A congressional leader on Friday called on Xiaomi, a Chinese consumer electronics manufacturer, to issue a product recall on their phone models with recurring dead boot issues.
Dead boot happens when a phone handset cannot be powered on nor be detected when connected to a personal computer. Experts say this is due to damages in the phone’s boot area.
Consumers have been complaining about dead boot issues on Redmi 9T and Poco M3, both Xiaomi phone models.
Deputy Majority Leader and Rizal Rep. Fidel Nograles of Rizal said: “Xiaomi’s steps to address the issue are not just too late but also too inconvenient. The dead boot issue has been happening for months and what they are offering are just repair or replacement with the same model. This means several days if not weeks of phone owners not being able to use their units.”
Nograles added: “We need to stop this unending inconvenience; it is about time they recall these problematic phone models and give the victims newer phone units that do not have issues.”
The Rizal solon suggested that the options should either be unit replacement or a full refund. “We don’t know if the other units that are currently not affected by dead boot will have issues in the future. The consumer will be put in a worse situation if it happens beyond the warranty period. This is why we call on Xiaomi to recall the phones instead and make things right,” he explained.
He also expressed concern that those affected by the issue are students doing online classes.
“We know that Xiaomi’s rise to fame is due to their brand of selling quality phones for low prices. Sadly, their reputation is tarnished with this dead boot issue. They should act fast as they are not the sole brand that offers affordable phones. They might lose their market
share if this issue persists,” Nograles warned.