Why Snap is recalling and refunding every drone it ever sold

Snapchat parent Snap started selling its Pixy selfie camera drone in 2022. After a few months, the company stopped selling these drones after shipping nearly 71,000 units. Now, the company is recalling every one of those drones as their batteries pose a fire hazard.

In a statement released by Snap and the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (spotted by The Verge) asks users to “immediately stop using the Pixy Flying Camera, remove the battery and stop charging it”. The report notes that there have been four reports of the battery bulging, one fire and one “minor injury” caused by the drone’s battery.

The report notes that Snap might be recalling the entire drone and not just the removable battery as the company doesn’t make those batteries anymore.

How to claim refund for Snap Pixy drones

Returning the Pixy drones to Snap will allow users to claim a full refund for the entire drone and/or any batteries they own. The company is expected to offer users at least $185 for returning the drones (if they weren’t bought on sale). To claim for the refund users also won’t need a receipt and can apply for the refund even if they got it as a gift.


To get the refund, users have to return the entire drone (without the batteries). The company has also shared a link which includes a form. Users have to fill out this form with the drone's serial number to be eligible for the refund.

Snap also confirmed that it’ll email users a prepaid return label if they fill the form. The company also advised users to find a safe way to dispose of the batteries themselves. Snap also asked users not to drop them at their local hardware stores or big box stores like Target and should visit the company’s website for more information.

Apart from the Pixy drones, Snap has launched other hardware like Snap Spectacles which offered a different perspective on capturing video on the company’s messaging platform Snapchat. Moreover, the company is also working on its AR Glasses.

In 2022, before launching the Pixy drones, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel suggested that the market for drones was bigger than that for video-capturing glasses.