Samsung Australia is recalling over 50,000 of its Galaxy Note7 smartphones on reports some phones had exploded while charging.

The new device came out just weeks ago, and already users say some sort of battery fault is causing phones to burst into flames while plugged in.

Samsung halted all sales of the phone in the lead-up to the recall, removing it from the shelves of some big retailers including JB HiFi, Optus and Telstra.

Samsung's vice president of IT and mobile Richard Fink says replacement phones are already available, or customers can ask for a full refund.

“For safety reasons, Galaxy Note 7 customers should power off their smartphones and return them to their original place of purchase or contact us at Samsung Australia for a resolution,” Mr Fink said.

Samsung has issued a statement on its website claiming there have only been a small number of incidents.

“Based on our investigation, we have learned that there was an issue within the battery cell. An overheating of the battery cell occurred when the anode-to-cathode came into contact, which is a very rare manufacturing process error,” the online statement said.