By now the latest hot toy in the whole world, the fidget spinner, has begun to enter into that phase of gradual decline in interest. This is after a month or two of being the most-searched toy on Google. Granted there is still a strong presence of people who are so engrossed with keeping those bearing-powered mechanical apparatuses spinning as long as they could (since they take little) effort.
The basic toy has even been embellished with techie bonuses like flashing lights or electric-powered spinners enabled by Bluetooth. But if you happen to own these “enhanced” fidget spinners then watch out.
They may have a chance of going the way of the Galaxy Note 7.
Scorched surfaces
As most smartphone users know, the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 phone-tablet became infamous in 2016 due to their faulty battery packs. They tended to overheat at the least, melt, burn and even explode at worst. Now this phenomenon has visited the latest craze: fidget spinners with electronic parts that can be activated by smartphone Bluetooth, built-in speakers for phone music, and require charging for longer spinning. This week in two different locations – Michigan and Alabama – reports have come out regarding these high-tech fidget spinners exploding while in the middle of charging.
The Alabama case involved the son of Kimberly Allums, who called his mother to tell her that his charging fidget spinner not only smoked but caught fire.
After a frantic action that left burn marks on their carpet, the flaming toy was disconnected from the charger and thrown into a sink with flowing water.
Michelle Carr of Fenton, Michigan could relate a similar tale of tech terror. She charged her electro fidget spinner using the cable for her baby monitor and left it on a kitchen counter.
The toy went up in flames and left a black mark on the counter surface.
Caution advised
Her son’s close brush with disaster led Kimberly Allums to begin speaking out against the tricked-out yet low-standard Bluetooth fidget spinners and other similar toys and the dangers the pose. She is especially incensed with the gadget her son was charging after she discovered the package box stating that it was “Made in China.”
Michelle Carr for her part noted that her electric fidget spinner had no dedicated charger of its own (hence her use of a baby monitor cable) as well as not coming with a manual or charging instructions.
While she genuinely enjoyed the simplicity of playing with fidget spinners, Carr counsels other buyers of the electric Bluetooth version to observe the devices when they are charging closely, the better to avoid the notorious Galaxy Note 7 treatment.
