term with an extremely depreciating asset. Worse yet, what if the FAA or even individual airlines choose to restrict, or even worse ban, the Note 7...
If you return it timely, and Samsung, the airlines, and the FEDS truly gives us the "all clear" signal, you could buy it again. But if you miss your return window, you may have an $850-900 device for eternity.