Samsung Galaxy Phone Explodes Out of the Blue

A Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge caught fire all of a sudden without even being plugged in, with 52-yeard-old owner now claiming she doesn’t want to use phones anymore.

The device belongs to Seema Agarwal from Bangalore, India, and was never opened or serviced, daughter Namrata was quoted as saying by BangaloreMirror.

“This incident has made my mother very anxious and she is contemplating giving up using a mobile phone,” she said.

The smartphone, which was purchased on December 28, 2016, was getting hot at about 8 pm in late December 2019, so the woman went out of the house and placed the device on the porch. It only took 15 seconds for the smartphone to catch fire, the report reveals.

The owner claims only the original Samsung charger and USB cable have been using since the device was purchased.

Owner planning to sue Samsung

In addition to filing a complaint with the police, the Galaxy S7 owner also reached out to Samsung, only to be told that the device caught fire due to an external fire or heat source.

“Based on the investigation, it is found that the origin of damage in the mobile phone/battery was not due to the Samsung product quality but on account of some external fire/heat source which damaged the phone, and further damaging the battery,” Samsung said in a letter (attached to the article).

The family says they are now planning to file a lawsuit against Samsung.

“The service center personnel refused to believe it and washed their hands off any liability. They weren’t willing to listen or hear us out. They did not help us reach their seniors who might have been able to help us out. The warranty has expired, yes, but I was concerned about the safety of the customer, and exploding is not acceptable,” Namrata explained, adding that the entire family uses Samsung devices.

Samsung previously retired the entire Galaxy Note 7 lineup due to overheating batteries presenting a risk of fire. However, no similar issue has ever been confirmed for the Galaxy S7 series.