Alleged Xiaomi Mi 4c explodes, leaving user injured on the… backside (NSFW)


We’re encountering a fair bit of exploding phones these days. The problem has reached a point where flight carriers are starting to ban specific phone models… and it all looks rather gloomy.

In China, an alleged Xiaomi Mi 4c kept in the user’s back pocket (it never ends well that way…) burst into flames, giving the owner 3rd degree burns on his hips. Have a look at the picture below for a better idea:

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The issue was reported by a news channel in Zhejiang, where the incident was caught on CCTV tape. Unfortunately, we don’t have access to the video yet.

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It is being said that the user could’ve sat on the phone with it still in his back pocket, causing damage to the device. All of this is yet to be confirmed, but the pictures of the injury he seems to have had look rather gruesome.

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A few weeks back, a Xiaomi Mi 4i was seen exploding inside the premises of an office in India. Please guys, be careful how you use your electronics!

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62 Comments

  1. Adam Irvine
    September 12, 2016

    I find it a bit dubious how these Xiaomi phones ‘exploding’ seem to always be in China…

    Considering the amount of people that have them around the world through unofficial re-sellers, why hasn’t there been a case like this in somewhere like America or Europe where the majority who buy one are already weary of a Chinese phone enough to publicize it’s ‘lack’ of build quality?

    • Aa
      September 12, 2016

      Think again. Yes, unofficial resellers sold thousands of Xiaomi phones worldwide, but in China there is millions of Xiaomi phones. China has 1 billion people. And Xiaomi is very popular there. Only minor number of Xiaomi phones are in Europe and Americas.

      • Ionut Johnny
        September 12, 2016

        These “news” are fabricated as hell.
        I can’t see any phone in there, may be something totally different.

        • Adam Irvine
          September 12, 2016

          Ye, this is really where I’m going with it… It’s probably some stupid stunt pulled by a Xiaomi competitor considering how close the Note 2 launch is among other devices and they’re just trying to damage their rep…

          • Muhammad Yasir
            September 12, 2016

            good catch

        • cyril symbio
          September 12, 2016

          I saw the CCTV, and this is really a phone. I couldn’t say it is a Xiaomi or not, I mean an original or not. But the dude genuinely burnt his ass with his phone

      • Adam Irvine
        September 12, 2016

        Hi, whilst I’m not disputing those figures at all, you’re quite right!

        I do think that really does highlight how much of a problem it isn’t then considering how many Samsung Note 7s have blown up in the west recently…

    • Twister12
      September 12, 2016

      There are countries with Samsung Note 7 that have no report of explosion but it does not mean the problem did not exist. If it could happen to a giant like them how much more with Xiaomi?

    • Angry Mobile Nerd
      September 12, 2016

      Chinese love to play the victim card (anyone been in or seen even the smallest fender bender here in China will understand). Because the rest of the world got exploding Note 7’s (and Samsung made it very clear Chinese Note 7’s are not affected) they’ve got to come up with something like this to make themselves look like bigger victims or poorly manufactured batteries.

      • Adam Irvine
        September 12, 2016

        Lol, that’s an Angle I hadn’t considered…

      • Lazar Prodanovic
        September 12, 2016

        Sorry to brake it up to you but look at the end of the article & India is not a part of China.
        Trough is all lithium is digged in China & almost all batteries are maid there. If is a filthy digged tour then their is more chances for something like this.

        • Angry Mobile Nerd
          September 12, 2016

          Did you even read the article or just the last sentence?

          • Lazar Prodanovic
            September 12, 2016

            Wouldn’t call this an article at all.

        • MaxPower
          September 12, 2016

          I don’t know what kind of battery the MI4C uses, but I had to tear apart my old MI4 and the battery was a Samsung one.

          I’m wondering if this is a Samsung problem or what..

          • Lazar Prodanovic
            September 12, 2016

            Well back in the days when Bak manufactured batteries for Samsung they didn’t had those problems so it actually culd be the case. It’s probably that cheap basterd’s tried to spare on packing casing (so that batteries are both cheaper to manufacture & lighter) as you probably know (or me by not) lithium is highly reactive with almost everything including water and air (reaction can be contained & slowed down with pure alcohol) & when the casing is breached you have this as seen here. All do for an explosion you need casing to brick under thermyc or mechanical high pressure, if you drill or cut it reaction will be violent but won’t be exploding. All of this will catch Samsung up now and cost them much more.

