What just happened? Xiaomi might have ambitions to imitate the world's biggest smartphone manufacturer, Samsung, though exploding phones à la the Galaxy Note 7 probably wasn't part of the plan. Several of the Chinese company's handsets have reportedly gone up in flames in recent months, but at least one owner is getting a replacement---and it's an upgrade, too, but only after the incident received media attention.

Notebookcheck writes that following reports of a Poco X3 and a Redmi Note 9 Pro spontaneously combusting a few months ago, last week saw a Poco C3 and a Redmi 8 suffer the same fate. In the case of the former, it exploded in the owner's pocket, apparently causing burns to their leg.

The Redmi 8 explosion, meanwhile, is alleged to have "heavily injured" the owner's four-year-old niece. Interestingly, Redmi brand-owner Xiaomi placed the blame firmly on the owner. A company customer service employee said it would only repair the phone if the victim paid 50% of its value.

But it appears the publicity surrounding the incident has prompted Xiaomi to change its stance. Owner @AkkyAbhi (via @yabhishekhd) tweeted that the Redmi 8 in question has been replaced with an upgraded Redmi 9. No word on the injured girl, and we still don't know what happened with Poco C3 explosion.

In addition to the Note 7 that was recalled and discontinued in 2016 due to its tendency to explode, we have seen numerous reports of phones catching fire for seemingly no reason. Those times when it's not the owners' fault, explosions are almost always related to battery issues and often happen while a device is charging.