New reports suggest a most likely reason for the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 explosions. Claims of its battery being the culprit might just be one of the factors that added to its downfall. Sources believe the phone's internal design apparently added fuel to the fire.
Another company called Instrumental, conducted their own investigation into the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 failure. The company specializes in engineering services and tools according to GSMArena. They took the phone apart to check the other possible reasons for the unit to catch on fire. The company postulates that if the problem was indeed the battery, Samsung could have just continued with the recall and replaced the batteries. Their decision to stop sales and distribution for good could have a more serious underlying reason.
The investigation speculates that Samsung's engineers failed to leave enough space for the battery to expand. They posted a photo on their blog detailing the tight space surrounding the Samsung Galaxy Note 7's battery. The company claims that even through normal usage, the battery swells up due to the chemical reaction inside its lithium-ion battery. Electronic devices with rechargeable batteries ideally create an allowance space for the battery expansion.
Instrumental also points out, that the engineers who worked on the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 could have been under pressure to outshine its previous model. The Korean company took a risk balancing a slimmer water-resistant design with a longer battery life. Instrumental speculates that the Samsung engineers might have decided to take their chances with a tight-fitting high-capacity battery, compared to a safely-fitted lower-capacity battery. It is now apparent that the latter choice could have saved the company from a sizeable loss.
Gamenguide previously reported that Samsung is yet to officially announce their investigation results by the end of the year. Consumers are still wondering what could have caused such a high-end device to burn up. A footnote on Instrumental's blog states that a battery engineer will advise designers to "leave some percentage of ceiling above the battery." They say that "10% is a rough rule-of-thumb," after some time battery expands to fill up that space.