Battery flaws found to be responsible for Galaxy Note 7 explosions

Samsung Galaxy Note 7’s burning batteries weren’t just about one particular model’s debacle for the company. It was rather a huge dent in the stature of one of the largest mobile manufacturer globally and an official explanation behind the cause of explosions was long due from the Korean tech giant.

So after months of wait and speculation, Samsung has finally revealed the results of its internal investigation blaming two distinct battery flaws that led to Note 7 catching fire.

According to the testing report, the incidents were caused by the battery cells. The first flaw had to do with how the Note 7's original batteries were manufactured: their casings were too small to safely fit the electrode assembly inside, which lead to short-circuiting.

Samsung mobile chief DJ Koh told that “the main cause of the incident was deflections in the negative electrode” in the first batch of batteries, while melted copper was found in the second batch, due to a short circuit that occurred during welding.

Apparently, it was the haste to replace original batteries with new safer ones that introduced the second production flaw. Welding defects inside the batteries made those supposedly safe replacements prone to short-circuiting and bursting into flames as well.

According to the company, it employed more than 700 testers internally. A number of external testers were also brought on board, as part of a Battery Advisory Group.

After apologizing for the company’s failure, Koh added that researchers worked to rule out wired and wireless charging, the phone's USB Type-C port and the iris-scanning feature as potential causes. He also said that product safety and quality will always be his company’s  number one priority. The company will add new training procedures and employ additional testers on future phones, along with an “eight-point battery safety check” on phones that includes a simulated two weeks of continuous phone usage in various scenarios.