Anker is recalling nearly 80,000 of its Soundcore and PowerConf Bluetooth speakers in the U.S. and Canada after reports of some of the speakers’ lithium batteries overheating and catching fire.
The Verge first reported on the recall, stating that the affected speakers were sold between March and October 2023. The speakers were available exclusively at Amazon for as low as $28 and often came up on sale during big retail events like Prime Days and Black Friday.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission has received 33 reports “involving the lithium-ion batteries in the speakers overheating, some of those involving incidents of smoking and small fires, including one minor burn injury in connection with an overheating unit.”
The CPSC report says the issue lies with the lithium-ion batteries inside the Anker Soundcore A3102 and the PowerConf A3302 Bluetooth speakers, which could overheat and pose a fire hazard. The agency says you should immediately stop using the speakers, turn them off, and make sure they are no longer connected to a power source.
PC Gamer noted that this recall comes months after Anker had to recall 2,000 of its Power Banks in October for a similar issue. This issue resulted in 28 reports of the batteries “overheating, exploding, and the power bank catching on fire” and two burn-related injuries.
If you own a PowerConf speaker and need to see if it’s part of the recall, go to this Anker page and enter the speaker’s serial number to see if you get a match. Anker says if your speakers are marked for recall, you should contact its customer service for instructions on how to get a full refund and dispose of the faulty speakers. What you shouldn’t do is toss them in the trash. Defective lithium-ion batteries should be recycled. Retail stores like Staples or Home Depot will recycle those products free of charge.
I now have to tell my dad that his favorite “Ankah” (as he calls it) speaker, which he got for a steal during Black Friday last year at my recommendation, needs to be ditched. I won’t hear the end of this for at least the next several weeks.
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