WATCH: Man Bites Smartphone Battery, Seems Shocked When It Explodes in His Face

A man, for some reason, decided to bite a smartphone battery this past Friday. In a somewhat predictable turn of events, the battery exploded into a ball of flames.

And no, this isn’t a joke. The bizarre incident actually took place in a Chinese electronics store this past Friday, Jan. 19. A man was reportedly shopping for a replacement battery for his iPhone when he decides to take a closer look at it..

After examining it, he inexplicably decides to put the battery in his mouth and bite it (supposedly to “test its authenticity,” Taiwan News reported).

The battery explodes and ball of flame engulfs the man and his female companion.
Video of the inadvisable act surfaced on Chinese social media over the weekend. See it below.

Thankfully, local media reports that no one was injured in the blast. News outlets did note that the explosion “startled” many in the store — because, of course, a spontaneous explosion is going to startle people. Indeed, even the man who bit the battery seemed shocked at the sudden ball of flames.

The man’s teeth likely caused a catastrophic failure of the battery, which as we’ve seen before, can result in spontaneous fires or even full-fledged explosions.

Last month, Apple admitted that it throttled older iPhones as their batteries age. As a result, many iPhone owners began to look into replacing their device’s batteries — either via Apple’s discounted program, or through third-parties.

But Chinese electronics stores are infamous for stocking fake components. Still, it’s unclear what the man was testing for. While counterfeit or faulty batteries are prone to catching fire or exploding, biting a battery is not going to reveal its durability or authenticity — and most batteries will explode if sufficiently damaged. Higher-quality batteries are not somehow more bite-resistant.

We don’t know if the battery blew up because it was fake, or because the man decided to sink his teeth into it — but if we had to guess, biting it probably played a part. “The battery is not gold, why are you biting it?” one Chinese commenter chided online.

So, yes. You should not bite smartphone batteries. You shouldn’t stab, poke or otherwise damage smartphone batteries in any way. Take one man’s mistake as a warning, and be grateful that it’s a lesson most of us don’t have to learn the hard way.