First rolled out to consumers in August, Samsung‘s Galaxy Note 7 is a core part of its Galaxy line of smartphones. Aimed at people who need more square inches on their phone, it’s halfway between a tablet and a phone. Unfortunately, it’s also apparently more dangerous, as Samsung is recalling the Note 7 over multiple reports of exploding batteries.
Samsung has confirmed to Gizmodo that it will be issuing the recall over a “battery cell” issue:
In response to recently reported cases of the new Galaxy Note7, we conducted a thorough investigation and found a battery cell issue. To date (as of September 1) there have been 35 cases that have been reported globally and we are currently conducting a thorough inspection with our suppliers to identify possible affected batteries in the market. However, because our customers’ safety is an absolute priority at Samsung, we have stopped sales of the Galaxy Note7. For customers who already have Galaxy Note7 devices, we will voluntarily replace their current device with a new one over the coming weeks.
Much like the exploding MacBooks, it appears something in the battery fails and it overheats, with potentially explosive consequences. This isn’t an uncommon issue; back in February, an e-cigarette exploded in a man’s face, and finding videos of exploding batteries online is as simple as going to YouTube.
For Samsung, the real problem is that the Note 7 was supposed to help compete with Apple’s iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, being announced next week and almost certainly arriving before September is finished. The Galaxy 7 and Galaxy Edge 7 both seem to be in good shape, with no reports of explosions, and Samsung is likely hoping two phones will be enough to go up against Apple.
(via Gizmodo)