How and why smartphones explode

Whether eating, walking, watching TV or even going to the toilet, people carry their smartphones everywhere. While sleeping, we usually keep our phones under our pillows. Mobile gadgets have become a 24-hour habit, almost an extension of our bodies. But this habit can be risky.

MD Talk YT, a youtuber, recently tweeted about one such incident in his family. “When my aunt was sleeping, she was holding her phone on the pillow near her face. Suddenly her Xiaomi Redmi 6A phone exploded. It’s a bad time for us,” the blogger wrote in a microblog.

Why smartphones explode

An overheated battery is the main cause of a smartphone exploding. While charging, the load on the mobile phone increases. If the user makes calls, plays games or accesses social networks, the load will increase twice as fast and the battery will overheat.

This can multiply the risk of the mobile gadget exploding. Phones of good quality and decent build are less likely to explode because their batteries don’t overheat as much. However, that doesn’t mean they’re out of the risk zone.

How mobile batteries explode

The radiation around the mobile phone remains high during charging. This causes the battery to heat up considerably. Talking while charging the phone makes it even more risky as the heat level rises. Talking contributes to overheating and subsequent explosion.

Another reason is dead cells in an overloaded battery, which causes the chemistry inside the phone to change, which in turn causes the device to explode. There is also another reason for such an outcome.

How a mobile explodes due to a short circuit

There are many types of layers in a mobile battery. In many cases, these layers are disrupted or if there is a gap between them, causing the battery to swell. This causes the battery to explode due to a short circuit.

If the gadget expands in the battery area, take it to a service centre for battery replacement or buy a new device altogether. In any case, using such a smartphone is not recommended.

Why the processor makes the mobile phone explode

Most mobile phones have high performance processors that tend to get hot. The processor is near the battery, it gets hot when the phone is heavily loaded. It also heats up the battery itself, after which the possibility of the mobile phone exploding increases.

Some smartphone manufacturers install heat sinks on high-performance processors. Such a component draws the heat generated by the processor away from the battery and quickly cools the mobile device.

What precautions should be taken

Apart from the battery, short circuit and processor, hardware problems can also cause the gadget to explode. Therefore, if any fault is detected in it, fix it immediately. If the battery is blown, replace it immediately. Dropping or breaking your smartphone may cause the battery to leak, causing it to bloat and potentially ignite.

Do not use a duplicate battery or charger. Install any new security updates for mobile devices as soon as they become available. In the case of the youtuber’s aunt, a woman was sleeping next to her phone, which then unexpectedly exploded. Sleeping next to a smartphone is unhealthy. By the way, it can also cause brain damage.