Galaxy S3 fire not caused by smartphone

Investigation finds that only a microwave can cause phones to explode

Fear not, Samsung Galaxy S3 owners. Your phone will not, I repeat WILL NOT, spontaneously burst into flames. If you put in the microwave, however, that’s on you.

After an Irish user, calling themselves “dillo2k10,” posted a message in June, saying that their Samsung Galaxy S3 smartphone had suddenly burst into flames while they were driving.

The phone was plugged into the car mount, dill2k10 wrote, “when suddenly a white flame, sparks and a bang came out of the phone.”

Samsung launched an investigation as to whether or not these claims were actually true, posting a notice on their blog saying, “There have been recent online posts displaying pictures of a Samsung Galaxy S3 that appears to have heat-related damage at the bottom of the device. Samsung is aware of this issue and will begin investigating as soon as we receive the specific product in question.”

Fire Investigations UK (FIUK) investigated the matter by examining the damaged phone, as well as subjecting Galaxy S3 phones to a series of tests, and have concluded that the explosion was not a result of a fault within the phone.

“The heat does not appear to have been generated from energy within the device but from an external source," FIUK wrote in its report. 

"Additionally, the investigation results state, ‘The only way it was possible to produce damage similarly to the damage recorded within the owner's damaged device was to place the devices or component parts with a domestic microwave,'" Samsung said on its official blog.

After the results of the report, dill2k10 posted to the same messageboard, this time to retract the original statement and take responsibility for the damage to the phone.

“I would like to retract my original statement. The damage to the phone was caused by another person, although they were attempting to recover the phone from water this later caused the damage shown on the phone. It occurred due to a large amount of external energy and there was no fault with the phone. This was not a deliberate act but a stupid mistake," dill2k10 wrote.

The initial post about the phone exploding has since been taken down.

Other phones have also been accused of becoming overheated, especially the iPhone, though I have not heard of anyone ever accusing it of exploding. 

Samsung was not available for comment

(Image source: evilcyber.com)