HP battery recall: Here’s how to check if your laptop is safe
We're looking at a hot situation
Credit:
Reviewed.com / Jackson Ruckar
Recommendations are independently chosen by Reviewed's editors. Purchases made through the links below may earn us and our publishing partners a commission.
HP is issuing a voluntary recall after discovering faulty batteries inside a number of laptops. Though the recall only affects a small percentage of laptops (affected models shipped from December 2015 through December 2017), the batteries could potentially overheat, catch fire, and cause serious injury. A risk is a risk, so you'll definitely want to take action if you have one of the following laptops:
- 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
- HP ZBook (17 G3, 17 G4 and Studio G3) mobile workstations.
If you have one of these laptops, you'll need to download and run this battery validation tool. The whole process should take less than thirty seconds. If the tool identifies a problem, apply the BIOS update and enable battery safety mode. This runs the battery down and then it no longer charges. You can still use the laptop, but only when it's plugged into an HP power adapter.
Once you've made an appointment, HP will send a technician to your home or place of business to replace the battery at no cost. Unfortunately, you really need a professional to do this, as the battery is internal to the system and is inaccessible without the right tools or expertise. In other words, I wouldn't recommend going in and playing around with the internals, especially if you have one of the affected laptops.