My older Samsung smartphones’ batteries are swelling | Buff Tech

A number of months in the past, I used to be rummaging via a drawer in my workplace to seek out some older Samsung gadgets for a photograph I needed to take.

Once I lastly appeared for the Galaxy S4 I used to be in search of, to my shock, the again of the smartphone got here off. The battery was nonetheless contained in the gadget, however the adhesive holding the again had come off. Once I took a better look, it appeared just like the battery swelling really brought about the rear finish to raise.

After looking at a few of my different older Samsung gadgets, together with the S8 and Be aware 5, I seen that each gadgets additionally suffered the identical destiny.

As I usually do, I took to Twitter to post a picture to see if anybody else had run into this downside. To my shock, the issue not solely appears widespread, however anecdotally, it appears to happen extra usually with older Samsung smartphones.

I used to be trying via my previous telephones to discover a BlackBerry and found that my Samsung Galaxy S8, Galaxy S4 and Galaxy Be aware 6 appear to have suffered from some type of battery enlargement problem. I do not assume I’ve ever seen this occur with a smartphone earlier than. pic.twitter.com/Ink2UzYeDf

— Patrick O’Rourke (@Patrick_ORourke) January 4, 2022

Sure, I do know that the Be aware 6 doesn’t exist. Please do not remind me.

Quick-forward a couple of months, and it looks like others within the tech media area are encountering comparable points. For instance, YouTuber Mrwhosetheboss (Arun Rupesh Maini) not too long ago made a video on the topic and MKBHD (Marquez Brownlee) he tweeted about experiencing one thing comparable. Varied publications, together with gadget, Android Police, Trusted Overview, and extra have additionally lined the difficulty. And naturally, the r/spicypillow subreddit has additionally been exploding these days.

To be clear, battery swelling just isn’t a problem that solely impacts Samsung smartphones and even telephones basically. When a smartphone’s lithium battery ages, it has the potential to supply gasoline that may then inflate its cells. That is extra more likely to occur if you have not charged or discharged a battery in a very long time.

Curiously, the issue appears to have an effect on Samsung smartphones greater than these of different manufacturers. For instance, I’ve dozens of equally aged smartphones in my workplace, together with an iPhone 4, iPhone 6 Plus, LG G5, and extra, and so they have not suffered the identical piquant destiny. Alternatively, my most up-to-date Samsung gadgets, together with the S10 and Galaxy Fold 2, are utterly high-quality.

It isn’t clear how widespread this problem is or why it appears to happen extra incessantly with sure Samsung smartphones. There’s a chance that it’s associated to the precise battery supplier that Samsung used when these telephones had been launched, or it could possibly be associated to the age of the gadgets. Nonetheless, it is a noteworthy problem, particularly given the fiasco surrounding Samsung’s ill-fated Galaxy Be aware 7.

Do you will have an older Samsung gadget or smartphone from one other model that has suffered from an expanded battery? Tell us within the feedback under.