Several smartphone models introduced by LG Electronics between 2015 and 2016 were discovered by users to have manufacturing defects, all of which eventually cause the devices to become unstable, or suffer from a bootloop, rendering them effectively inoperable. The LG G4 (2015) has been the most synonymous with these failures, with LG stating that the issues were the result of a "loose contact between components". Similar issues have also been reported to a smaller extent with the G4's successors and sister models, including the Nexus 5X, LG V10 and LG G Flex 2.[1] In March 2017, a class-action lawsuit was filed against LG in regards to their handling of these hardware failures.
When officially acknowledging the bootloop issues with the G4, LG stated that it was caused by a "loose contact between components"; Android Authority explained that "a loose connection between power supply or memory components could certainly cause a phone to fail to boot up properly, due to a lack of system stability or not being able to access vital memory. It's also possible that a faulty connection to other components, such as the camera or fingerprint scanner, could cause a similar problem. This could be down to important setup communications not being sent or received between peripherals correctly."
Affected devices
LG G4
Early reports of "bootloop" issues with the LG G4 occurred on forums such as Reddit as early as September 2015; LG was initially inconsistent in accepting warranty claims on affected devices, leading some users to go through their respective wireless carrier instead. A petition was issued calling upon LG to acknowledge the bootloop issues.
In January 2016, LG officially acknowledged that some G4 models suffered from a manufacturing issue "resulting from a loose contact between components", that caused them to experience symptoms such as failure to reboot. Andrew Williams in Trusted Reviews was more specific, saying that "the cause of the problem has been confirmed as a fault in the soldering of one of the connectors on the device's main board".[2] LG stated that it was not known how many devices were affected by the defect, as when or whether it occurs depended on "usage behavior". LG said that users with booting issues should contact the local carrier where the G4 was purchased or a nearby LG Service Center for repair under warranty. Purchasers of G4 devices from non-carrier retailers should contact an LG Service Center "with the understanding that warranty conditions will differ". LG apologized "for the inconvenience caused to some of our customers who initially received incorrect diagnoses".[3]
Lawsuit
In March 2017, a U.S. lawsuit was filed against LG Electronics in the state of California for unjust enrichment, unfair trade practices, and warranty law violations, seeking damages and for LG to repair all affected G4 and V10 devices. The lawsuit claimed that LG continued to produce and distribute LG G4 and V10 smartphones with the defect, even after it acknowledged the issue, and claimed that LG failed to recall or "offer an adequate remedy to consumers" who bought the two models, nor provide any remedy for devices that fell outside of the one-year warranty period. A party to the suit claimed that LG had issued them multiple warranty replacement phones that eventually suffered from the same hardware failure.[10] The lawsuit was expanded the following month to include the G5, Nexus 5X, and V20.[11] The lawsuit was never certified as a class action, and was sent to arbitration.[12] In January 2018, LG agreed to pay the participants in the lawsuit a $700 credit towards the purchase of a LG smartphone or $425.[12] Since the lawsuit was not certified as a class action, consumers not actually participating in the lawsuit do not get this payment.
See also
- Touch disease, a similar form of eventual hardware failure experienced by the iPhone 6 Plus.
References
- https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/04/after-a-decade-of-failure-lg-officially-quits-the-smartphone-market/^
- Andrew Williams. LG G4 Bootloop Problem: Global Software Upgrade Centre the final fix? Trusted Reviews, 12 April 2018^
- James Peckham, Gareth Beavis. LG finally acknowledges G4 boot loop problem – and it's offering a fix TechRadar, 26 January 2016^