Snapchat Spectacles case melts while charging, echoing Samsung Note 7 recall

The case for Snapchat’s camera-equipped Spectacles appears to have overheating issues.

An anonymous user of the photo-capturing eyewear sent a picture of their damaged case to TechCrunch, claiming that it started melting while being charged with a 5W Apple power adapter.

“About a half hour later, I got a burning smell,” the user told TechCrunch. “Looked at the case, and it had melted the internals. The case was very hot when I went to touch it.”

They added that the button and LEDs also became exposed, describing the damaged product as a “wired mash”.

Fortunately for the user, their pair of Spectacles wasn’t inside the case at the time, so they escaped unharmed.

Snapchat responded to the incident by requesting the damaged case for investigation, and offering the user a new pair of Spectacles.

“Our team is in touch with this customer and we are working with him to investigate this issue,” a Snap Inc. spokesperson told TechCrunch.

“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.”

Whether this turns out to be a one-off incident or the start of a Galaxy Note 7-like catastrophe remains to be seen, but it’s an ill-timed blow for Snapchat, which is expected to file for its initial public offering in the coming days.

The company is also coming under increasing pressure from Facebook, which has ripped Instagram Stories, mere months after the Facebook-owned photo-sharing site copied the feature from Snapchat.