Just two weeks after launching its new $800 GoPro Karma Drone, the company has initiated a product recall for all 2,500 Karma Drones that have been sold so far.
The problem with the drones is that “in a small number of cases” the Karma drones “lost power during operation,” GoPro said in a Nov. 8 post about the official recall on the company’s website.
The drones are being recalled and customers will receive full refunds for the devices, the company said. Sales and shipments of the devices have been suspended and they will not be offered for sale again until GoPro resolves the performance problems, the statement said. “We plan to resume shipment of Karma once the issue is addressed.”
GoPro did not respond to several attempts on Nov. 9 by eWEEK to contact them about the Karma problems and recall.
Customers who bought their Karma Drones from Best Buy can contact the retailer’s Karma Drone recall hotline at 1-800-566-7498 or visit Best Buy’s online support web page, while customers who bought them through GoPro directly can call the company’s customer support number at 1-866-886-3001 or visit GoPro’s online support page.
GoPro said it is “investigating the issue and working in close coordination with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and the Federal Aviation Administration” to resolve the matter.
If Karma Drone customers bought their drones in a bundle with other GoPro products, including the Hero5 Black action camera and the Karma Grip, they must return them at the same time, the company said. Customers can return the drones and related equipment even if they do not have a receipt for their purchase.
All drones must be sent back, whether they have performance problems or not. “Even though your Karma appears to be working fine, we are asking all customers to immediately stop using the product and participate in the recall,” the company said in on its webpage.
The company is continuing to investigate the problem with the drones.
The all-new Karma Drone and GoPro’s latest $400 Hero5 Black and $300 Hero5 Session action camera models were unveiled in late September, according to an earlier eWEEK story.
The Karma Drone is GoPro’s first-ever drone and includes an image-stabilization grip that can be handheld or mounted to vehicles, gear and more to enable users to capture stabilized video during almost any activity. The drone folds up for storage in an included small backpack and features a flight controller that replicates video game controller feel and action. The controller has an integrated touch display that allows users to fly the drone without the need for a separate phone or tablet to see what the drone is seeing in flight. Users can also remove the drone’s included 3-axis camera stabilizer for use with the included Karma Grip to capture footage by hand or while using the stabilizer with other gear.
The Karma drone went on sale on Oct. 23 without a GoPro camera for $800, or for $1,100 in a bundle with a Hero5 Black camera.