Amazon just yanked the Haribo gummy bear power bank from its website and is canceling orders for the ultralight device. In an email sent to customers, Amazon says it has “learned of a potential safety or quality issue” regarding the power bank, and that it’s not charging customers who recently purchased it.
The gummy bear theme may be a bit deceiving, but at 9.9 ounces, the $25 Haribo Mini Power Bank is one of the lightest 20,000mAh power banks around, making it a popular choice for backpackers (or anyone else who doesn’t feel like carrying around a hefty device). Now, the Amazon listing for the power bank no longer exists, and we don’t know when — or if — it’s coming back.
Last week, the 3D X-ray company Lumafield published scans showing the internals of the power bank and its battery, which is part of a broader line of Haribo-themed products.
Lumafield technical product marketing manager Alex Hao tells The Verge that the team found that the “battery quality is quite poor across the entire Haribo product line.” Hao calls attention to the “wavy nature” of the anodes that overhang the cathodes (the blue edge in the scan below), which “should be straight, or close to it,” indicating “poor process control.” Hao also found that in one area, the anode overhang measures around 0.27mm, which is less than the accepted industry standard of 0.5mm.
“This calls into question the longevity of their products, as the poor alignment and negative anode overhang increases the likelihood of premature aging,” Hao says. “It also increases the risk of the batteries inside Haribo products experiencing a more serious issue in the future, such as thermal runaway and hazardous events.”
As mentioned by my colleague Liz Lopatto, the Haribo Mini Power Bank comes with a built-in USB-C cable, along with support for fast charging. An archived version of the listing also says it has a chip designed “to protect the power bank from overcharging, overheating, and overpowering.”
“We regret any inconvenience this may cause you but trust you will understand that the safety and satisfaction of our customers is our highest priority,” Amazon writes in its email to customers. The Verge reached out to Haribo and Amazon with requests for more information but didn’t immediately hear back.
Update, November 12th: Added information from Lumafield.