Samsung recalls 1 million ‘exploding’ phones, users to get replacement or refund

U.S. federal consumer safety regulators and Samsung have recalled 1 million Galaxy Note 7 smartphones.

The mass recall comes in the wake of several reported explosions of batteries of the Note 7 while being charged.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission on Thursday told customers to “immediately stop using and power down” the device.

Samsung has received about 92 reports of batteries overheating in the U.S. alone, according to the CPSC.

Consequently, Samsung on September 2 announced that it would stop selling Galaxy Note 7s and also urged customers to turn off the phone and contact their carrier to get a free replacement.

“With battery cell defects in some of our Note 7 phones, we did not meet the standard of excellence that you expect and deserve. For that, we apologize, especially to those of you who were personally affected by this”, said Tim Baxter, president of Samsung Electronics America.

“To those of you who love the Note — the most loyal customers in our Samsung family — we appreciate your passion and your patience. We will work every day to earn back your trust through a series of unprecedented actions”, he added.

Meanwhile, airline passengers were advised to turn off the phones when flying due to the safety risk.

In South Korea, Samsung has promised to launch a new “battery-problem-free” Note 7 phones on Monday.

Thus far, the company has sold 2.5 million of the devices worldwide since launching them in August 2015.