It turns out that Snap’s discontinued Pixy drone is a fire hazard.
The alarming news came via a notice issued by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recalling all 71,000 of the flying machines.
“Consumers should immediately stop using the Pixy … remove the battery and stop charging it,” the CPSC said in its recall notice.
Snap’s dalliance with drones only lasted four months, with the company ending sales of the $230 device in August 2022. And now, 18 months on, the CPSC is urging Pixy pilots to stop flying their drone or risk it catching fire in midair due to a potentially defective rechargeable lithium-ion battery. To date, Snap has received four reports of the battery overheating and bulging, resulting in one minor battery fire and one minor injury.
Full instructions on how to respond to the recall are provided on Snap’s website. They differ depending on whether you ordered it directly from Pixy or Amazon.
Owners will need to return their drone for a full refund and should be careful to safely dispose of the lithium-ion battery (instructions on how to do that are available online).
Customers who only have a Pixy battery or charger but no Pixy unit may also be eligible for a refund. If that’s you, contact [email protected].
The Pixy weighed a mere 0.22 pounds (100 grams) and launched and landed in the palm of your hand, with protective guards safeguarding your fingers. During its time on sale, Snap marketed the camera-equipped copter as “a pocket-sized, free-flying sidekick that’s a fit for adventures big and small.”
While Snap’s social media Snapchat app has enjoyed notable success, the drone disappeared into the abyss after only a short time, with Thursday’s recall providing the final chapter of its turbulent existence. Snap’s other hardware effort — camera-equipped smart spectacles — has fared a little better in that it still sells the device, but it hasn’t been updated since 2019.
Recently, we've entered an exciting collaboration with Maple Media, creating a bundle of 17 apps worth having on your phone. From relaxed fun to serious productivity boosts, these apps cover all your bases and provide a fun boost to your phone. Normally, the bundle is $9.99 per month (far lower than the cost of using the apps individually), but for your first 7 days you can get access to the bundle for free. View the full Digital Trends App Bundle for a complete list of the apps, or read on for a summarized take.
What's happened? This week, China's Quality Certification Center released information about a battery (EB-BS04898ABY) with a maximum capacity of 4,855mAh. That's the same capacity as was previously seen in the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, and fans have taken this certification to mean the Galaxy S26 Ultra will not see a capacity increase after all.
The Samsung Galaxy Ultra models have had the same battery capacity for the last five years.
What's happened? Samsung has officially announced the Galaxy Tab S10 Lite, a budget-friendly alternative to the Galaxy Tab S10. The device has been rumored for months, but this is the first time Samsung has officially acknowledged its existence.
The Galaxy Tab S10 Lite will have a 10.9-inch display and a peak brightness of 600 nits — a bit on the lower side, versus the iPad Pro's maximum brightness of 1,600 nits.