Anker is recalling nearly all of its Soundcore and PowerConf Bluetooth speakers in the US and Canada after reports of some speaker batteries overheating and catching fire.
The Verge first reported on the recall, saying that the affected speakers were sold between March and October 2023. The speakers were only available on Amazon for as low as $28 and are usually sold during major sales events such as Prime Days and Black Friday.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission has received 33 reports “involving lithium-ion batteries in speakers that overheated, some of which involved incidents of smoking and minor fires, including one minor burn injury from an overheated area.”
The CPSC report says the problem lies with the lithium-ion batteries inside the Anker Soundcore A3102 and PowerConf A3302 Bluetooth speakers, which can overheat and pose a fire hazard. The agency says you should immediately stop using the speakers, turn them off, and make sure they are disconnected from the 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. The magazine resulted in 28 reports of batteries “overheating, exploding, and a power bank catching fire” and two fire-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 model number to see if you can find a match. Anker says that 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 throw them in the trash. Dead lithium-ion batteries must be recycled. Retail stores like Staples or Home Depot will recycle those products for free.
Now I have to tell my dad that his favorite speaker “Ankah” (as he calls it), which he got as a Black Friday steal last year on my recommendation, needs to be retired. I won’t hear the end of this for at least the next few weeks.
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