Redmi Note 4 explosion video at a Bengaluru store is fake, says Xiaomi

Xiaomi that usually hits headlines for its value for money products and flash sale records, was in news for all the wrong reasons yesterday.

The news was about the company's best-selling Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 exploding in a local shop in Bengaluru. A resident named Arjun had taken the device to a local store and it supposedly exploded when the shopkeeper tried inserting a SIM into the serviced device. It should be noted that the device was not being serviced at an authorised store. 

While Xiaomi acknowledged the problem and a replacement was given to the customer, a video by PhoneRadar that was being circulated showing the blast went viral. Now, the problem is the video is not related to the incident. 

Xiaomi India has investigated the issue and termed that video completely unrelated to the incident that took place in Bengaluru. In fact there are several iterations of the same video being circulated in the form of OPPO device blast and also iPhone 7 blast. Xiaomi said that the video comes from a random WhatsApp group, and the device isn't Redmi Note 4 or any other Xiaomi device. Arjun has confirmed that neither he nor his relatives are in the video, and the date on the video also doesn't match the day he bought the product or the day it was damaged. 

This was the video showing the Redmi Note 4 blast:

 

The same video circulating as an OPPO phone explosion.

Here's Xiaomi India's complete response:

At Xiaomi, customer safety is of utmost importance to us.
 
Recently, a video has been shared across a few news publications claiming that a Redmi Note 4 unit experienced an explosive scenario. We would like to state that this video has no relation to Redmi Note 4 or any other Xiaomi device.
 
After an internal investigation, we found that the only recent incident of a burnt Redmi Note 4 stemmed from a Bangalore based customer – Arjun. He had purchased a Redmi Note 4 from a Poorvika store in Bangalore on 1st June 2017. His phone was damaged at his home on 17th July 2017, following which he took the phone to the aforementioned Poorvika store on the same day.
 
As soon as we were alerted to this incident, we took the device back. After a thorough technical investigation, we found out that the damage was caused due to a faulty third-party charger used by the customer. In addition, there were signs of physical damage on the phone as well.
 
Despite the customer-induced damage, we worked with the Poorvika store where the unit was bought, and replaced the customer's damaged unit with a brand new Redmi Note 4 on Monday, 24th July 2017. We advise our customers to only use Xiaomi authorised chargers and accessories.
 
 

Regarding the video being circulated, we would like to clarify the following points:
(1) The video was attained from a random WhatsApp group, and has nothing to do with this recent Redmi Note 4 case.
(2) In fact, the phone in the video is not a Redmi Note 4 or any other Xiaomi phone.
(3) The video is not from the aforementioned Poorvika store, or any other Poorvika store. On further investigation, we found that the CCTV video was from a retailer in Anamangad, Kerala. Xiaomi India only started selling devices at 3G and Fone 4 stores a few weeks ago in Kerala. 
(4) The CCTV video was recorded on a different date, not 1st June (when Arjun bought the phone) or 17th July (when his phone got damaged).
(5) The customer in the video is not Arjun. He has confirmed to Xiaomi that the people in the video does not include or represent him or any of his relatives.

 
It is unfortunate that a member of the technology blogging fraternity used a video of an unrelated incident attained from a WhatsApp group, and merged it with the above-mentioned case involving Arjun, without doing any investigation. We find this behaviour very irresponsible and disturbing. We are currently evaluating legal action against this publication.
 
To all our Mi Fans, we would like to re-emphasise that safety is of utmost importance to us! All of our devices go through stringent quality tests to ensure that you get the best quality. We will once again encourage everyone to only use Xiaomi authorised chargers and accessories.