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Samsung Galaxy S3 Users Report “Sudden Death” Issue

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A host of Samsung Galaxy S3 owners are reporting a “Sudden Death” issue wherein the device, after either charging it or turning off the screen, just suddenly dies and does not turn back on.

Read: Galaxy S3 Android 4.1.2 Update Rolls Out to More Non-U.S. Users.

In a lengthy post over at XDA-Developers forum, and many other forums it seems, Galaxy S3 owners from several different regions around the globe are complaining about their Galaxy S3’s abruptly dying for no apparent reason. According to many of the owners, after leaving the phone on the charger over night or simply by just turning off the display, the popular smartphone abruptly died.

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Galaxy S3 owners around the world are complaining about a “Sudden Death” issue.

Many owners are saying that their Galaxy S3 died around the six month mark after having bought it though at this point, it’s unclear exactly what is causing the issues that these users are seeing. There are an assortment of theories right now as to why the issue is happening to the Galaxy S3 and they include bad motherboards, the stock battery and the fact that many users who have experienced the issue have tweaked their software.

The first theory is still a possibility as owners who sent in their broken device under warranty and got their motherboard replaced are reporting that their phone is now working properly once again. The second theory, in regards to the stock battery, seems possible but is as of yet unproven and third, at the least at the moment, seems a bit less probable given that owners of the Galaxy S3 who haven’t tweaked their device have also seen this “Sudden Death” issue occur as well.

Read: Nexus 4, Galaxy S3, Galaxy Note 2 Headline T-Mobile Holiday Sales.

Also unclear is just how widespread this issue is. It appears that it’s affecting device owners in places all over the world including UK, Sweden and Brazil just to name a few. However, given that Samsung has sold over 30 million units, from the looks of things, it’s likely that it’s only a fraction of users that are experiencing this issue.

Those that have experienced the “Sudden Death” issue have also gone in depth about the hassle of getting it fixed. Several owners have had to deal with call centers, uninformed customer service representatives, and extremely long repair times, some waiting for as long as a month before the phone was returned.

So at this point, it doesn’t appear as though Samsung is suffering from an epidemic of faulty Galaxy S3 devices but it does appear that it has happened enough times to cause a bit of a stir in the Galaxy S3 community and frustrated customers who thought they had bought a perfectly good phone. And those who haven’t experienced the issue yet would be wise to make a back up of their data in the event that the issue does occur.

The Samsung Galaxy S3 is Samsung’s current flagship smartphone and features a massive HD display, dual-core processor, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, two solid cameras and a design inspired by nature.

39 Comments

39 Comments

  1. Alex

    12/20/2012 at 10:22 am

    I’m having doubt about my galaxy s3! I think i’m gonna get the iphone 5s when it comes out.

    • Your mama

      12/20/2012 at 10:42 pm

      Yo, what is an I phone 5s? U sound dumb as hell. Hahahaha DUMBASS

      • Alex

        12/21/2012 at 4:35 am

        And who asked you for your stupid commenst? The way you write, tells me a lot about you. I can tell you are uneducated. Learn how to read and then talk. I didn’t ask you to read my comments. I’m sure you using the name “Yo mama” sounds very smart!

      • Debbie Whalen

        01/11/2013 at 10:16 am

        Lol

    • Ahmed Sayed

      12/21/2012 at 10:52 am

      And seriously please dont try to start a war. Your unhappy with your phone well thats fine just dont mention what you are getting instead

      • Alex

        12/21/2012 at 12:31 pm

        And who are you to tell me what to mention or don’t mention? I can care less what you want. I didn’t ask for your opinion. I’m unhappy with your name, change your name and then talk to me.

  2. Davex

    12/20/2012 at 7:26 pm

    My S3 just died at the 6th month mark, on the dot. I have friends who experienced the same issue.

    Brink of sudden death epidemic?

  3. Ira Minor

    12/20/2012 at 7:35 pm

    My S3 has died twice. Each time, I removed the battery, held the power switch down for a minute then reinstalled the battery. After pressing the power switch the phone started working again.

  4. Karen

    12/20/2012 at 8:18 pm

    My phone died AGAIN a few hours ago, exactly on 6-month mark. I’ve had this happen before but removing the battery worked. This time my phone is gone forever……..

