Audio-Technica warns of overheating problems with its new cheap wireless earbuds that ‘may produce smoke’
- Audio-Technica’s SQ1TW2 earphones have a battery overheating problem
- The problem is with the charging case, which can produce smoke
- The manufacturer assures us that no one has been harmed by the problem
Audio-Technica has issued a warning for its new SQ1TW2 wireless earphones, with some versions suffering from a battery fault that could cause overheating with alarming consequences.
In an email, Audio-Technica told TechRadar that one stock of these earphones is experiencing an issue, meaning “some charging cases are defective due to an overheated battery that may produce smoke.”
If you want to check, the potentially affected models have serial numbers between 2322 and 2426. You can see the number inside the charging case as shown in the image below. If your case does not have a serial number, this problem can also occur.
If you have one of the affected models of SQ1TW2 earphones, you will need to contact Audio-Technica. The company will arrange a replacement and ensure the safe disposal of the defective product.
As you might guess, you also shouldn’t use the charging case with the earphones while you wait for your defective model to be replaced.
A precautionary recall
This is obviously an unfortunate affair, so check the serial number if you purchased the SQ1TW2 earphones.
They’ve probably been a popular budget model, as they’re the follow-up to the original SQ1TW, earphones we praised highly in our five-star review (with much higher quality sound than others in its price range). The SQ1TW2 was launched in August 2024, at an even lower price than the original earphones, with a more compact nature.
So this is a rather ugly blemish on an otherwise exciting budget pair of earphones, but the impact is obviously limited to a (hopefully) small number of models, according to the company’s communications. Audio-Technica makes it clear that no one has been harmed by this issue so far, and the recall is a precautionary measure.
Yet this is not the first issue of this nature; one came out a few years ago product safety notice for the ATH-CK3TW earbudsdue to a similar overheating issue with the charging case. We asked Audio-Technica if it will issue a similar notice for its SQ1TW2 earphones and will update this story if we hear back.
