Samsung might have another exploding smartphone.
An employee at one of the four big wireless carriers in the U.S. Claims to have exchanged a Samsung Galaxy S7 that exploded, according to Phone Arena, a mobile phone site that that was briefed on the explosion. The device was said to be a Galaxy S7 Edge, and the owner only had the handset for two weeks after exchanging a Galaxy Note 7. The owner said that the Galaxy Note 7 hadn’t exploded, but the Galaxy S7 Edge did after normal use.
The Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge were released earlier this year. While they come with similar designs to the Galaxy Note 7 (the Galaxy S7 Edge even has a curved screen like the Note 7), they only support fingerprint input. The Galaxy Note 7 worked with a stylus called the S Pen.
Samsung has come under fire in the last two months after it released a Galaxy Note 7 in August that was prone to overheating and exploding. Soon after it discovered the flaw and customer devices were catching fire, Samsung announced a recall and replaced the handsets with new versions that it said, were safe. Soon after, however, owners of second-run devices reported overheating and explosion woes. Samsung then discontinued the smartphone and has since been trying to get back the millions of Galaxy Note 7s still in the wild.
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As part of its recall, Samsung is offering Galaxy Note 7 owners the opportunity to exchange their smartphones for other Samsung handsets, including the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy 7 Edge. Each of those customers gets a $100 credit on their wireless carrier bill. Those who exchange it for a smartphone from another company get $25.
The claim that the Galaxy S7 Edge exploded might come as a surprise because the smartphone has been available for the last several months and hasn’t been widely panned as being unsafe. However, in the last couple of months, some Galaxy S7 owners have complained that the smartphone has overheated and caught fire. It’s impossible to know whether those handful of Galaxy S7 troubles were caused by a manufacturing problem or the way owners were using the device.
All smartphones, in fact, are subject to possible overheating troubles under the right conditions. That’s due to their use of Lithium-ion batteries that can prove unstable if they’re running too hot.
While the nature of the Galaxy S7 Edge’s explosion isn’t yet known, it could be damaging to the Korea conglomerate. In light of Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 troubles, the company needs a stable smartphone for customers to feel comfortable with. That has been the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge. If the smartphone is found to have its own troubles, Samsung be in for a protracted attempt at rebuilding its brand.
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That said, it’s not alone. Last week, an Australian man said that his iPhone 7 caught fire and burned up his car. Apple is currently investigating the matter to see whether the iPhone was to blame and why it might have happened.
For its part, Samsung hasn’t responded to a Coins2Day request for comment on the Galaxy S7 Edge in question.