    • Your mama

      12/20/2012 at 10:46 pm

      Plug the charger to it stupid

  5. chanda

    12/20/2012 at 11:41 pm

    How many are in a host? If there is no number for this problem and no hard facts, why give it such a dramatic name and why cause an uproar? Sounds like sudden bullsh!t to me.

  6. Sam

    12/21/2012 at 12:29 am

    Mine died…went to repair and the had to solder something to get it running. The report was vague but did indicate a hardware failure…not much to the device but a single board so it looks like Sammy are playing with faulty parts.

  7. Rich

    12/21/2012 at 2:01 am

    mine just died this morning. I charged it up all night picked up the phone this morning and it had the green LED showing, pressed the home screen to wake up the phone and nothing. At first I thought it was my charger, but I’ve tried a different one. I’ve also tried a friends battery that I know works. Not very happy at the moment…

  8. Huw

    12/21/2012 at 4:49 am

    Mine pegged it yesterday morning Off for repair over christmas. Had mine since end of June, no problem till now

  9. natersMD

    12/21/2012 at 7:05 am

    my Galaxy s3 I have had over 6 months and this has happened a lot. I could be using the phone or its idle I have not tweaked my phone in any way as a result ive removed all widgets and went to one home screen. Ive never called to have this fixed, yws its annoying, but all I do is take the battery out for a few minutes. and then restart it im always making sure to push home screen button and clear everything that is running. or cleared the memory and all text mesaages everynight and all the recent call history and yes it still happens but not as much.

    • Christian

      12/23/2012 at 10:22 am

      Sorry but a little noob on this, but whats tweaked?

  10. Luke

    12/21/2012 at 8:03 am

    I have the US version of this phone, has anybody’s US phone died? I should be pulling up to my six month mark around the end of december because i’ve bought this phone in the end of august. I do tweak my phone and am running a custom ROM. So far I have not had any dying issues, my phone has had no issues and I love it more than anything :) until the S4 comes out and i will be kicking my self in the ass for signing a 3 year contract, but maybe the early upgrade fee won’t be too bad.

  11. Ahmed Sayed

    12/21/2012 at 10:50 am

    This is bad. Samsung should do something about it quickly

  12. Mike

    12/21/2012 at 2:24 pm

    My S3 died after five months. I noticed it feeling quite hot, and when I looked at it, had rebooted itself and was on the Samsung logo screen. Could not restart it. Always stopped at the logo screen. Couldn’t even do a hard reset. Could reboot into Odin mode though. Got Samsung to authorize a replacement through the store I bought it at. Location – Australia.

  13. Ted

    12/21/2012 at 8:15 pm

    Since ive updated to jellybean, my gs3 camera app donnt work anymore, it’s shows an error mssg, then end, now i use a downloaded app to take pics and videos but its annoying, as jelly bean should normally bring a lot of update to cam app :-(

  14. DimitriDroid

    12/22/2012 at 4:41 am

    • Karen

      12/29/2012 at 11:48 pm

      Great idea, I filled it in!

  15. Brian

    12/22/2012 at 9:25 pm

    I have had mine for about a month. Plugged it in for about two hours and now its dead. It won’t take a charge, turn on….nothing. Not at all happy.

  16. Sven

    12/25/2012 at 4:19 am

    I’ve also experienced Sudden death on my Galaxy S3, but fixed within 2 weeks under warranty. Works fine for now ;-)

  17. Joe Schmoe

    12/29/2012 at 11:12 pm

    My GS3 died yesterday. Same issue as others are reporting. Piece of crap!

  18. rozie

    12/30/2012 at 1:54 pm

    my gs3 died the other day after only 5 months. I had it charging all night and in the morning, I turned the phone on and it went to the opening samsung screen and stopped there. I went to the samsung shop and they told me it couldnt be repaired and gave me a new one. Im having issues again with the microphone so im going back. But if I had gone through optus, it would have taken weeks to repair.

