After the much-publicized Galaxy Note 7 incidents last year, it is now the Vivo V5 that is said to have exploded while charging. According to posts on Facebook by one Mr. Himesh Arora, the device was plugged into a wall socket when it burst into flames earlier this month. The incident is said to have happened in the northern Indian town of Karnal, Haryana, and was initially dismissed by many on social media as a rare case that is unlikely to become a regular occurrence. However, another alleged case involving the same device has since come to light, prompting many to question whether the company has been slow in reacting to the original complaint. Thankfully, though, nobody seems to have gotten hurt in either of the two incidents.
While the first reported case was from earlier this month, the latest incident is alleged to have happened just last week, when the device is said to have caught fire while being charged at a retail store. The photos of what looks like a badly-damaged smartphone have now gone viral on social media, with many wondering why the company is yet to come out with an official response. The Vivo V5 is a mid-range smartphone that was announced late last year in India, and comes with an price-tag of Rs. 17,980 ($280). The device is marketed as a “Selfie Expert” on the strength of its 20-megapixel front-facing camera (Sony IMX376 sensor) which is accompanied by a ‘moonlight flash’. The battery inside the Vivo V5, now under scrutiny following these two reports, happens to be a non-removable 3,000 mAh unit.
The Vivo V5 is believed to have been accepted pretty well by its target audience in India. In fact, the company earlier today actually introduced a better-spec’d variant of the Vivo V5 called the Vivo V5s that comes with the exact same optics, but with more built-in storage. That particular device has an asking price of Rs. 18,990 ($296), and also comes with a 3,000 mAh battery, just like the standard-issue Vivo V5. Interestingly, Vivo’s V5 family also has a third member. That one happens to be the Vivo V5 Plus, which was launched earlier this year and is the most premium of the three with a front-facing dual-camera module that incorporates the aforementioned 20-megapixel sensor from Sony alongside an 8-megapixel sensor for better bokeh effects.
