Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 reportedly explodes — here’s what we know

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Appears to be isolated incident

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3
(Image credit: Future)

You may have heard reports that a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 has exploded, which is obviously not a good thing. Especially after the exploding Galaxy Note 7 debacle.

Fortunately, at this stage there doesn't seem much to worry about. The phone in question, owned by Chad Christian, reportedly exploded as he packaged it up to send to Samsung for repair. The phone had apparently suffered damage after falling off his bike.

Christian claimed to be preparing the damaged phone to send back to Samsung, when it started smoking and “blew up." An accompanying video shows the damaged phone smoking quite profusely, though remains largely intact.

This isn’t likely to be a repeat of the Galaxy Note 7, which had a tendency to ‘explode’ and smoke in much the same way. But in that instance it was a very widespread issue, one that led to Samsung redesigning the phone — but to no avail. The company ended up recalling every single note 7 device, at a reported cost of $5 billion.

But Christian himself believes that this is a “one and done” issue. The fact the phone was already damaged would corroborate that, and the whole incident suggests that the damage was not just skin-deep.

It’s an important reminder to always buy a case for your phone, because they are remarkably fragile things. Samsung claims that the Z Fold 3 is the most durable foldable, but it's still susceptible to damage when dropped. 

It doesn’t matter how careful you are; your phone is likely to take a tumble at some point. The very least you can do is wrap it in a case to try and minimize the resulting damage. The last thing you want is for your phone to end up so badly damaged it starts smoking. 

So Z Fold 3 owners should absolutely pick up one of the best Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 cases, to be absolutely sure this won’t happen to them 

Tom Pritchard
Tom Pritchard
UK Phones Editor

Tom is the Tom's Guide's UK Phones Editor, tackling the latest smartphone news and vocally expressing his opinions about upcoming features or changes. It's long way from his days as editor of Gizmodo UK, when pretty much everything was on the table. He’s usually found trying to squeeze another giant Lego set onto the shelf, draining very large cups of coffee, or complaining about how terrible his Smart TV is.