Galaxy Note 7 recall gets government treatment as the CPSC piles on

The Consumer Product Safety Commission has finally weighed in on the Galaxy Note 7 debacle, issuing its own statement urging users not just to be careful, as the FAA did, but to “power them down and stop using or charging the device.”

Samsung preemptively recalled the device after reports of spontaneous combustion, which the manufacturer blamed on bad lithium-ion batteries. The company is also offering a trade-in deal, but the CPSC isn’t entirely convinced yet.

The government body is “working quickly to determine whether a replacement Galaxy Note7 is an acceptable remedy for Samsung or their phone carriers to provide to consumers.”

In other words, they may still decide that the problem is of a scale sufficient to issue a complete product recall. This could be the case should the problem causing the fire prove to be in the phone itself, as well as the battery. The CPSC and Samsung are working together on a more official notice with advice on what to do (other than turn it off); until then, stay safe.