HP is reportedly recalling some laptops for replacement battery. Essentially, HP has responded immediately to reports that some batteries in some models are overheating. So the company figured it's better to be safe than sorry.
This seems to be an annual delivery for HP. 2016, the company revoked 41.000 laptop batteries after overheating reports. Then 2017, HP recalled 101.000 batteries for the same reason. This year, the number of laptop batteries recalled is about 50.000.
According to HP, the recalled batteries have "the potential to overheat, causing a fire hazard." The company bases its conclusion on eight reports of batteries melting or deteriorating, one of which resulted in extensive damage to the computer and another reported first degree burns.
The products affected are the HP Probook 64x (G2 and G3), HP ProBook 65x (G2 and G3), HP x360 310 G2, HP ENVY m6, HP Pavilion x360, HP 11 notebook computers, and HP ZBook (17 G3, 17 G4, and Studio G3) mobile workstations. All computers were released between December 2015 and December 2017.
Hewlett Packard claims that this recall only affects it “0,1% of HP systems sold worldwide last two years". The revocation is optional, but the company will replace the affected batteries for free.
To find out if your laptop is affected, go to the official company control page and follow the instructions. You will need to download a utility program (HP Battery Validation Utility) to check if your battery is affected or not.
We should mention that it is very good to see companies taking initiatives to protect the safety of their customers. However, this is the third year in a row that Hewlett Packard has recalled its batteries, and perhaps it's time for a change suppliers.