            Actuality it is (relatively) simple to conduct the experiment buying a same Samsung “original” battery & let’s say couple of good really quality one’s let’s say Bak & Anker ones, weigh how much they are heavy & than conduct series of endurance tests how much they can suffer physically & thermally to be pressured & afterwards (after cool down) measuring how thick is the outer casing & how is it related to the test results (& test like this will hold the water on court).

            Well I never actually liked nor toth much good about Samsung batteries so I guess I will continue with Bak & Anker ones when ever I can. By the way bravo you actually have a big point hire.

          • Wolvie
            September 13, 2016

            Ah then XIaomi also using samsung battery. Damn shit, i really don’t want to pry open my Xiaomi redmi note 3 pro casing to see what battery that Xiaomi put inside. I hope it is not samsung one.

            And normally i always put my smartphone at my front pant pocket. Damn shit again *ARGH*

    • cyril symbio
      September 12, 2016

      +Adam Irvine (I am a great fan if your music) As said in the article, the previous explosion happened in India… So… And the number of xiaomi users in China can’t be compared of the number of xiaomi users in the rest of the world. No comparison at all. There is here 1.4 billion dudes willing to reach internet by anyway, and Xiaomi propose fair product for a fair price. Therefore Xiaomi and Hongmi spread in China. Maybe, this is your answer, do the math bro

      • Adam Irvine
        September 13, 2016

        My Music? Eh? Anyway, I’m not disputing the figures, I never did, all I’m saying is that it really is a drop in the ocean in the grand scheme of things compared to Samsungs latest f#ck up…

        • cyril symbio
          September 14, 2016

          if your point is that it is a drop in the ocean compare to the Samsung liability, then I agree with you. It wasn’t that clear on the first comment. My bad.

    • cyril symbio
      September 12, 2016

      +Adame Irvine I may have forgotten to mention that the ONLY GALAXY NOTE 7 who aren’t exploding are those sold in China since they use TCL battery, and since only the Samsung batteries were problematic. So…

    • Karly Johnston
      September 13, 2016

      The amount sold through resellers is like 1%.

  2. Muhammad Yasir
    September 12, 2016

    aww .. sheet !

    that’s just painful and gruesome !

    there HAS to be an inquiry for this … we can’t have grenades moulded in PCBs being carried around by people !

  3. Rob
    September 12, 2016

    It’s nice to see there are cheaper ways of giving yourself 3rd degree burns without having to splash out on a galaxy note 7! lol On a serious note though, none of this has been substantiated yet, we need much more info before we can say this was a faulty handset.

  4. Guaire
    September 12, 2016

    Fortunately it wasn’t in his front pocket.

  5. Adam Irvine
    September 12, 2016

    I find it a bit dubious how these Xiaomi phones ‘exploding’ seem to always be in China…

    Considering the amount of people that have them around the world through unofficial re-sellers, why hasn’t there been a case like this in somewhere like America or Europe where the majority who buy one are already weary of a Chinese phone enough to publicize it’s ‘lack’ of build quality?

    • Aa
      September 12, 2016

      Think again. Yes, unofficial resellers sold thousands of Xiaomi phones worldwide, but in China there is millions of Xiaomi phones. China has 1 billion people. And Xiaomi is very popular there. Only minor number of Xiaomi phones are in Europe and Americas.

    • Ionut Johnny
      September 12, 2016

      These “news” are fabricated as hell.
      I can’t see any phone in there, may be something totally different.

    • Twister12
      September 12, 2016

      There are countries with Samsung Note 7 that have no report of explosion but it does not mean the problem did not exist. If it could happen to a giant like them how much more with Xiaomi?

    • Adam Irvine
      September 12, 2016

      Hi, whilst I’m not disputing those figures at all, you’re quite right!

