GoKawiilZac Kew-Denniss / Android Authority
TL;DR Viral videos of Samsung phones melting plastic with their flashlights are doing the rounds, but this behavior has been known for a while.
Tests show that Samsung devices like the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra and Apple’s iPhone 17 Pro Max can melt plastic under the same conditions.
This happens because modern smartphones use powerful LED flashlights that can generate heat at close range.
Viral videos showing Samsung phones melting plastic with their flashlights are blowing up on social media again. One TikTok clip alone (see below) has racked up over 13 million views, showing a Galaxy S25 FE torch burning through a thin black garbage bag.
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While these videos might look alarming, Galaxy phone flashlights burning through plastic isn’t a new discovery, and it’s not even limited to Samsung’s devices.
People have been posting similar videos for over a year, but social media algorithms seem to have pushed the trend back into the spotlight recently.
Folks over at Tom’s Guide also picked up on the trend and decided to try it themselves using the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra and the iPhone 17 Pro Max. Their results show that both phones were able to melt a plastic trash bag when the flashlight was set to maximum brightness, unlike what some of these viral videos claim.
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