Samsung is urging the 2.5 million people worldwide who bought its latest premium device to return it, before more destruction from the phones' combustible batteries is caused.
Reports from the markets where the Galaxy Note 7 is available show the exploding phablet has led to a six-year-old boy burning his hands, a family car catching fire, and damages to a hotel room.
As of the beginning of this month, the South Korean electronics company is aware of 35 incidents where a Note 7 caught fire while charging or during normal usage.
The firm will take responsibility and said: "Although there have been only a small number of reported incidents, Samsung is taking great care to provide customers with necessary support."
The company added it had identified the affected inventory and stopped sales and shipments of those devices.
Samsung will exchange all Note 7s with a new device before the end of the month. The company has said new Galaxy Note 7 packaging will have clear identifiers on the box: a small black square on the white barcode label, along with a white sticker with a blue letter 'S'.
Reuters has reported some analysts saying the recall could cost Samsung nearly $5 billion in revenue.
Smartphone fear
One of the devices exploded in a six-year-old boy's hands while he was watching videos, states a report in the New York Post.
Family members say the child's hands were burnt and he is now too scared to go near other smartphones. It is not known if the gadget was plugged in and charging when the boy was using it.
The explosion was enough to set off smoke alarms in the Brooklyn house. The family has been in contact with Samsung, but did not say anything further.
Fiery Jeep
Also in the US, a Jeep caught fire after a Note 7 was left charging in the car. The owner of the vehicle, Nathan Dornacher, posted pictures to his Facebook page showing the car engulfed in flames.
Dornacher said he left his five-day-old device charging in the car while he unloaded shopping. Upon returning for his phone, he found the car in flames. He claimed the inferno was caused by the phone.
The original Facebook post has since been deleted. In its place, Dornacher posted an update, saying Samsung has been in touch with him and is investigating.
He stressed the family had not purposely set the vehicle on fire: "We will not gain anything from this, for the keyboard investigators out there."
Hotel disaster
Tham Hua, a Note 7 owner, awoke in a hotel room in Perth, Australia after his new smartphone exploded next to him.
Hua posted on Reddit that the device was plugged in and charging, using the original charger and cable. After it exploded, he instinctively pushed it to the ground, and in the process burnt his finger.
The phone was "completely fried" and he could not eject the SIM tray to retrieve his SIM or SD card.
Damages to the hotel room amounted to nearly R20 000. He said Samsung had been in touch with him and said it would cover the bill. He was told it was the first case in Australia.
He warns: "Please do not use the phone anymore; it is dangerous and not worth the risk."
No-fly phone
Airlines are taking precautionary measures to prevent on-board Note 7 fires in mid-air. Qantas, Jetstar, Air New Zealand and Virgin Australia have said passengers are allowed to bring Note 7s on board, but are not permitted to charge them using the inflight entertainment system.
The US Federal Aviation Administration has also warned travellers against turning on, using or charging the device while flying.
South African Airways has also prohibited the charging of the smartphones on its flights, even though the gadget is not officially available in the country yet.
In August, a few weeks after the device was launched, better-than-expected demand was reported by the company, which it said was causing supply constraints globally. At the time, it was estimated Samsung would sell as many as 15 million Galaxy Note 7 phones this year, nearly double the previous model sold in the same quarter last year.
Samsung shares fell to their lowest level in nearly two months on Monday, with Reuters reporting investors wiped $14.3 billion off the firm's market capitalisation.
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