Galaxy S4 bursts in flames while gaming, Hong Kong man claims, fire spreads to house and Mercedes

posted by Daniel P.

Jul 30, 2013, 4:07 AM

Galaxy S4 bursts in flames while gaming, Hong Kong man claims, fire spreads to house and Mercedes

A Hong Kong guy claims his Galaxy S4 burst into flames while he was gaming on the couch, startling him and forcing him to throw it under the sofa, which caught up fire in its turn, along with the curtains.

He quickly ran out of the house with his wife and pets, only to see the home incinerated to the walls, and the fire spreading out to the Mercedes that was parked next to the building.

While previous spontaneous combustion cases with the Galaxy S III and iPhones turned out to be caused by third party batteries or chargers, and Apple even issued a warning against using those, the Hong Kong man claims his Galaxy S4 was with the battery and charger it was packaged with.

What's not entirely clear is whether the S4 itself wasn't a counterfeit unit, as the man seems to have bought it from someone else, not to mention that the whole story starts from what appears to be a rather flammable couch, but, hey, the man was playing "Love Machine" on the device, after all.

Samsung Hong Kong has apparently already said it will investigate the matter, and do some chemical analysis magic to determine whether the S4 and its components were genuine, and were the real reason for the incident reported, so we'll keep an eye on the developments.

Samsung Galaxy S4 bursts in flames while gaming, Hong Kong man claims

source: Xianguo via TheRegister

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79 Comments

79. maulgandhi unregistered

i Have been using android phones and tablet for years. i dont know what kind of games these guys play. my phone would get hot and at the same time phone will runt out of juice too. so it would never reach a point where phones had to burst in flames. I remember one time, on my lg optimus 2x; it would get really hot while playing games that phone itself would shut down. of course, i had extended batteries installed on the phone.i think this extended batteries has to do with these kind of incidents. or could it be a conspiracy??? If you guys ever notice that every time an incident happens with Apple products, with in few days there's an incident with android products. is that a coincidence?? i smell something fishy here.

posted on Jul 31, 2013, 8:53 PM 0

76. _PHug_

Posts: 482; Member since: Oct 11, 2011

I guarantee this guy is drowning in debt and was trying to cash in on an insurance policy. On the other hand it could be true because I always soak my living room in gasoline before I play Angry Birds.

posted on Jul 31, 2013, 7:57 AM 0

75. itsdeepak4u2000

Posts: 3718; Member since: Nov 03, 2012

A phone cannot cause this much fire, this is the stupidity of the man who threw it on the couch. BTW don't play "Love Machine", may be it's the game feature, otherwise you would be next victim. :P ;)

posted on Jul 31, 2013, 3:37 AM 0

74. synot

Posts: 277; Member since: Sep 14, 2012

If one examines this story carefully how the incident unfolds one can almost conclude that it was staged to take focus off Apples dilemna .Why did the man throws the phone under the flamable couch and why not try to out the fire ?How big a fire could a phone produce to stop one from extinguishing it ..instead of running away..

posted on Jul 30, 2013, 7:53 PM 0

72. roscuthiii

Posts: 2383; Member since: Jul 18, 2010

4. And then there's always the possibility i'ts just the machinations of human greed. It does seem rather suspect he didn't immediately move the couch after he threw it under there for some reason? How flammable was his household?! He could be looking to make a quick buck.

posted on Jul 30, 2013, 5:24 PM 0

70. roscuthiii

Posts: 2383; Member since: Jul 18, 2010

A few observations: 1. With the stories of Samsung and Apple phones exploding, catching fire, discharging electricity, etc. it could very possibly be more of a bad batch from the manufacturer. If memory serves, they both use Foxconn, as do many others, but in order for Foxconn to meet the supply demands of the two mammoth companies I think that quality control was thrown out the window leading to a lot of faulty devices in circulation. 2. We all know that companies warn of using 3rd party parts, and it seems to be third party chargers that are shouldering a lot of the blame, however... location can't be overlooked. It seems many of these stories are taking place not in the US or Europe, but in the Asian/Pacific theater. That leads me to wonder whether it's not faulty hardware, 3rd party or not, but instead faulty electrical wiring in the building, or faulty electrical current regulation from the utility provider. 3. Companies like Samsung and Apple do have lots and lots of phones produced. They can't possibly have every single phone that comes off the production line be perfect. Some have to be defective. Are the contracted manufacturers like Foxconn and Pegatron disposing of the defects as they should be? Or are they letting a few slip out the back door or fall off a truck and be sold to turn a profit all the while telling the companies they're contracted with that they destroyed bad handsets? Just some things to mull over...

posted on Jul 30, 2013, 5:19 PM 0

63. mrblah

Posts: 577; Member since: Jan 22, 2013

use that money to buy a 5S. problem solved. unless he gets shocked next lol

posted on Jul 30, 2013, 11:44 AM 0

61. horsecock unregistered

Its not a coincidence that these "explosions" only happen over seas! I bet his "GS4" that exploded was just as bout as real as the "Jordan's" he had on his feet. Hell, I bet he had a real "Versace" shirt on too...SMH @ knockoffs...

