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We’re always approaching these weird rebel phone stories with a degree of caution. Some people like to claim that their phones suddenly grew the super hero-like abilities to explode and go up in flames without any fault of their own. Some phones can suffer a spontaneous combustion, though, and without proper proof either way we tend to post these stories to sit and marvel more than anything else.
The latest episode was brought to us by Cellect Repair, a repair service who obviously has a great deal of interest in stories like these. According to the user who submitted the photo of the DROID RAZR you see above, the phone was plugged into a wall outlet (using the OEM-provided charging cable and adapter) for a routine charging session, but things got not-so-routine when an odd odor began to form from the room.
Shocked to find out it was the DROID RAZR, the user was even more shocked that the damaged display continued to work normally despite a good chunk of it being melted off. Typical cases of “broken glass” don’t affect the digitizer and LCD panel, but this burn was thorough enough to melt all those layers and, in theory, should have rendered the display completely inoperable. Take that for what you will.
According to Cellect, the user brought the device to a Verizon store where the carrier executed a replacement process that was unlike its normal steps for investigation or repair. This would suggest that Verizon has internal knowledge of a possible issue with a very small amount of DROID RAZR units, but that can’t be confirmed. Cellects suspects the source of the burn could have been either the WiFi radio or the VCO, but couldn’t confirm the exact position and origin of the burn without more photos of the wreckage.
What do you think? Did this particular DROID RAZR have its soul burned due to causes unknown or is the user just pulling a fast one on Verizon to get themselves a free phone? Take a look at the photo above.
I had a friend who’s RAZR exploded and lit his back pocket on fire.
It’s a bit hard to believe that the display works perfectly around the burn.
And only one picture doesn’t help the story.
I can’t believe the phone works if it got hot enough to burn the screen. I would think that the damage would include some internal components, and render it inoperable. Just at a glance, to me it looks like a torch burning one spot. But I’m not an expert, so it’s really just a guess…
They still have cell signal and connected bluetooth lol.
Haha, Motorola should use this in their next big handset’s marketing. “You can burn our phones, but they just keep working!”
Maybe the guy microwaved his phone…
Microwave would have made the phone inoperable.
Not all the time.. I recall a similar news article that Phandroid did a while back about a phone (I think it was a Samsung?) that caught on fire… The user dropped it in water, then microwaved it to make it work.. It worked for a while, before burning in flames in that dude’s car
Microwaving a phone also produces monsters :p
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chOfSxh9Yq4
HOLY CRAP! That is terrifying!
What the what!?
I should try this on my old Sony Ericsson K550i (yes i know it’s fake) :P
I can confirm that this has happened to at least one other RAZR, though I’m not sure which variant it was. Someone I follow on Twitter was in a Verizon store when it suddenly went up in flames.
Photos: http://i.imgur.com/J0lim.jpg http://i.imgur.com/YV9KZ.jpg
Holy sh-t. Well, better there than anywhere else. Just try and deny the guy his warranty, Verizon. I dare you.
That’s nothing…I heard the new Xphone will completely vanish after combustion! ;-p
Looks like someone laid a cigar on it. I don’t believe these stories because a lot of people are sue happy. They would rather sue people then get a real job. But that’s my opinion.
Don’t hate the playah, hate the game. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go find a supermarket to go slip and fall down in, or a broken city sidewalk curb to sprang my ankle on… kaching! j/k
Lol, Hey remember who gave you the idea when you become rich.
And it would’ve burnt from the bottom up not the top down. It’s not even burnt through.
This just proves Moto has some good build quality. Even when its phone blows up, it still works.