A Nokia Tablet Charger Could Shock You, Literally

Some cautionary news Thursday for all you Nokia devotees out there — some Lumia 2520 chargers can electrically shock you, which has led to halted sales in seven countries. The devil appears to be in the details, as the European AC-300 charger may be fine when used properly, but has a distinct design flaw. Basically, the charger's exchangeable plug is encased in a plastic cover, which can accidentally get loose and come apart, exposing the plug's components and leaving you prone to a shock if you touch it while plugged in.

Unfortunately for Nokia, revelation only affects some 30,000 users worldwide, and an awkward 600 users in America — low numbers which hint at distressingly poor sales.

Thankfully, this seems to be a proactive warning on Nokia's part. There aren't any reported incidents of users actually having this happen to them. Rather, the flaw was discovered as part of an internal check. So far, Austria, Germany, Russia, Finland, Switzerland, Denmark, Finland, and the United Kingdom have temporarily pulled the tablet.

If you bought one in the U.S. and have been using the charger that came with it, good news — that's all ship-shape. However, the Lumia 2520 travel charger is not, and had been available in the United States, so be aware if you have one of those.

The upshot of this news for Nokia — in addition to the obvious downsides of having a faulty, potentially hazardous product — are the numbers released as to how many people will be affected by this. As you might have guessed, they're not very impressive.

Perhaps it shouldn't come as a surprise that Nokia has left in the dust a bit. After all, the company's been catering to semi-Luddites for years. Even today, they'll sell you the slickest damn dumbphone on the market.