Redmi phone explodes during regular use, Xiaomi blames owner

The incident, which involves a Redmi Note 13 Pro 5G (curr. $319.99 on Amazon), happened at a point it was least expected; the phone was neither connected to a power source nor overheating. Though he didn't state exactly what application(s) the phone was running at the time, he did say it was under “normal use.”

Per the post, the friend — who wasn't named — was just using the phone and noticed it was smoking. He panicked and flung the phone, and it exploded almost immediately. To salvage the situation, he and his friend went to a Xiaomi service center to initiate a warranty claim. The service provider denied the claim, citing “physical damage,” even though the affected party claimed he had nothing to do with it.

We’ve trusted this brand for years, and this is how they treat customers? If anyone has faced similar issues or knows how we can escalate this (legal, social media, consumer court), please let me know. We’re not letting this slide. — Sri Varshan.

Fellow Redditors advised him to share his story on social media platforms and tag Xiaomi, believing enough pressure would make them compensate for the damage. Sri agreed to do that and also to contact Xiaomi via email to warn them of the 'assault'.

Sri described the fiasco as “beyond frustrating,” saying phones are not supposed to just go 'ka-boom.' He shared four photos of the device post-explosion — showing significant damage to the phone. The upper third of the phone took relatively less damage, which points to a rather obvious culprit — the battery.

While the exact cause of the accident is not certain right now, a close look at the photos shared reveals a rubber band wrapped around the upper third of the device. The rubber band is scorched, indicating it was there at the time the incident took place. This points to potential physical damage prior to the explosion.

Back in 2021, we reported a similar incident involving a Poco M3 — marking five separate incidents involving Xiaomi-affiliated phones in a single year: Poco X3, Poco C3, Redmi 8, Redmi Note 9 Pro, and Poco M3.