      I do think that really does highlight how much of a problem it isn’t then considering how many Samsung Note 7s have blown up in the west recently…

    • Angry Mobile Nerd
      September 12, 2016

      Chinese love to play the victim card (anyone been in or seen even the smallest fender bender here in China will understand). Because the rest of the world got exploding Note 7’s (and Samsung made it very clear Chinese Note 7’s are not affected) they’ve got to come up with something like this to make themselves look like bigger victims of poorly manufactured batteries.

    • Angry Mobile Nerd
      September 12, 2016

      Chinese love to play the victim card (anyone been in or seen even the smallest fender bender here in China will understand). Because the rest of the world got exploding Note 7’s (and Samsung made it very clear Chinese Note 7’s are not affected) they’ve got to come up with something like this to make themselves look like bigger victims of poorly manufactured batteries.

    • Adam Irvine
      September 12, 2016

      Ye, this is really where I’m going with it… It’s probably some stupid stunt pulled by a Xiaomi competitor considering how close the Note 2 launch is among other devices and they’re just trying to damage their rep…

    • Adam Irvine
      September 12, 2016

      Lol, that’s an Angle I hadn’t considered…

    • Guest
      September 12, 2016

      good catch

    • Lazar Prodanovic
      September 12, 2016

      Sorry to brake it up to you but look at the end of the article & India is not a part of China.
      Truth is all lithium is digged in China & almost all batteries are maid there. If is a filthy digged tour then their is more chances for something like this.

    • Angry Mobile Nerd
      September 12, 2016

      Did you even read the article or just the last sentence?

    • MaxPower
      September 12, 2016

      I don’t know what kind of battery the MI4C uses, but I had to tear apart my old MI4 and the battery was a Samsung one.

      I’m wondering if this is a Samsung problem or what..

    • Lazar Prodanovic
      September 12, 2016

      Well back in the days when Bak manufactured batteries for Samsung they didn’t had those problems so it actually culd be the case. It’s probably that cheap basterd’s tried to spare on packing casing (so that batteries are both cheaper to manufacture & lighter) as you probably know (or me by not) lithium is highly reactive with almost everything including water and air (reaction can be contained & slowed down with pure alcohol) & when the casing is breached you have this as seen here. All do for an explosion you need casing to brick under thermyc or mechanical high pressure, if you drill or cut it reaction will be violent but won’t be exploding. All of this will catch Samsung up now and cost them much more.

      Actuality it is (relatively) simple to conduct the experiment buying a same Samsung “original” battery & let’s say couple of good really quality “replacement” same capacity one’s let’s say Bak & Anker ones, weigh how much they are heavy & than conduct series of endurance tests how much they can suffer physically & thermally to be pressured & afterwards (after cool down) measuring how thick is the outer casing & how is it related to the test results (& test like this will hold the water on court).

      Well I never actually liked nor toth much good about Samsung batteries so I guess I will continue with Bak & Anker ones when ever I can. By the way bravo you actually have a big point hire.

    • Lazar Prodanovic
      September 12, 2016

      Wouldn’t call this an article at all.

    • cyril symbio
      September 13, 2016

      +Adam Irvine (I am a great fan if your music) As said in the article, the previous explosion happened in India… So… And the number of xiaomi users in China can’t be compared of the number of xiaomi users in the rest of the world. No comparison at all. There is here 1.4 billion dudes willing to reach internet by anyway, and Xiaomi propose fair product for a fair price. Therefore Xiaomi and Hongmi spread in China. Maybe, this is your answer, do the math bro

    • cyril symbio
      September 13, 2016

      +Adame Irvine I may have forgotten to mention that the ONLY GALAXY NOTE 7 who aren’t exploding are those sold in China since they use TCL battery, and since only the Samsung batteries were problematic. So…

    • cyril symbio
      September 13, 2016

      I saw the CCTV, and this is really a phone. I couldn’t say it is a Xiaomi or not, I mean an original or not. But the dude genuinely burnt his ass with his phone

    • cyril symbio
      September 13, 2016

      I saw the CCTV, and this is really a phone. I couldn’t say it is a Xiaomi or not, I mean an original or not. But the dude genuinely burnt his ass with his phone

    • Guest
      September 13, 2016

      Ah then XIaomi also using samsung battery. Damn shit, i really don’t want to pry open my Xiaomi redmi note 3 pro casing to see what battery that Xiaomi put inside. I hope it is not samsung one.

