Joining the list of happily combustible and readily melting tech gear is Snap Inc. Spectacles.
An owner of the Snapchat Spectacles has claimed, with photographic evidence to support their claim, that the glasses melted inside the charging case due to overheating after charging for 30 minutes.
The owner of the damaged charging case wished to remain anonymous and told TechCrunch that "the big button and LEDs ... all that is now a wired mash."
The owner said that they bought the Spectacles in mid-December 2016 from a pop-up store in New York. This was the first and the last time they faced an issue regarding the spectacles and charging case. Prior to this incident, the owner claimed that the spectacles have been charged several times without any hindrance using the special cable which comes with the package, the battery pack, or Apple iPhone charger.
The owner used the same Apple charger this time as well, but discovered a burning smell coming from the box after half an hour of charging. On further prodding, the owner saw that the case had melted internals.
"Our team is in touch with this customer and we are working with him to investigate this issue. We can't comment further until we know more, but want to emphasize that nothing is more important to us than the safety of our community," stated a Snap Inc. spokesperson to TechCruch.
For the unfamiliar, Snapchat Spectacles is a video recording sunglass created by Snap Inc. Users can use the Snapchat application through the glasses, which debuted in November 2016. A user can snap a 10-second video through the Spectacles and send it to his or her story wirelessly.
Should You Be Worried?
Following this incident, Snap Inc. took good care of the aggrieved customer by offering to hand-deliver a new pair of Spectacles and taking the damaged product back for further scrutiny. The owner was happy to receive such quick and efficient customer support.
The incident could well be a one-off as there are no other reported instances of the Snapchat Spectacles melting while charging.
That said, one can never be too careful, especially after the Galaxy Note 7 debacle. It is believed that some fake pieces are out in the market as the availability of the Spectacles is scarce due to the company's unconventional selling method. However, this is an isolated incident and will hopefully, not impact Snap Inc.'s aspirations of getting investors to pump in funds into the company during its IPO in March.
Price And Availability
The Snap Spectacles are available in the United States for purchase for $129.99. Procuring a pair can be quite cumbersome, as they can be purchased directly only through Snapbots, the company's spectacle vending machine which keeps moving from place to place.
