A couple of months in the past, I used to be rummaging by means of a drawer in my workplace to seek out some older Samsung gadgets for a photograph I wished to take.

Once I lastly regarded for the Galaxy S6 I used to be in search of, to my shock, the again of the smartphone got here off. The battery was nonetheless contained in the system, however the adhesive holding the again had come off. Once I took a more in-depth look, it appeared just like the battery swelling really induced the rear finish to elevate.

After looking at a few of my different older Samsung gadgets, together with the S8 and Observe 5, I observed that each gadgets additionally suffered the identical destiny.

As I usually do, I took to Twitter to post a picture to see if anybody else had run into this drawback. To my shock, the issue not solely appears widespread, however anecdotally, it appears to happen extra usually with older Samsung smartphones.

I used to be wanting by means of my previous telephones to discover a BlackBerry and found that my Samsung Galaxy S8, Galaxy S4 and Galaxy Observe 6 appear to have suffered from some sort of battery enlargement problem. I do not assume I’ve ever seen this occur with a smartphone earlier than. pic.twitter.com/Ink2UzYeDf

— Patrick O’Rourke (@Patrick_ORourke) January 4, 2022

Sure, I do know that the Observe 6 doesn’t exist and that the cellphone on the suitable is the S5. Don’t remind me that.

Quick-forward a number of months, and it looks as if others within the tech media house are encountering comparable points. For instance, YouTuber Mrwhosetheboss (Arun Rupesh Maini) not too long ago made a video on the topic and MKBHD (Marquez Brownlee) he tweeted about experiencing one thing comparable. Varied publications, together with gadget, Android Police, Trusted Assessment, and extra have additionally coated the problem. And naturally, the r/spicypillow subreddit has additionally been exploding currently.

To be clear, battery swelling shouldn’t be a problem that solely impacts Samsung smartphones and even telephones on the whole. When a smartphone’s lithium battery ages, it has the potential to provide fuel that may then inflate its cells. That is extra prone to occur if you have not charged or discharged a battery in a very long time.

Apparently, the issue appears to have an effect on Samsung smartphones greater than these of different manufacturers. For instance, I’ve dozens of equally aged smartphones in my workplace, together with an iPhone 4, iPhone 6 Plus, LG G5, and extra, they usually have not suffered the identical piquant destiny. However, my most up-to-date Samsung gadgets, together with the S10 and Galaxy Fold 2, are fully high-quality.

It isn’t clear how widespread this problem is or why it appears to happen extra steadily with sure Samsung smartphones. There’s a risk that it’s associated to the precise battery supplier that Samsung used when these telephones have been launched, or it could possibly be associated to the age of the gadgets. Nonetheless, it is a noteworthy problem, particularly given the fiasco surrounding Samsung’s ill-fated Galaxy Observe 7.

Do you might have an older Samsung system or smartphone from one other model that has suffered from an expanded battery? Tell us within the feedback under.

Replace 09/30/2022 15:13: This story has been up to date to replicate that the white smartphone is the Galaxy S6 and never the S4.