Skip to main content

Electric shock risk forces Barnes & Noble to recall faulty Nook Tablet 7 adapters

It’s been a rough ride for Barnes & Noble’s new Nook Tablet 7. Just weeks after it suspended sales of the $50 device in response to reports of the power adapter’s casing breaking off, the company has now issued a total recall of those adapters.

The budget 7-inch tablet launched at the end of November 2016 togo up against Amazon’s cheapest Fire tablet. When the fault with the adapter was discovered last month, Barnes & Noble told owners to stop using it until a replacement could be provided.

Recommended Videos

However, it appears the company has since concluded that the adapter is, in fact, a little on the dangerous side, prompting it to post a recall page on its website.

The company, which is of course more famous for selling books than tablets, fails to mention the reason for the recall on its Help Center page. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), however, has been good enough to furnish owners with a little more information, explaining that the adapter, which doubles as the device’s charger, could potentially cause an electric shock.

“The power adapter casing can break when plugged into an electrical outlet, exposing its metal prongs, posing an electric shock hazard,” the CPSC says on its site. It adds, “Barnes & Noble has received four reports of the power adapter breaking or pulling apart exposing the metal prongs. No injuries have been reported.”

Just under 150,000 of the China-made adapters are included in the recall, which Nook Tablet 7 owners are told to “immediately stop using.”

If you have one, hop over to the company’s special webpage to take the first step toward obtaining a free replacement. You’ll also receive a $5 Barnes & Noble gift card for your troubles.

Once you’ve registered, you’ll be prompted to print a pre-paid UPS label to return your adapter to Barnes & Noble, after which you’ll receive a replacement in the mail.

The good news is that while you’re waiting, your Nook Tablet 7 needn’t become a paperweight, table mat, or indeed a projectile in a fiery family dispute, as you can still charge it through your computer using a USB cable.

Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
The OnePlus Pad 3 is one of the best tablets I’ve used, here’s why
The back of the OnePlus Pad 3.

Android smartphones have long competed with, and in some cases, surpassed, the iPhone, but the same can’t be said for tablets. Android makers have long harbored ambitions to compete with the iPad in the category that Apple created, dating back to the launch of the first Galaxy Tab, which occurred 15 years ago.

Yet, the iPad remains the best tablet for most people. The iPad Pro M4 ushered in the tandem OLED era as Apple stacked two OLED displays for an incredibly immersive experience. The Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra was the first to compete and offers the same great experience you can find on Galaxy phones, but with a few compromises.

Read more
How to watch today’s WWDC keynote, and 3 reasons to do so
You can livestream the WWDC 2025 keynote for free
Apple WWDC 2025 logo

Apple’s WWDC 2025 (Worldwide Developer’s Conference) starts today. In case you didn't already know, WWDC is an annual event used by the tech giant to showcase new software and technologies across its product ecosystem, while also providing developers with sessions and tools to help them build apps for Apple's devices.

How to watch the WWDC 2025 keynote

Read more
Will my iPhone get iOS 26? Here’s every supported model
We've got the full list of iOS 26 supported devices - find out if you're getting the new iPhone update
iOS 26 features on a series of iPhone screens

Apple announced iOS 26 at WWDC 2025, and the new iPhone update comes with a fresh new 'Liquid Glass' look and plenty of features - and there are loads of iOS 26 supported devices, which is great news.

And no, you haven't missed a volley of updates since iOS 18 in 2024. Apple has skipped a bunch of numbers, so instead of giving us iOS 19 in 2025, we got iOS 26 alongside iPadOS 26, macOS 26, watchOS 26 and tvOS 26. In short, Apple's brought its operating system numbering into line. Nice.

Read more