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It wasn’t that long ago that Samsung received numerous reports of the batteries exploding inside its Samsung Galaxy Note 7. They recalled the phone to fix the problem, and have assured customers that their newer phones are much safer.

According to a recent lawsuit, however, Samsung’s problems aren’t over. A New York woman claims that her Samsung Galaxy Note 9 caught fire in her purse. She wants the company to stop selling the product and also seeks to recover damages.

NY Woman Says Galaxy Note 9 Caught Fire

Samsung just released the Galaxy Note 9 on August 24, 2018. The device has a specialized “S-pen” as well as an “intelligent” camera and also has a 4,000 mAh battery. “The battery in the Galaxy Note 9 is safer than ever,” Samsung Electronics President Koh Dong-jin said. “Users do not have to worry about the batteries anymore.”

That wasn’t the New York real estate agent’s experience, however. According to the New York Post, the woman was in the elevator when the phone became extremely hot. She stopped using it and put it in her purse. Then she heard “a whistling and screeching sound, and she noticed thick smoke” coming out of her purse, according to her complaint.

She put the purse on the floor and tried to empty it, but when she grabbed the Samsung phone, it burned her fingers. She was still in the elevator, and feeling “extremely panicked.” She dropped the phone and started pushing the buttons on the elevator, but it was hard to see because there was so much smoke.

Finally, she reached the lobby and kicked the phone out. It was still burning and smoking. It wasn’t until another person grabbed it with a cloth and dunked it into a bucket of water that it stopped. Everything in the purse was ruined.

So far, Samsung says it has not received any other reports of fires associated with the Galaxy Note 9.

Will the Galaxy Note 9 Follow in the Footsteps of the Galaxy Note 7?

Back when Samsung was struggling with the batteries in its Galaxy Note 7, they investigated the issue and reported two major problems occurring at their manufacturing facilities:

  1. the battery casing was too small,
  2. and there was an “abnormal weld spot” that led to an internal short circuit.

The company then announced new measures to improve quality assurance on the batteries and also formed a battery safety advisory group to help make sure that future products didn’t suffer from the same problems. One of the new measures implemented was an “8-Point Battery Safety Check.”

The woman in this case wants the company to stop selling the product. Samsung stated that they were conducting their own investigation into the incident.

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