Reasons for Galaxy Note 7 battery-explosion debacle explained

Galaxy Note 7 battery-explosion debacle has fuelled multiple theories of speculation with its root cause.

Galaxy Note 7
Reasons for Galaxy Note 7 battery-explosion debacle explained Samsung

Samsung Galaxy Note 7 has drawn severe flak for its widespread battery-explosion debacle, which has also fuelled a bunch of theories speculating about the root cause of this issue. The company recently attributed the issue to a manufacturing flaw with the battery cell that lead to overheating, whenever the anode-to cathode terminals came into contact.

Various reports suggest that the company had changed the battery-supplying vendor for the replacement units of Note 7 as it shifted all its orders from Samsung SDI to China's ATL unit. However, the replacement units of Note 7 also started catching fire unexpectedly and this lead to the belief that the battery problem went beyond the supplier chain.

Although one theory still hints at a new battery manufacturing defect, there are no substantial details regarding the same. However, a recent report on Financial Times suggests that the Note 7's fast charging technology could have been the sole culprit behind its widespread battery-explosions.

The report identifies a source who spoke with Samsung executives to arrive at the conclusion that the fast charging technology could have made the Note 7 battery volatile and hence lead to the unexpected fire explosions.

"If you try to charge the battery too quickly it can make it more volatile. If you push an engine too hard, it will explode. Something had to give. These devices are miracles of technology — how much we can get out of that tiny piece of lithium-ion," the source was quoted as saying.

Nevertheless, the fast-charging theory behind Galaxy Note 7's battery explosions can easily be disproved as several galaxy handsets using the quick-charge technology have not shown any signs of catching fire or exploding unexpectedly. Folks at SamMobile have confirmed that the Galaxy S6 Edge which relies on fast-charging capability has never lead to battery explosions in two years of its constant use.

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