Redditor’s Samsung Galaxy S3 explodes in the middle of the night

lz8FV3hh — Image used with permission by copyright holder

We don’t think much of our smartphones when we put them in the charger at night and head to bed. While sometimes they may just go dead on us from some sort of malfunction, it’s rare indeed for our phones to attempt to destroy themselves, and us. For one unlucky Redditor, his smartphone ended up going up in smoke – literally.

Sometimes we forget smartphones are full of a lot of dangerous things that we coincidentally put right near our faces. Even when you get past the paranoia over radiation and brain cancer, cell phones are full of dangerous materials – not to mention a battery that can potentially overheat and explode. In the case of one visitor to the popular website Reddit, this is exactly what happened. While it was charging, his Samsung Galaxy S3’s battery malfunctioned, causing it to explode and catch fire. The battery filled his room with smoke, ruined his bedsheets and destroyed his S3. While the photo itself tells much of the story, the Redditor also noted that his phone, battery, and charging cable were all from Samsung, and that his phone was not rooted. This means only something malfunctioning with the phone or charging adapter could have lead to this catastrophe.

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen the self-destruct feature make its way to our gadgets. Back in 2010, a man claimed his Motorola Droid 2 exploded near his ear, causing him injury. A similar battery explosion also occurred with someone’s Nexus S in the past, but the act itself (and similar phone-related hazards) is still rare. This has not stopped conspiracy theories about everything from explosions to electrocutions making their way onto forums, chain e-mails, and everywhere in between.

If you’re interested in seeing all the phone-fatal photos then feel free to go look at the whole album here. While a self-destructing phone may be something you’d be excited to see in the next James Bond flick, it’s not something we want to see in real life. Samsung is in the process of getting us a statement, and is aware of this incident. Hopefully it all turns out well for this unlucky smartphone owner.

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