Samsung has halted production of its fiery Galaxy Note 7, and now faces millions of angry consumers.

About 2.5 million potentially dangerous Note7s were purchased worldwide before the company decided they were too dodgy to keep selling.

Australian consumer group CHOICE says Samsung put lives at risk with the “shoddy” products.

“It's now time for the once great tech giant to come clean and help restore trust in its brand,” CHOICE head of media Tom Godfrey said.

“Consumers need to know why the smartphone’s serious safety failures were not picked up in testing and how the company will ensure a similar incident never takes places again," Godfrey said in a statement.

“It defies belief that Samsung put potentially dangerous smartphones on the market, not once, but twice, in the space of a few weeks.

“We are calling on Samsung to make its testing processes public and subject to independent scrutiny. It’s really hard to see how it can regain consumer trust without taking these basic steps."

Samsung has been criticised for its inconsistent treatment of international markets.

“It’s not good enough for Samsung to cherry pick which country they notify about their smartphone’s safety issues. For example, we’re concerned that they announced the problem in Mexico but not Brazil or Argentina,” Godfrey said.

“In Nigeria and South Africa Samsung didn’t release any consumer warnings on their website. This is a global safety issue, it needs a consistent global response.”

CHOICE wants Samsung to:

  • Open its testing processes to independent scrutiny
  • Create a fair and consistent redress and compensation program
  • Pledge not to simply repair problematic handsets and sell them in developing and less regulated countries
  • Spread is safety information to all markets