Is that a OnePlus One that exloded in your pants, or are you just happy to see me?
Seems like almost every other week we hear about some manufacturer’s latest flagship spontaneously combusting in some part of the world. Today, the Grim Reaper has come to claim the soul of OnePlus One forum member MiYzu‘s One as he walked down the subway talking with his brother. Ironically enough, the owner claims he was praising the OnePlus One’s battery life when suddenly the device exploded while in his back pocket.
The damage is pretty severe too. Looking over the pictures, you can see how the battery juices melted out of the OnePlus One’s back cover, burning a hole through the TPU case, jeans, and onto the user’s skin. It’s because of this MiYzu is urging other OnePlus One owners to take caution. Safety issues like this are no laughing matter and could have ended much differently if the phone was on a nightstand or laying on a bed.
While full details haven’t been divulged just yet, it doesn’t appear any kind of physical damage lead to the explosion. Although, as one forum member points out, MiYzu previously opened up a thread discussing problems with his OnePlus One charger that caused his phone and charger to overheat. It’s possible that may have ended up damaging the battery in some way (or could have been the fault of a 3rd party replacement charger/USB cable he used while the original was being replaced). A OnePlus forum administrator was quick to respond to the issue, saying:
“Sorry to hear that. This has never happened previously. Could you please open a ticket and send me via PM your ticket number. I will ask Support to contact you as soon as possible tomorrow. Thanks“
Exploding smartphone batteries are by no means commonplace, but still happen more times than any of us would like. With OnePlus One moving far less units than the Samsungs or LGs of the world, a single exploding smartphone could be seen by potential customers as one too many. We’re hoping this isn’t the beginning of a more widespread problem and if nothing else, just add it to the pile of bad press OnePlus has been carrying on their back.
Be careful out there, folks.