Surface Duo allegedly zaps and burns someone's hand

Surface Duo (Image credit: Windows Central)

What you need to know

A Surface Duo owner claims that the device zapped their hand after plugging the device in.
The Surface Duo owners says that it "felt like a damn cattle prod."
The person claims that all they did was plug in the device.

A person claims that a Surface Duo zapped them and burned them after plugging it in. Reddit user "livevicarious" shared two images showing the aftermath of the alleged incident. One shows off what appears to be a burn on their hand while the other is a blurry image of what appears to be a burnt or melted charging port. Without seeing the device in person or other images or videos, it's difficult to determine the accuracy of the post. It would, of course, be quite worrying if accurate.

People asked in the thread's comments about what occurred. It appears that the person plugged their phone in and then was zapped. A follow up comment from livevicarious states:

Phone was closed in my hand when I plugged it in. Full grip, felt like a damn cattle prod. My hand gripped it tighter when it shocked me and the heat melted the port around the cable some too. Look at pic 2

Image 1 of 2

The Surface Duo owner is unsure if the alleged damage is a burn or just redness. They detailed the alleged injury in another comment:

Can't tell if it's a burn or just red from the zap. It feels like a burn, if you've ever touched a hot frying pan with a part of your hand. Exactly how it feels now, the moment it happened was exactly like a damn cattle prod. Surprising how strong it was but I guess these chargers do put out a lot of juice.

This apparently isn't the first time that livevicarious has had issues with the Surface Duo. They explain in another comment that they already had one with screen flickering and another with random reboots, both of which were replaced. According to the Surface Duo owner, their last Surface Duo also experienced significant swelling.

We'll have to see if more details emerge about this story and if others have seen similar issues. If you've had any experiences like this with your Surface Duo, let us know in the comments below or reach out to us directly.

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Sean Endicott is a news writer and apps editor for Windows Central with 11+ years of experience. A Nottingham Trent journalism graduate, Sean has covered the industry’s arc from the Lumia era to the launch of Windows 11 and generative AI. Having started at Thrifter, he uses his expertise in price tracking to help readers find genuine hardware value.

Beyond tech news, Sean is a UK sports media pioneer. In 2017, he became one of the first to stream via smartphone and is an expert in AP Capture systems. A tech-forward coach, he was named 2024 BAFA Youth Coach of the Year. He is focused on using technology—from AI to Clipchamp—to gain a practical edge.