I should mention the battery was about 3 years old and was OEM (original equipment manufactusrer). The advice I'm looking for is how happy you've been with your particular Android phone. Thanks.

Yikes! How scary. Two months ago I replaced my Samsung Galaxy S5 with a Pixel 3. I think it's an Android?? I have been very happy with it, although it's a little large in my hand. (I'm getting used to it.) As I was buying it, I ran into the head tech person for our school district, and that is what she was buying, too. Most of my info and setup transfered from old to new, so there wasn't a lot I needed to do. Two months isn't a lot of experience to report on, but so far so good.

I sure hope you let Samsung know about the malfunction. Although to me it’s scarier then a malfunction.

Wow I’d never get another Samsung phone either. Sorry no help on recommendations as I have an iPhone

Love my iPhone.Guess I’ll stick with it. That’s scary.

Bluebell, We'll be out shopping soon and I'll keep that in mind.

Maddielee, I probably should have used quotes when I called it a malfunction because you're right, it was way more than that. I hadn't thought of calling them, but will do that!

3katz and dedtired - I'm just not sure about switching from an android to apple.

neetsiepie, how long have you had the Moto?

My son switched from Samsung last year, he got an LG V30. He really likes it. Says it is more flexible

neetsiepie - We're Costco members, so we should take a look there, too.

localeater - My husband has done a little research and is interested in the LG.

I just got off the phone with Samsung. Of course, they offered their apologies for what happened and asked if there were any physical injuries. Fortunately, no. I set up a claim for the damages. They will be sending a box in which I will return the device, the charger and the battery. I will also need to get an estimate for the carpet repair and email that along with pictures of the damage to them with my claim number. I hope I can retrieve everything I had on the phone and get it transferred to a new phone because, of course, I need to do this before I send off my old phone.

ETA: That's a good idea, olychick! I will do that, too!

apparently it's a problem with those phones/batteries, although not sure there was a recall like their was on the 7's I think. I might want to report it to the Consumer Product Safety commission, so someone besides Samsung knows about the problem:

Exploding Samsung s4 batteries

Scary stuff bac! I've had my Pixel for a year -ish and really like it. Camera is fantastic which was very important to me.

Another vote for Pixel.

dlm - a fantastic camera would be great.

I have the Asus zenfone 5q. It has 4 cameras! Very nice phone and very reasonable price. I picked it up at Best buy. Transfer was very easy but I was able to use my old phone and remove the Sim and SD card to put in the new one. I used an app that transferred everything else. I always have my phone set to back up everything to Google including all my pictures so that wasn't a problem. As soon as I logged into my account on the new phone it was done.

I am with AT&T so I used their transfer app. Look in the play store for the app for which ever provider you use. Under transfer data app or transfer wizard app. They list most of the providers.

https://www.asus.com/us/Phone/ZenFone-5Q-ZC600KL/

Asus has several models. I have asus tablets and laptops so I like the brand. They have been very dependable.

This one blew up in a car and burnt it to the ground!

https://abcnews.go.com/US/samsung-asks-woman-return-phone-exploded-torched-car/story?id=55805329

I got my Moto about 2 months ago. I had had several different Gallaxies but never was fond of them.

This isn't a phone brand issue ... this is a battery issue.

I've had a Macbook battery that did a partial melt ... my ipad battery is having issues ... my sister had a macbook battery that also charred ... so you should all probably get rid of your Apple products too! My son was also recently having battery issues with his Google phone overheating.

Again, this is a battery technology issue. My husband is into remote control planes and he charges most of his batteries in special heat/explosion resistant containers. Just the nature of the technology.

I'll continue to buy ipads and I'll continue to buy Samsung phones. My son will probably buy another Google phone. When you look at the total number of phones that have sold worldwide, the number of defective products is very small.

I even owned the infamous Samsung Note 7, mine had no issues, but were still recalled. I've owned the Samsung Galaxy 7 without issues and will probably upgrade soon to a Note 9 or Galaxy 10, or wait for the Note 10 later this year.

Why smartphone batteries explode and how to prevent it:
https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/smartphone-batteries-explode-prevent/

Yes, chispa, it probably is a battery issue, but I would not describe what happened to my battery as overheating. It was way beyond that. I probably should not write off Samsung, but after the experience I had, it's hard not to. However, thank you for the article on preventing battery explosion. There's some good info in there as well as in some of the other topics linked in that article.