Well, that was quick. GoPro’s new Karma drone, after just over two weeks on the market, is being subjected to a recall. The recall was announced earlier today (yesterday in the States), along with instructions on how owners can send their potentially wonky drones back for a refund.
Some GoPro Karma drones have reportedly been losing power while in flight and displaying other unpredictable behaviour. The defect, which remains rather undefined, doesn’t appear to have resulted in any damage or loss but GoPro look to be going with the rather safe than sorry approach with this recall.
According to GoPro founder and CEO Nicholas Woodman, “A very small number of Karma owners have reported incidents of power failure during operation. We have moved quickly to recall all units of Karma and provide a full refund while we investigate the issue. We are working in close coordination with both the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and Federal Aviation Administration. We are very sorry to have inconvenienced our customers and we are taking every step to make the return and refund process as easy as possible.”
The good news is that there are not that many drones that have to be collected. Some 2,500 drones have been sold and they all need to come back, with instructions for the return process available here. It’s unlikely that any but the most avid GoPro of fans in South Africa will have to avail themselves of the returns process, however.
GoPro has said that the Karma drone will go on sale again once an investigation into the problem has been completed and the problem, whatever it is, is rectified. The Hero5 camera and the Karma Grip are not affected by the recall, though they will have to be returned along with the possibly defective drone if they were purchased as part of a bundle.
Source: The Next Web