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2 weeks ago
9
A Samsung Galaxy Ring wearer has been hospitalised and denied boarding onto a flight after his ring's battery began to swell.
Daniel Rotar, a British tech YouTuber with over 1.63 million subscribers, posted the details of the terrifying ordeal on X.
Mr Rotar anxiously wrote: 'My Samsung Galaxy Ring's battery started swelling. While it's on my finger. And while I'm about to board a flight.
'Now I cannot take it off and this thing hurts. Any quick suggestions?'
The post was accompanied by pictures of the Samsung Galaxy Ring firmly stuck on Mr Rotar's finger, which had begun to turn red due to the pressure.
Sharing a close-up image of the battery, Mr Rotar added: 'You can see the battery expanding. Not great for something that's now stuck to my finger.'
Several hours later, Mr Rotar confirmed that the swollen battery had led to him being denied boarding and required an emergency trip to the hospital to have the ring removed.
He added: 'Won't be wearing a smart ring ever again.'
A British tech influencer, with over 1.63 million subscribers on YouTube, has reportedly been denied boarding on a flight and sent to the hospital after his Samsung Galaxy Ring's battery expanded
On X, the influencer shared pictures of how the Samsung Galaxy Ring had begun to swell and had wedged itself on his finger
Mr Rotar says that he tried to remove the ring at the airport using water and soap as well as hand cream, but had no success.
'If anything, that made it worse and expanded the battery even more,' he said in a reply to one commenter.
Eventually, the ring became so tight that Mr Rotar could not be allowed onto the flight and had to be taken to the hospital 'as an emergency'.
There, Mr Rotar says that doctors used a combination of ice to reduce the swelling and 'some sort of medical lubricant' to get the ring off his finger.
Photos of the newly removed ring show where the battery had ballooned outwards in multiple places, filling the ring's interior area.
Ultimately, the issue caused Mr Rotar to miss his flight, and the tech reviewer was forced to pay for a hotel so he could resume his journey home the next day.
What made this unexpected event particularly frightening is that he has no idea what caused the battery to begin swelling.
Responding to curious commenters, he explained that he had been in Hawaii, where the ring had been exposed to hot weather and salt water.
The swelling battery sparked concern on social media, particularly considering that previous lithium-ion batteries used by Samsung have been known to overheat and catch fire
Mr Rotar later confirmed that he had been denied boarding due to the swelling battery and was sent to the hospital as 'an emergency' to have the ring removed
On social media, commenter shared their sympathy and concern for Mr Rotar's unusual predicament
The user guide does instruct users to dry their ring carefully if it has been exposed to water, but the ring also claims to be water-resistant down to a depth of 100 metres.
While Mr Rotar also notes that he had been on two previous flights earlier that day, there's no reason that this should have triggered the battery to swell.
A Samsung spokesperson told Daily Mail: 'The safety of our customers is our top priority. This is an extremely rare case, and we are in direct contact with Mr. Rotar to retrieve the product and learn about the concerns.'
On X, commenters shared their alarm and sympathies for Mr Rotar's unusual predicament.
One commenter wrote: 'Who would've thought that putting a battery that could expand and explode on a ring would be not such a good idea.'
'You probably should not be getting on a flight with that. You need some ice and a lawyer,' added another.
While one commenter unhelpfully joked: 'Give it a few minutes and it may resolve the issue by catching fire and burning your finger off. Problem solved!'
However, just like for Mr Rotar, many tech fans saw this as a sign to avoid trendy smart rings for the foreseeable future.
After doctors removed the ring using ice and medical lubricant, Mr Rotar showed how the inner battery had ballooned outwards
On X, commenters complained that the incident had put them off buying a smart ring. With one writing that the incident had 'guaranteed' they would never purchase one of the devices
One commenter wrote that the 'scary' event had given them second thoughts about buying a smart ring for Samsung's rival, Oura
One commenter wrote: 'Damn I was gonna get an Oura ring ... Now having second thoughts on it. That is scary.'
Another chimed in: 'Definitely just guaranteed I won't ever be buying a smart ring.'
'I just thought about getting an Oura. Probably not,' another mused.
While another commenter added that Mr Rotar's nightmare scenario had 'just killed their [Samsung's] product line.'
This is not the first time that Samsung has come under fire for battery faults in its products.
In 2017, there were numerous cases in which batteries in the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 overheated or burned phones.
Samsung's investigation found that the phones were catching on fire because of a fault that was built into the lithium-ion batteries.
The debacle led to the recall of millions of devices and shattered consumer confidence in the smartphone maker.
HOW DO LITHIUM ION BATTERIES WORK?
Batteries store and releases energy by moving electrons from one 'end' of the battery to the other.
We can use the energy from those moving electrons to do work for us, like power a drill.
These two battery 'ends' are known as electrodes. One is called the anode and the other is called the cathode.
Generally, the anode is made from carbon and the cathode from a chemical compound known as a metal oxide, like cobalt oxide.
The final battery ingredient is known as the electrolyte, and it sits in between the two electrodes.
In the case of lithium-ion batteries, the electrolyte is a salt solution that contains lithium ions—hence the name.
When you place the battery in a device, the positively charged lithium ions are attracted to and move towards the cathode.
Once it is bombarded with these ions, the cathode becomes more positively charged than the anode, and this attracts negatively charged electrons.
As the electrons start moving toward the cathode, we force them to go through our device and use the energy of the electrons 'flowing' toward the cathode to generate power.
You can think of this like a water wheel, except instead of water flowing, electrons are flowing.
Lithium-ion batteries are especially useful because they are rechargeable.
When the battery is connected to a charger, the lithium ions move in the opposite direction as before.
As they move from the cathode to the anode, the battery is restored for another use.
Lithium ion batteries can also produce a lot more electrical power per unit of weight than other batteries.
This means that lithium-ion batteries can store the same amount of power as other batteries, but accomplish this in a lighter and smaller package.
