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A ‘safe’ Galaxy Note 7 may have just exploded and burned its user, report says

Samsung is doing its best to recall the millions upon millions of Galaxy Note 7s at risk of exploding with new phones that should be safe. But it turns out that new ‘safe’ device may not be so safe after all — according to a report from Bloomberg Quint, a Galaxy Note 7 recently burst into flames, injuring the user.

The device reportedly exploded on Monday morning, burning Chinese man Hui Renjie, and damaging his MacBook. That is not good news for Samsung, which has been scrambling to try and remedy a situation it likely wants to put as far behind it as possible.

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According to the report, Renjie bought his device from online retailer JD, however it caught fire less than 24 hours after it was delivered. Of course, it remains to be seen how severe the issue really is — it is not exactly known yet whether the device was a newly built phone, or a device that just was not removed from the supply chain.

“A Samsung representative visited him soon afterward and asked to take away the phone, he said, but he declined the offer because he doesn’t trust the company to reveal the reason for the fire, and plans to publicize the issue,” said the report.

Still Samsung has been working hard to perform the recall. According to the company, 90 percent of Note 7 owners have chosen to replace their old device with a new Note 7 and more than 60 percent of the phones involved in the recall have been exchanged. Of course, if it turns out that the new device is at risk of exploding too, Samsung will have a tough situation on its hands and one that can haunt the company for years.

Christian de Looper
Christian de Looper is a long-time freelance writer who has covered every facet of the consumer tech and electric vehicle…
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