Galaxy S3 "Explodes"

[Phynaz]

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=79312161&utm_source

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57...gate-burned-up-galaxy-s3/?tag=mncol;cnetRiver

 

[Red Storm]

The device, the forum poster said, "burned from the inside out" and melted its case.

Interestingly, the phone kept working, but had lost its signal.

That made me lol.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Woah, not the battery.

 

[Oyeve]

Dayum! If this is real and not user error this could be huge! Major recall if it happens a few more times!

 

[podspi]

After receiving no help from the Carphone Warehouse. Samsung contacted me, the head of customer services came out to see me and gave me a replacement phone. Even said he would send me out some free stuff.

Props to Samsung for handling this well, as opposed to "blah blah direct sun carmount etc not our fault". Given the heat these phones generate by themselves, using the radio, GPS, etc WHILE mounted on a dashboard likely exposed to sun doesn't sound like a great idea, but if they sell the docks they have to support the use-case.

 

[Mopetar]

Given the heat these phones generate by themselves, using the radio, GPS, etc WHILE mounted on a dashboard likely exposed to sun doesn't sound like a great idea, but if they sell the docks they have to support the use-case.

I remember a few summers ago when a friend and I were driving and he had his Droid doing the same. Had it overclocked to boot. Eventually it would just overheat and shut down.

If I had to guess, this just sounds like a case of a bad battery. Every year or so there's a story of a phone or a laptop suddenly going up in flames and the culprit is usually a faulty battery. The most likely outcome is that some phones have the battery recalled. Since it's user replaceable, they can just ship affected users a new battery and have them send the old one back.

 

[Ns1]

Props to Samsung for handling this well, as opposed to "blah blah direct sun carmount etc not our fault". Given the heat these phones generate by themselves, using the radio, GPS, etc WHILE mounted on a dashboard likely exposed to sun doesn't sound like a great idea, but if they sell the docks they have to support the use-case.

aka "HERE'S SOME STUFF DON'T SUE US"

 

[shortylickens]

Lulz, give a phone GPS and then complain when people put it on their dashboard.

 

[QueBert]

Lulz, give a phone GPS and then complain when people put it on their dashboard.

don't forget Samsung sells Samsung car docks for their phones to be used just for this. I'd be scared to death to use one with my Note. Sitting on the passenger seat not even in direct sun using the GPS with the charger plugged in it could just about burn someone who touches it. In a dock in my window with direct sun? That phone's gonna die in Cali summer heat.

Oh I guess blow up, damn.

 

[DisgruntledVirus]

Nothing new or special. Well the whole melting/exploding thing is... but not the heating issue. My OG Droid and Bionic both get insanely hot with GPS in the car (even out of sunlight). Add in charging, bluetooth, and in the sun as I sometimes do an.... *explodes*

 

[badb0y]

All phones overheat sometimes(even the "iPhone") but this is the first time I have heard a phone explode lol.

 

[jpeyton]

Samsung should be ecstatic. They want iPhone-level sales with their SGS3, and imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

Samsung should be ecstatic. They want iPhone-level sales with their SGS3, and imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

I'm surprised Apple is suing Samsung for copying that feature as well.

 

[redgtxdi]

Having never owned one, I don't know if it's true acrossed the board but at the local VZW store there was always a Droid 3 (still on display there to this day even though they don't sell that phone anymore) and that sucker was always very warm (dare I say hot?) to the touch. Now it's been on 24/7 for maybe a year now in that store, but I knew right away there was no way I'd own the Droid 3 if that's how hot it got.

Now, I wonder if the quad core vs dual core would make a difference or not.

(shrug)

 

[TuxDave]

Samsung should be ecstatic. They want iPhone-level sales with their SGS3, and imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

God, Samsung needs to learn to innovate.

 

[soccerballtux]

I remember a few summers ago when a friend and I were driving and he had his Droid doing the same. Had it overclocked to boot. Eventually it would just overheat and shut down.

If I had to guess, this just sounds like a case of a bad battery. Every year or so there's a story of a phone or a laptop suddenly going up in flames and the culprit is usually a faulty battery. The most likely outcome is that some phones have the battery recalled. Since it's user replaceable, they can just ship affected users a new battery and have them send the old one back.

the battery is fine you can see from the pictures

 

[Mopetar]

the battery is fine you can see from the pictures

Weird. Have any sites done a teardown of the S3 yet? I'm kind of curious what components would be in the area and might have been the cause.

 

[ControlD]

Nothing new or special. Well the whole melting/exploding thing is... but not the heating issue. My OG Droid and Bionic both get insanely hot with GPS in the car (even out of sunlight). Add in charging, bluetooth, and in the sun as I sometimes do an.... *explodes*

Yep, my iPhone 4S gets disturbingly hot got using GPS in the car as well. On a good hot summer day there is about a 50/50 chance it will shut down on me before I get to my destination. Never worried about it actually exploding though .... until now.

 

[WelshBloke]

Weird. Have any sites done a teardown of the S3 yet? I'm kind of curious what components would be in the area and might have been the cause.

Bit under the burn mark is the mic and antenna.
As the phone kept working to the end im guessing that regular overheating wasn't a problem and apparently the phone wasn't plugged in so it wasn't the charging circuit (my first guess).

Im very interested in what caused it, my guess is some freak induction effect twixt the antenna and metal parts of the car mount.

 

[gorcorps]

My SGS2 gets quite hot near the top of the screen and earpiece area when it's running a game for a while or something like that. Phones these days have a temp sensor though and shut off when overheated. Something was either very broken, or it wasn't the phone's doing at all.

 

[WelshBloke]

My SGS2 gets quite hot near the top of the screen and earpiece area when it's running a game for a while or something like that. Phones these days have a temp sensor though and shut off when overheated. Something was either very broken, or it wasn't the phone's doing at all.

That's where the cpu/gpu tasty goodness lives, its understandable that it would get warmest there.

 

[GrumpyMan]

New accessory for the S3....

 

[zerogear]

I own a SGS3 right now, and to be honest, even using BT/WiFi/GPS at the same time, I don't feel it got anywhere as hot as the iPhone 4 or SGS2 for that matter. That phone is most likely defective.

 

[WelshBloke]

I own a SGS3 right now, and to be honest, even using BT/WiFi/GPS at the same time, I don't feel it got anywhere as hot as the iPhone 4 or SGS2 for that matter. That phone is most likely defective.

That phone was definitely defective looking at where the trouble was, but more importantly, how are you finding the SGS3?

 

[zerogear]

That phone was definitely defective looking at where the trouble was, but more importantly, how are you finding the SGS3?

I have the international quad core version. Got it from Expansys.

It's working a lot better than SGS2, and I think TouchWiz has improved quite a bit (though I still ended up using Nova Launcher), it's generally quite smooth, but there still redraw of the home screen at times when you stay in an app for too long.

Software features such as the motions such as landscape rotate to camera and pop-out videos I find to be really useful, especially when multitasking. The Stay Smart feature is also quite nice, and works very well so far.

The pentile screen that everyone is making a fuss about isn't that big of a deal, unless I keep the phone about 1-2 inch away from my face, only then I can tell. Although One X screen is a bit clearer, I don't see a huge difference. SGS3 screen for me, actually produces a whiter white than my SGS2 screen, which had a more blueish-white.

The battery life in general lasts me throughout the day, with general usage, I get around 23-30% left when I get back home and plugged in at 10pm (start the day around 8am). Everything is stock, no ROM yet, but rooted.