It’s Not Over Yet…a Replacement Samsung Galaxy Note 7 Started Smoking on a Southwest Flight

As many of your probably know, Samsung has been in the doghouse for making a phone that might just spontaneously combust. Since I fly almost every week I’ve been reminded of this fact every time I’m on a plane since it’s now part of FAA protocol to tell passengers to turn off their Samsung Galaxy Note 7 before take-off.

(Image source – The Verge)

Well Samsung has been doing their best to get replacement Galaxy Note 7’s out to people, this time the kind that don’t randomly catch on fire. So far so good…until one of the replacement phones caught on fire on a Southwest flight this morning.

“Southwest Airlines flight 994 from Louisville to Baltimore was evacuated this morning while still at the gate because of a smoking Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphone. All passengers and crew exited the plane via the main cabin door and no injuries were reported, a Southwest Airlines spokesperson told The Verge.

More worrisome is the fact that the phone in question was a replacement Galaxy Note 7, one that was deemed to be safe by Samsung. The Verge spoke to Brian Green, owner of the Note 7, on the phone earlier today and he confirmed that he had picked up the new phone at an AT&T store on September 21st. A photograph of the box shows the black square symbol that indicates a replacement Note 7 and Green said it had a green battery icon.”

(Source – The Verge)

I currently have a Galaxy S7 that I use with my GearVR headset and lately I’ve been a bit concerned about using it. If the Galaxy S7’s closest cousin is catching on fire, and I’m putting this one right in front of my face, how safe is it to use a GearVR, let’s think about it?

I’ve always been a bit skeptical about the idea of strapping a cellphone to your face, for those who have used a GearVR you’ll notice that the phone gets incredibly hot after about 20 minutes of use. For now I think I’ll take a break from the Gear and stick to the Oculus Rift that doesn’t have a cellphone strapped in an inch from my eyes.

There’s no doubt Samsung is going to lose a lot of customers to this…looks like Google was just in time with their Pixel phone and Daydream VR headset.