While companies like Apple use third-party companies to test its phone batteries, a new report reveals that Samsung tested the exploding Galaxy Note 7 battery in-house.
The Wall Street Journal reports
To sell smartphones at major U.S. carriers, phone makers are required to test phone batteries at one of the 28 labs certified by the U.S. wireless industry’s trade group, the CTIA, to ensure compliance with standards set by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
Samsung is the only such manufacturer using in-house battery-testing facilities for CTIA certification, according to the association.
A Samsung spokesman asserts that the company found no issues with the Galaxy Note 7’s battery when it conducted its own internal testing. Samsung recalled the Galaxy Note 7 earlier this fall, after many reports of the phone’s battery exploding, including, in one instance, in the hands of a six-year-old boy.
Samsung’s lab was CTIA-certified, a requirement for all phone manufacturers in the United States. The lab conducting the battery tests looks to make sure the battery works properly while making phone calls and charging, scenarios when the battery is most likely to overheat.
Apple tests its battery at a third-party CTIA-certified lab. Interestingly enough, both Motorola and Microsoft’s Nokia have also operated their own labs (with CTIA certification), but those labs are allegedly in the process of closing.
A Samsung spokesman told the WSJ that “it is ‘working around the clock’ to identify causes for why some Note 7 devices caught fire and that it was ‘premature’ to speculate on investigation outcomes.”
While Samsung is working on figuring out the cause of the exploding Note 7, you should exchange yours if you haven’t already.