Cambridge Audio’s Yoyo (M) portable Bluetooth speaker, sold between 2016 and 2022, is being recalled in the United States after four reports of fires, smoke and ejected battery material. The Audio Partnership recall, posted by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission on September 3 as number 26-731, covers about 714 speakers and offers a full cash refund of $218. No injuries have been reported.
The speakers cost $172 to $218 when new, so the refund is a return of the top of the price range. The gap between the oldest sales and the recall is roughly ten years, long enough that many owners will have moved the speaker from a bedside table to a garage shelf or a drawer and forgotten it.
Identifying the Yoyo (M), and where it was sold
The CPSC notice says the speakers were sold at specialty audio stores nationwide and online through cambridgeaudio.com, Amazon.com and eBay. They come in light gray, dark gray and blue. Cambridge Audio’s U.S. recall page says every production batch is included, and that the serial number, which begins with the letters FD, is printed on the underside.
Because the product has been out of production for years, most units in circulation have changed hands. A second-hand buyer who picked one up on eBay may never have seen a recall notice, and the refund process asks for the speaker’s serial number.
Thermal runaway in a small lithium-ion pack
CPSC’s hazard statement is short: the lithium-ion batteries in the speaker “can overheat, posing a fire hazard.” Cambridge Audio’s UK safety notice is more specific, saying the battery can enter thermal runaway, a self-heating chain reaction, and that units have caught fire during charging. The company has discontinued the Yoyo (M) and tells owners not to try to remove or repair the battery themselves.
Cambridge Audio’s notice adds an apology in its own words, saying the company is sorry for the concern and wants to resolve it properly and quickly. Neither the company nor CPSC says why a battery that worked for years starts to fail, whether through cell aging, charger behavior or a manufacturing defect, and the recall notice does not say when the four fires occurred.
Four incidents among 714 recalled speakers works out to roughly one in 180, a high rate for a consumer electronics recall of any kind, though the small denominator makes the ratio unstable. The notice does not say whether the four reports came from the U.S. fleet alone or from all markets, and it gives no dates, so the recall cannot show whether the fires cluster in the oldest units or arrive evenly across the sales window.
The $218 refund and the disposal instructions that differ by country
The U.S. remedy is a cash refund of $218 through Cambridge Audio’s recall line, 888-805-5001, open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern time on weekdays. Until the refund is arranged, CPSC says owners should stop using the speaker, disconnect it from power, stop charging it and store it away from combustible materials. The UK page asks owners outside the United States and Canada to complete an online assessment form with photos of the unit and its serial number.
The refund figure sits at the top of the original price range. Speakers sold for as little as $172 still return $218 under the CPSC notice, and Cambridge Audio’s U.S. page says the payment is the actual purchase price where that is higher. The sources do not say what documentation a second-hand buyer needs, which is worth settling on the recall line before a speaker is boxed up for return.
Disposal is where the instructions diverge. CPSC says the speaker must not go in regular trash, curbside recycling or a battery recycling box, and that owners should contact a municipal household hazardous waste center. The Environmental Protection Agency gives the same reason in its household battery guidance: lithium-ion batteries should never go in household garbage or recycling bins, because “batteries can have enough energy to injure or start fires even when used and when they appear to be discharged.” The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration states in its lithium battery guidance that damaged, defective or recalled batteries have “greater potential than undamaged lithium batteries to short circuit, to release heat, or even to cause a fire,” which is why shipping one back to a retailer is a regulated activity in its own right.
Cambridge Audio’s UK page asks owners not to dispose of the speaker until they have received instructions after the assessment, so anyone holding a Yoyo (M) should get the company’s guidance before heading to a hazardous waste site. The Health Canada notice, dated September 22, counts 309 speakers sold there and says the company had received no reports of incidents or injuries in Canada as of September 14. The open question is how many of the 714 U.S. speakers are still plugged in somewhere.
This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.
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