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Silver lining: Not every exploding Galaxy Note 7 actually exploded

Updated Sep 23rd, 2016 9:20AM EDT
Galaxy Note 7 Exploding False Reports
Image: Zach Epstein, BGR

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They say that all press is good press, but I’m willing to bet that Samsung would beg to differ. The whole exploding Galaxy Note 7 scandal has been nothing short of a catastrophe for the South Korean company, but there is a silver lining.

An extremely thin, almost invisible silver lining, but a silver lining nonetheless: Not all of the reports of exploding phablets has turned out to be real.

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According to ZDNet, Samsung says that it received 26 false reports following the announcement of the worldwide Note 7 recall earlier this month. Here’s how those 26 reports break down: 12 of the consumers had phones that weren’t actually faulty, 7 of the consumers couldn’t be reached and 7 more either cancelled their reports or told Samsung that they’d already gotten rid of the phone.

One of these reports came from a Canadian consumer, who purportedly took a picture of a ruined Galaxy Note 7 he found online and told Samsung that it was his phone. Another consumer in Singapore says they threw the handset out of their car when it caught fire while they were driving, but couldn’t provide proof.

It’s not surprising to learn that there were customers trying to take advantage of the recall in order to possibly score a lawsuit or at least very least a free phone, but what’s perhaps slightly more surprising is that Samsung shipped a phone with a battery that could catch fire. It’s almost too close to call, really.

If the controversy hasn’t scared you away altogether, you can buy one of the 500,000 safe Galaxy Note 7 units that Samsung shipped to carrier stores across the United States today. Other than the whole exploding business, it really is the best Android phone on the market, and possibly one of the best ever.

Jacob Siegal
Jacob Siegal Associate Editor

Jacob Siegal is Associate Editor at BGR, having joined the news team in 2013. He has over a decade of professional writing and editing experience, and helps to lead our technology and entertainment product launch and movie release coverage.