posted on Jul 30, 2013, 10:30 AM 0

59. johnriii

Posts: 248; Member since: Oct 17, 2011

i'm calling shenanigans on this. if it "burst" into flames, you would drop it, right? oh no, this dude cocked back, while it's still burning, in his hands, and flings it up under the sofa. yeah, right. #liarliarpantsonfire

posted on Jul 30, 2013, 9:48 AM 0

58. newuser1

Posts: 276; Member since: Dec 10, 2010

a phone would cause this much fire?

posted on Jul 30, 2013, 9:47 AM 0

55. jfuente11

Posts: 38; Member since: Nov 06, 2012

There is something fishy about the story...

posted on Jul 30, 2013, 9:09 AM 0

51. jacko1977

Posts: 428; Member since: Feb 11, 2012

he stole it and real owner nuked it

posted on Jul 30, 2013, 7:56 AM 0

49. ibap

Posts: 873; Member since: Sep 09, 2009

Threw it under the couch? Give me a break.

posted on Jul 30, 2013, 7:43 AM 0

45. androiphone20

Posts: 1654; Member since: Jul 10, 2013

Samsung galaxy S4 designed for HUMANS...and comes with a free S-bomb feature

posted on Jul 30, 2013, 7:09 AM 0

78. hypergreatthing

Posts: 44; Member since: Jun 13, 2012

S-bomb feature only available in asia

posted on Jul 31, 2013, 12:08 PM 0

42. mercorp

Posts: 1045; Member since: Jan 28, 2012

Samsung Galaxy Grenade/bomb?

posted on Jul 30, 2013, 6:39 AM 0

41. samsuper

Posts: 33; Member since: Apr 18, 2013

In my opinion Samsung is way better than others in heating problem. I don't believe it.

posted on Jul 30, 2013, 6:35 AM 1

39. samsony

Posts: 3; Member since: Jul 30, 2013

No way a plastic phone can pulled off something like this. 1. Must know when a plastic is on fire. MELTED and SMELLY. He should know it. 2. No way a fire starts from the plastic. 3. Throw it under a sofa? GENIUS 4. Phones hottest temperature ever recorded is about 100c (on an old Sony phone if i'm not mistaken) it's boiling water temp and he should throw it already. Flames starts at 200c up on flammable stuff like paper This guy lies in a horrible way. I bet he smoke or something and and the smoke fell to couch or something and he thinks i should blame samsung on this.

posted on Jul 30, 2013, 6:06 AM 6

36. rantao333

Posts: 346; Member since: May 21, 2013

samsung fans try to be rational now, same thing dint happens to apple cases.lol

posted on Jul 30, 2013, 5:54 AM 1

47. androiphone20

Posts: 1654; Member since: Jul 10, 2013

*dint happens? dude go home you're drunk

posted on Jul 30, 2013, 7:12 AM 2

27. Lyngdoh

Posts: 319; Member since: Sep 06, 2012

Embedded batteries doesn't suck after all.

posted on Jul 30, 2013, 5:21 AM 0

25. Just.Me

Posts: 23; Member since: Apr 24, 2013

1. the phone has to get really hot before it can flame 2. he shoild have seen smoke before the flames. 3. He should have got a smell before. 4. Even if it did flame, He threw the phone so the battery should have came off - Stopped burning. There isno way any phone could do this

posted on Jul 30, 2013, 5:20 AM 4

23. Sondae

Posts: 291; Member since: Jan 02, 2013

Probably Samsung will tell that the person is using 3rd party battery thats why it explode again like what happen on the Switzerland lady. Kinda odd that his house turned into ash that bad that it caused by s4. Make me think his house has lot of flammable material that he didnt try to stop the fire.

posted on Jul 30, 2013, 5:12 AM 2

22. papss unregistered

Why would he be gaming at his house on a cell anyways? Theirs this great thing called game consoles with real controllers and not a touch screen with no feedback.

posted on Jul 30, 2013, 5:12 AM 1

26. Sniggly

Posts: 7305; Member since: Dec 05, 2009

When I had my Note I gamed on it all the time. Even on my Atrix I still play Jetpack Joyride like a fiend. You bet your ass when I get the Moto X (or Droid Maxx) I'll load that s**t up with Canabalt, Temple Run, Dead Trigger, Bejeweled, Sector Strike, Gun Bros 2, Pew Pew 2, Osmos, Six Guns, and probably twenty more awesome games that have come out since I gave up looking for new ones.

posted on Jul 30, 2013, 5:20 AM 2

77. _PHug_

Posts: 482; Member since: Oct 11, 2011

What else you going to do on the toilet?

posted on Jul 31, 2013, 8:11 AM 0

21. Sniggly

Posts: 7305; Member since: Dec 05, 2009

Pretty much every case of a cell phone doing something like this in the last five or six years has been the result of extenuating circumstances not related to the normal hardware or usage of the phone. Galaxy S3 caught on fire? It was thrown in a microwave after water damage. iPhone 4/S caught on fire on a flight to Australia? A shoddy repair job on the screen caused a screw to fall out of its hole inside the screen and short the charging plate. Galaxy S3 exploded in a girl's pants? Third party battery. That's not to say that a defective unit can't exist-hell, I see defective units of every cell phone out there-but many of these sensationalized stories turn out to have factors which are unusual and turn out to be critical to the outcome.