Since its release last April, the Samsung Galaxy S4 has spontaneously combusted and caused fires all across the world. Damage has been minor in most instances – resulting in nothing more than a defunct phone and angry video – while others were a tad more serious; one Hong Kong resident’s phone exploded, burning down his entire house and Mercedes (as if the house alone wasn’t bad enough). More recently, a teenage Texan’s phone melted right beside her as she was sleeping.
According to a recent FOX 4 report, the 13-year-old Texas girl was awakened by the smell of burning electronics before noticing that her S4 had cracked, melted, and burnt a hole in her pillow. Dismissing the event, she returned to sleep only to discover that the phone was completely destroyed the following morning. “I didn't think much of it, so I went back to sleep, and then I woke up again and it was more prominent,” said the youth.
(Wait, what ?! She immediately went back to sleep, ignoring the tell-tale signs of fire?!)
“The whole phone melted; the plastic and the glass. You can’t even really tell that it was a phone,” added the teen’s father who suspects the incident may have been caused by the battery overheating and swelling up as a result of constricted airflow under the pillow.
Samsung promptly denounced their responsibility after being contacted by the family, pointing out that the battery inside the phone was a replacement, not the original issued with the phone. Nonetheless, the company agrees that safety and consumer education is very important when dealing with rechargeable batteries. It has responded to similar such incidents by posting a warning in the product manual, stating that restricting airflow with fabric is liable to cause a fire.
Unfortunately, the Texas family did not read this warning.
Via Fox 4
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