14 DAY TRIAL // While reports of exploding smartphones make the rounds less often these days, and this can only be good news for everyone, it doesn’t necessarily mean that such incidents do not happen anymore, due to either manufacturing defects or other damage that these devices experienced.
The most recent report of a smartphone that exploded comes from India, where the owner of a Xiaomi Redmi model suffered severe burns after his handset caught fire in his pants.
Local media reports that the device was purchased only four months ago, and indicates that the official service center “advised the owner not to report the incident,” also promising to offer him a new phone.
The story, however, is rather sketchy and is lacking critical information, such as the phone model that exploded and why exactly the incident took place. In most of the cases, handsets burst into flames as a result of overheating, which often occurs when charging.
Other Redmi phones also caught fire
Since the boy was carrying the phone in his pocket, there’s a good chance it wasn’t plugged in, though there are people who charge their devices with external batteries even on the go.
The cited source claims there were also other reports of Redmi Note 4 phones catching fire, but again, no other specifics were reported, so take this info with a pinch of salt for the time being.
Samsung is the biggest company that had to face the issue of exploding phones, after the company’s Note 7 model shipped with bad batteries suffering from overheating. After a failed attempt to replace the battery units with new ones, the company eventually decided to recall the entire series of phones.
Apple’s iPhone has also been involved in a number of similar incidents, but no confirmation of a widespread issue has ever been offered. In Apple’s case, however, the overheating appeared to be at fault in isolated cases, with some incidents also involving third-party accessories that could pose an increased risk of fire.