      And normally i always put my smartphone at my front pant pocket. Damn shit again *ARGH*

    • Adam Irvine
      September 13, 2016

      My Music? Eh? Anyway, I’m not disputing the figures, I never did, all I’m saying is that it really is a drop in the ocean in the grand scheme of things compared to Samsungs latest f#ck up…

    • Karly Johnston
      September 13, 2016

      The amount sold through resellers is like 1%.

    • cyril symbio
      September 14, 2016

      if your point is that it is a drop in the ocean compare to the Samsung liability, then I agree with you. It wasn’t that clear on the first comment. My bad.

  6. jony_overlord
    September 12, 2016

    This is very wierd, i own an MI3, MI4C and MI5 and never have/ had any problems with soft/battery (im from Romania), dunno what to beleive.

    • Raul
      September 12, 2016

      How do you like Mi5 so far? (Salutare :))

      • jony_overlord
        September 12, 2016

        am varianta de top, cea cu spatele de ceramica, merge brici, am lasat rom-ul default chinezesc, nu am instalat cel global, acum cu miui 8 merge mai bine si i-a inbunatatit bateria

    • Karly Johnston
      September 13, 2016

      I own the Mi 3 and Mi4c and they both have swollen batteries so you can believe it. Xiaomi uses cheap shyte batteries.

  7. Guest
    September 12, 2016

    aww .. sheet !

    that’s just painful and gruesome !

    there HAS to be an inquiry for this … we can’t have grenades moulded in PCBs being carried around by people !

  8. Rob
    September 12, 2016

    It’s nice to see there are cheaper ways of giving yourself 3rd degree burns without having to splash out on a galaxy note 7! lol On a serious note though, none of this has been substantiated yet, we need much more info before we can say this was a faulty handset.

  9. Guaire
    September 12, 2016

    Fortunately it wasn’t in his front pocket.

  10. jony_overlord
    September 12, 2016

    This is very wierd, i own an MI3, MI4C and MI5 and never have/ had any problems with soft/battery (im from Romania), dunno what to beleive.

    • Raul
      September 12, 2016

      How do you like Mi5 so far? (Salutare :))

    • jony_overlord
      September 12, 2016

      am varianta de top, cea cu spatele de ceramica, merge brici, am lasat rom-ul default chinezesc, nu am instalat cel global, acum cu miui 8 merge mai bine si i-a inbunatatit bateria

    • Karly Johnston
      September 13, 2016

      I own the Mi 3 and Mi4c and they both have swollen batteries so you can believe it. Xiaomi uses cheap shyte batteries.

  11. Markoff
    September 13, 2016

    not big fan of Xiaomi but there are tons of fakes flying around China, would not be surprised if it would be fake and not actual Xiaomi product or at least refurbished with unoriginal battery

  12. Ray Bel
    September 13, 2016

    3 options:

    A – Fake with bad materials
    B – Production problem with the batteries
    C – User induced error

    My 2 cents on user induced error.

    The big problem is ANY/EVERY current generation Lion Battery is not made for bending. Bending causes mechanical failures resulting in defective/leaking/exploding batteries.

    And since phone tend to become ‘more flexible’ and people put it in there back pocket – sit on it – see it bend and straighten it…and do this again and again…this can happen.

    Wise lesson: When you put your phone in your pocket – keep the screen part toward your body – At least you’re a bit protected…

  13. Markoff
    September 13, 2016

    not big fan of Xiaomi but there are tons of fakes flying around China, would not be surprised if it would be fake and not actual Xiaomi product or at least refurbished with unoriginal battery

  14. Ray Bel
    September 13, 2016

    3 options:

    A – Fake with bad materials
    B – Production problem with the batteries
    C – User induced error

    My 2 cents on user induced error.

    The big problem is ANY/EVERY current generation Lion Battery is not made for bending. Bending causes mechanical failures resulting in defective/leaking/exploding batteries.

    And since phone tend to become ‘more flexible’ and people put it in there back pocket – sit on it – see it bend and straighten it…and do this again and again…this can happen.

    Wise lesson: When you put your phone in your pocket – keep the screen part toward your body – At least you’re a bit protected…