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Nokia batteries not safe either – Belgian watchdog

Oops! It blew up again

The name Nokia seems to be synonymous with exploding phones these days. Last week another woman was sent to hospital with light injuries after the battery of her Nokia mobile phone exploded.

There have been more 20 such incidents in the last year, according to Nokia. But the batteries in all exploding phones were non-original replacements made by unauthorised third-parties, the company says.

But now the Belgian consumer watchdog Test-Aankoop claims that some Nokia batteries (in particular the Nokia BML-3, BMC-3 and BLC-2) are also unprotected against short-circuiting.

The BML-3 was sold for the now-defunct Nokia 3210, the BMC 3 is still available for the Nokia 3310 and 3330 models; the BLC-2 is the default battery for the 3510, 3510i, 5510, 6650 and 6800 models. Test Aankoop has examined all these batteries and says Nokia needs to replace them at no extra cost.

But Nokia says these claims are "false". All Nokia batteries are designed and manufactured adhering to stringent safety and quality measures, including short circuit protection, Nokia said in a statement notably short of detail. According to the company, all its batteries adhere to "very strict requirements regarding the materials and insulation used, in addition to continuous production control and intensive product testing’ and Nokia and its suppliers invest a great deal in research and development to "constantly safeguard and improve the quality and safety in all Nokia products."

The Finnish phone maker says it will continue to offer its full cooperation to authorities in taking legal measures against companies that sell non-original mobile phone enhancements that "do not adhere to the stringent safety and quality measures". ®

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