Samsung still continues to be the subject of much scrutiny, as now more of its models are reportedly catching on fire due to battery woes than just the Galaxy Note 7. Now, there have been reports of a Galaxy S7 Edge exploding in the Philippines and Galaxy Note 2 handset catching fire on an Indian flight.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 7, which was unveiled and launched in earlier this year in August, has been a large source of embarrassment for the Korean company. Due to faulty batteries, there have been numerous reports from around the world of the phablet exploding or catching fire.
The Galaxy Note 7 battery issue has caused aviation authorities of several countries to completely ban the use of the devices during flights. As the battery issue was so widespread, Samsung was forced to temporarily halt sales of the phablet and offer exchange units to customers to replace their potentially defective and dangerous device.
Samsung has since offered an official apology to its Galaxy Note 7 customers for the battery malfunctions. However, it now seems as if the Galaxy Note 7 is not the only smartphone model made by the Korean tech giant that has battery issues.
Galaxy S7 Edge reportedly catches fire in Philippines
Such is the case in a new report coming from the Philippines in which a Galaxy S7 apparently caught fire. While it is not yet clear what caused the massive malfunction, the S7 is not a model in which many battery issues have been reported. The phone has been considered a big success for Samsung and has, up to this point, been sold in stores for months without problems.
Samsung customer Weng Briones posted pictures on Facebook of the Samsung S7 Edge model that caught fire, which clearly show that the smartphone had undergone some high temperatures. Briones claimed that her S7 Edge stared burning for no apparent reason.
According to Briones, her daughter had been using the phone when, all of a sudden, it started to emit smoke. At this point she splashed water on the phone and covered it in a wet towel in order to contain the issue.
Briones decided to take the destroyed device into the Samsung store from where she had originally bought the phone, where she claimed a refund since she did not want another S7 in exchange for the melted device. The Samsung staff offered her a full refund for the device and the company’s marketing representative promised a full investigation of the incident.
Although the customer did not accept and exchange of a new phone for the destroyed one, she did laud Samsung for the support she received:
“We went to Samsung store at SM City Taytay and they have refunded my money in full. Kudos to all the staff of Samsung SM Taytay for their immediate action regarding my issue. In spite of the unfortunate incident, I am however, impressed by their aftersales-support. Much respect to Samsung. Keep safe everyone.”
Samsung Galaxy Note 2 explodes during flight in India
Another incident, this time coming out of India, puts the Samsung Note 2 in the spotlight. Samsung launched the device back in October 2012 to much praise, and, even to this day, many people are still using the phablet.
Now, reports out of India have claimed that the device spontaneously combusted in the middle of a flight on India-based airline IndiGo. Flight attendants apparently found smoke coming from an overhead baggage bin just before landing.
The cabin crew of IndiGo’s Singapore-to-Chennai flight noticed that an unfortunate passenger’s Galaxy Note 2 had caught fire inside of his or her carryon baggage. The crew members were apparently quick to put out the fire with an extinguisher and then placed the device into a container full of water.
“We are aware of an incident involving one of our devices,” a Samsung spokesperson said regarding the matter. “At Samsung, customer safety is our highest priority. We are in touch with the relevant authorities to gather more information, and are looking into the matter.”
Samsung continues to deal with faulty battery issues
Samsung has been mired in controversy ever since the brand was forced to recall its brand-new Galaxy Note 7 smartphone, which was released in early August. The company issued the global recall for the phone on September 2, after an internal investigation uncovered a serious flaw that was causing some users’ handsets to spontaneously catch fire and explode.
It is not yet clear what has caused the battery issues affecting other handsets, including these reports involving the Galaxy S7 Edge and the Galaxy Note 2. Samsung has not, at the time of writing, issued any statements regarding models other than the Note 7, hence one can’t say for sure whether the Galaxy S7 Edge is affected by any manufacturing defects.
Samsung has been on the receiving end of many false complaints, as, according to the company, 26 “false reports” had been sent in from supposed Note 7 customers since the recall began. Of these 26 reports, Samsung only received 12 devices, none of which were faulty. In a further seven of the cases, Samsung was not able to get in touch with the customers. The remaining seven customers either cancelled their complaint, or said that they had thrown away their device.
If you have a Galaxy S7 Edge, it’s probably a good idea to stick to proper phone owner etiquette and charge your device on hard, flat surfaces and remember to never have it covered while plugged in.
