Samsung Galaxy S2 Explodes in 7-Year Old Girl’s Pocket, Inflicts Serious Burns

That's wild I have heard of it happening though. I have been using Samsung phones for around 3 years now. I have an s4, gf had the s4 mini and my 9 year old had an s3. Have her an s2 when she was 8. I see people asking why a child had one, because they are set phones for playing games. That's all she does with it since none of her friends have cells. Hate to see a kid get injured in any event though. Something that rare doesn't make me concerned for the well being of my kid anymore than recalls on cars she rides in that have failures. If it were a common occurrence it would concern me

It wasn't the phone that exploded, it was the battery. Unlike iPhones, the batteries in Samsung devices are not integral. They are removable, and therefore must be considered to be a separate object from the phone itself.

Samsung batteries use a hard-shell casing, and are a lot safer than the pouch casing used by iPhone batteries. Indeed I believe that there have been more iPhone battery fires/explosions than Samsung ones, but its hard to get definitive statistics, as Apple buys people's silence with large payouts. This is only the 4th Samsung battery explosion I've heard about that I can recall.

Lets consider that it exploded while in her pocket, I would suggest this could be because she might have sat on it, compressing the batteries internal terminals together, causing a dead short, leading to an overheat and subsequent explosion. No evidence for this, of course, it just seems like the most likely course of events.

Lets not sensationalize this, or extrapolate it to suggest that Samsung products are unsafe. They are as safe as any other mobile phone. Manufacturing faults happen. Operator faults happen. Children sitting on them happen. At this point we don't definitively know why it exploded, and probably never will.

Its a shame for the girl, and I hope she makes a full recovery.

Does this mean I should not play games on my old Galaxy Nexus until the phone is smoking hot to the touch?

Candlestick, why do you hate on Samsung? The phones they produce have more functionality than any apple device. I've owned two Samsung phones, two HTC phones (one being windows mobile based), and a couple of older non-smartphones (Motorola I do believe) and the Samsung's' have been my favorite of the bunch (S3, and currently the Note 3). A buddy of mine got an s4 yesterday and came to the same conclusion having owned two i phones previously.

This is an issue with the type of batteries and not with any of the mentioned phone brands.

I feel bad for the girl and her family, but I'm not going to dis on any of the phone brands.

Hopefully a new battery tech will come out soon enough that will make lion batteries obsolete.

I will chime in with an observation.

It was an S2, an old model. I would suggest that at some point Mum and Dad had to get a new battery for it.

Did they get a Samsung battery or did they buy a generic one that perhaps was not up to scratch?

Without all of the facts, I would be careful where I throw the blame.

P

originally posted by: Dolby_X
a reply to: lightedhype

you mean like this ? goo.gl...

If you go just a tiny ways down that page there is a picture of a guy who looks angry as can be. Lips all pursed.

I had no idea cells phones could explode - unless pumping gas while using them. I hope they don't have something in fine print absolving them from responsibility should these things happen (this child needs something to get her through all reconstructive efforts).

I have noticed if I am talking on my iPhone too long my head/ear begins to hurt. I'm pretty sure that can't be good for you. I would definitely like to know what the precursors are to an explosion. Even if unlikely it's good to know.

originally posted by: soficrow
a reply to: candlestick

Euuuwww! I had no idea. Thought the big problem was cancer caused by radiation.

F&S

I just read the owner's manual for my electric wheelchair and this is quite fascinating...

Apparently cell phones can cause electric wheelchair batteries to drain. So the owner's manual said not to use the wheelchair while on a cell phone. Who knew that a cell phone can disrupt a power wheelchair? And I don't even carry it in my pocket. It would burn my wheelchair up.

How is this even possible?

a reply to: WarminIndy

Maybe the batteries last so long because they pull energy from other sources?

originally posted by: Dianec
a reply to: WarminIndy

Maybe the batteries last so long because they pull energy from other sources?

Not my cell phone, I drain batteries on everything very quickly. I have a Samsung LG, and it runs out of battery power very quickly, even if I don't handle it very often.

a reply to: andr3w68

I am a apple hater also.

The phones they produce have more functionality than any apple device.

I agree ,Samsung only care "new and thin ",create more and more new models in short time ,disregard for safety design.

This is an issue with the type of batteries and not with any of the mentioned phone brands.

Even the type of batteries are same ,they still with different kind of quality.

I think that the phone explodes due to overuse and overheating. Galaxy S2 releases in May 2011. C'mon guys. That's old school.

These small problems have been solved now. Check the latest samsung mobile phones to get my point.

Meanwhile, that girl needs to take a break from smartphones for a while.

a reply to: kashif333

Dredging up the past with no new information, are you a Samsung salesman by any chance?