There are more than one way to feel like an Olympic winner and pose with a gold medal, but biting into your smartphone battery is definitely not one of them. A Chinese man learned his lesson the hard way when he wanted to authenticate an iPhone battery before replacing it.
Taiwan News discovered the video posted on Chinese video-sharing site miaopai.com, which was obtained from a store's CCTV camera on January 20, and it shows a man survive a dangerous explosion. It is clear from the video that the blast was triggered when the man decided to bite down on an iPhone battery to test its authenticity or durability.
IBTimes India was unable to independently verify if it was indeed an iPhone battery that exploded due to blunt force.
It's also unclear where the footage was captured, but the video shows characters in Chinese that translate to "professional screen change." Even though the blast happened inches away from the man's face, and within close proximity of others around him, there were no reports of any kind of injury.
But the incident did trigger some funny remarks and a lot of views. Since the time the video was uploaded on China's alternative to Vine, it has crossed 4.96 million views.
"The battery is not gold, why are you biting it?" a Chinese netizen jokingly said.
But that certainly makes a very good point on battery safety measures. Lithium-ion batteries can get unstable when applied brute force. In this case, the man's teeth must've ruptured into battery or applied enough force for it to explode.
Due to the build-up of heat, Li-ion batteries can cause a short circuit when damaged and catch fire. According to the Battery University's safety guidelines, the heat built up inside the battery can lead to thermal runaway in which flaming gases are vented, PCMag reported.
"The temperature can quickly reach 500 degree Celsius (932 degrees Fahrenheit), at which point the cell catches fire or it explodes," Battery University warns.
This incident does leave some questions unanswered. Was the iPhone battery a genuine one? Did the battery explode because it's fake or it got damaged with the teeth force as shown in the video? There's no way of confirming that.
But this isn't the first time iPhone and batteries have made the headlines. Recently, Apple admitted that it throttles iPhone CPUs to avoid random shutdowns of older batteries. To make up for it, the company also offered battery replacements for $29, saving consumers a flat $50.
This incident has taught us that it is best to deal with the official service channels while repairing iPhones or any other phones. And if you have an old battery lying around, it's wise to dispose of it safely.