  19. Ann

    12/30/2012 at 8:21 pm

    Mine just died today. I have had it since November 17. Left it on the charger overnight and when I powered it on, the screen was completely black. I get notification sounds and can hear it power on, but can see absolutely nothing. Removing the battery, letting it rest, and all the other tricks have failed. Mine was not tweaked. Since it is under warranty and insured, I expect it to be replaced.

  20. AekS

    01/06/2013 at 5:08 am

    my galaxy s3 died yesterday as well. this is bad and I really wonder if replacing the motherboard at the service center will do any good as it might only delay a similar fate in the months to come.
    Samsung should do something about this else other phone companies might take on the lead.

  21. Phill Clement

    01/08/2013 at 4:29 pm

    Mine died too. Samsung will repair it or you can contact your carrier.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwYhWmQEKY8

  22. Stephen T

    01/17/2013 at 7:41 pm

    Mine just died today. One minute it was on and working fine. Next minute it turned off and refused to turn on. Took out battery several times, connected to PC a few times, connected it to charger a few times. All useless.

    I am in Singapore.

  23. Belaid

    01/19/2013 at 11:34 pm

    Belaid 19/01/2013
    mine die in my birthday very good present , my problem is the same as this:My S3 died after 3 months. I noticed it feeling quite hot, and when I looked at it, had rebooted itself and was on the Samsung logo screen. Could not restart it. Always stopped at the logo screen. . Location at sea
    I bought mine from Singapore on the 25/10/2012.

  24. mike

    01/22/2013 at 2:46 am

    I had the same pbl with my galaxy s3, when was at charger, after about 30 min just shutdown and never turn on. I try to replace the battery, turn in recovery mode but nothing works. After replace motherbord everythink works very good i think beter than before. Brobl was a nanufactoring broblem, i buy the phone on 3rd of june and brokedown on 17 dec.

  25. Jim

    09/05/2013 at 12:01 am

    My S3 just died… I think I’ve had it for about 14 months. It locked up on me once earlier in the day where the screen was blank, no notification LEDs, not battery charging indicator and no response to any buttons. I took out the battery and it restarted. About 8 hours later… it did the exact same thing except there is nothing I can do to get it to respond in any way. Its a brick.

    I take very good care of my phone and its in pristine condition. I get teased about the massive armor case I put it in… Samsung needs to take care of this for FREE!

    I will go back to the store tomorrow.

    • Jim

      09/05/2013 at 12:01 am

      BTW, My S3 is a 16GB USA T-Mobile phone.

    • Jim

      09/19/2013 at 6:15 am

      Update. I shipped my phone back to Samsung’s service center in Texas but they made it clear that I could have to pay for repairs… it seems nobody at T-Mobile or Samsung has ever heard of this in the states (BS!).

      It took 10 days, but they sent me a new phone, with my battery & my back cover.

      I am an embedded engineer…whatever is failing is hardware related. This isn’t something that firmware can fix. It isn’t exclusive to international versions, however my phone was T-Mobile, so it was/is GSM. I wonder if any Verizon or AT&T S3 have experienced the issue… the HW is different it those S3’s.

      Samsung live chat was nice & customer service was a great help. This issue must only be happening on a tiny fraction of phones… but they replaced it for free. I did loose some data, but I recently backed up my photos, so not a big deal to me.

      I hope this helps others going through the sudden death syndrome.

  26. dakos

    09/19/2013 at 3:27 am

    Mine died yesterday! F**k samsung s3!They should face a demand for this! People lose their data and in many cases it is also their worktool. At least they will have a huge drop of the company´s value…i hope so. This shouldn´t happen, it´s irresponsible for a company like samsung, or any other…..and they don´t respond for this till now…

  27. Bret

    02/17/2014 at 9:40 am

    Got mine on 12/13/2012 and it just died yesterday. Same issues as stated above. I have AT&T and it’s a Samsung I747 Blue.

  28. Marcia A. Bailey

    07/02/2014 at 6:44 am

    Mine died in December. Just went black and nothing. I had important stuff on it. But Verizon wouldn’t do nothing, i ended up buying a new phone. And still have this one. I tried to charge it a couple times but within 5 mins its super hot to touch…
    Wish i had known i couldve got it fixed and saved me money i didnt have. I had it 5 months when it died…

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