Microsoft released the Xbox Series X in November 2020 and the console hasn’t had many major heat-up concerns in the months that it has been out for. However, while some consumers have complained that the console does tend to overheat and shut down, one Reddit user claimed that their Xbox Series X console literally exploded.
A recent post made by u/MyBlueberryTits in r/gaming on Reddit shows a picture of a completely burned down Xbox Series X with the caption “My Xbox series x exploded almost killing my cat and burning down part of my house”. The post has now been removed by moderators but not before it sparked some debate!
This isn’t the first time consumers have accused the Xbox Series X consoles of exploding either. A few days after the consoles were released, videos of fumes coming out of the ventilation holes at the top of the console started circulating all over social media. However, it was later revealed that those videos were faked.
CANSADO de las FAKE NEWS.
Os dejo un video MIO explicando porque es Fake lo de la consola "Quemada" y como han logrado este efecto incluso estando la consola "APAGADA" pic.twitter.com/LfXzIBSu6N
— Xbox Studio (@XboxStudio) November 11, 2020
So, it seems counterintuitive to think that this post is any more authentic than those videos. Firstly, the exterior of the console seems more like it burned down rather than exploded. Secondly, the power supply of the Xbox Series X is rated between 140W to 160W, with rare spikes to 170W. It seems unlikely for such a small power supply to cause such a massive explosion.
Now, we’re not certain about the credibility of this claim. Based on the replies under the post, many people are sceptical of the post. If anything, this could be a result of a short circuit, which caused a fire inside the console. However, it’s questionable for a console to just explode like this!
Soon after, we reached out to the person that made the claims about the Xbox Series X explosion to ask them about some more details. Giovanni told us that he had heard a “loud bang in the other room” and upon checking, found that his Xbox Series X was on fire. “My cat was also trying to get out from behind the TV, where all this was happening,” he said. “It was really hot and there was a lot of black smoke that tasted like battery acid.”
Since then, Giovanni has deleted his Reddit account after being harassed by people accusing him of insurance fraud upon posting the pictures of the burnt console. Giovanni was also considerate enough to send us some more pictures of the burnt Xbox Series X console for further inspection.
When asked what the cause of the console suddenly catching fire could be, he replied, “Not really sure! I don’t know much about investigating fires. Maybe a short circuit. I don’t think it was a power surge because it was plugged into a surge protector. The fire spread really fast but I’m not sure what that points to.”
Based on our examination of the situation, we believe that the console ended up like this due to a short circuit, as it’s unlikely for it to have “exploded” out of nowhere. We also don’t think this is a manufacturing defect but rather more of a consumer issue. We haven’t seen an Xbox Series X (or any console, for that matter) catch fire this badly, so this is certainly something uncommon.
What do you think about this? Do tell us your opinions in the comments below!
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