Since some Samsung Galaxy Note 7 owners have not decided to trade their device for a new one yet, reports of exploding smartphones are still popping up. The most recent is of Tham Hua’s Galaxy Note 7. Hua was staying at a hotel in Perth, Australia when his Note 7, which was charging, exploded. The explosion caused around $1,400 worth of damage.
Mini-explosion of a Galaxy Note 7
Hua posted the story on Reddit and said the mini-explosion destroyed his smartphone completely.
“Phone completely fried,” Hua said. “I can’t eject the sim tray to retrieved my sim or the SD card. I was using original charger and cable if you are wondering. Charred the hotel room bed sheet and the carpet when I whacked it down to the floor, burnt one of my finger [sic] while doing that too.”
The back of the smartphone looks really bad, as we can see in the pictures. The front looks bad as well. When asked how the incident happened, Hua explained that to him, it was an explosion, a mini one. He said that the smartphone “fizzed and then phone [popped] open, flame and smoke follow (sic), almost had a panic attack sight to see waking up.”
Hua said that he took his burned phone to Samsung wrapped in a newspaper and inside a zip-lock bag, and the staff had no idea what had happened. This was the first time they had seen such a thing, Hua said. Hua advises people not to use the phone anymore because it is dangerous and not worth the risk.
Samsung to take care of the damage
After Hua contacted the Korean company, he was provided a loaner phone (J1) and was told that this was the first reported incident of an exploding Note 7 in Australia. Also Samsung will take care of the $1,380 worth of damage to the hotel room, according to Hua.
Samsung initiated an unprecedented recall of its high-praised and high-profile phablet amid reports of the Galaxy Note 7 devices either exploding or catching fire. This recall will not come cheap as one of the Korean firm’s executives indicated that it may cost the company more than $1 billion, notes BGR.
Samsung advises Galaxy Note 7 owners to power off the device, return the smartphone, and use some other phone until a remedy can be provided. The Korean company added that Galaxy Note 7 owners who bought the phone from Samsung are entitled to choose a full refund or a new Galaxy Note 7.
