For the past couple of weeks or so, the brand new Samsung Galaxy Note 7 reached the headlines more often than not, for all the wrong reasons. As readers are likely aware, Samsung has been having issues with the Galaxy Note 7 in that numerous units seem to be powered by faulty batteries. In late August the first case of an exploding Samsung Galaxy Note 7 surfaced on the web, which was then followed by a couple other unfortunate cases with similar outcomes: an unusable smartphone burned to a crisp. Unfortunately, the story is not over yet, and it seems that earlier today the first case of a faulty Samsung Galaxy Note 7 in the United States emerged via Reddit. The original poster claims that he knows someone Stateside whose Samsung Galaxy Note 7 exploded, and sure enough these claims have been backed up by a photo showing the aftermath (above).
According to the Reddit user sharing the story at hand, the smartphone’s owner resides in Orange County, Florida, USA, and reportedly the device caught on fire while its owner was using it. Apparently, the owner did sustain minor injuries but not many details on this particular matter were revealed by the original poster. In any case, it’s interesting to note that the smartphone seems to have caught on fire in the same area as it did in all the previous cases, suggesting that whatever faulty component has caused the first explosion also caused the rest. The problem is clearly tied in with the Samsung Galaxy Note 7’s battery, but as yet it’s not entirely clear if the Li-Ion batteries themselves are to blame, or if the power management circuit board’s fail safes are failing, leading to unstable chemical reactions within the battery.
This is the first case of a Samsung Galaxy Note 7 catching fire in the United States, and hopefully, it will be the last. Thankfully, Samsung already recalled 2.5 million Galaxy Note 7 units worldwide and has prepared a replacement program for US-based carriers whose clients may want to exchange their unit for a different Galaxy smartphone model or a different Galaxy Note 7 unit. Furthermore, T-Mobile USA even allows customers to apply for a full refund, so with that being said, the general advice for Samsung Galaxy Note 7 owners in the US who may be worrying that their smartphones could catch on fire is to try and get a hold of a replacement unit, or a full refund if applicable, at least until Samsung deals with this problem entirely.