Amazon Announces the Impending Closure of Halo, Bricking Its Wearables This August

All Halo devices to shut down on August 1st, the company has confirmed — but refunds await those who bought within 12 months.

Amazon has announced that it is closing its Halo division, and that all Halo wearables and devices will be rendered useless come August — but is promising to refund anyone who has purchased a Halo gadget in the last 12 months a full refund.

Amazon launched its Halo division back in August 2020, alongside its first wearable: the Amazon Halo Band. "Health is much more than just the number of steps you take in a day or how many hours you sleep," claimed Amazon Halo's principal medical officer Maulik Majmudar, MD, at the time. "Amazon Halo combines the latest medical science, highly accurate data via the Halo Band sensors, and cutting-edge artificial intelligence to offer a more comprehensive approach to improving your health and wellness."

A year later the company added the Halo View, with color AMOLED display, along with Halo Fitness workout classes and Halo Nutrition for healthier eating habits. September last year saw what turns out to be the final hardware launch for the Halo ecosystem, the Halo Rise — a bedside sleep tracker. "Halo Rise is designed to work intelligently in the background," claimed Amazon's Melissa Cha of the launch, "and give you an entirely new and effortless way to manage your sleep and achieve sleep-life harmony."

It's Cha, vice president of Amazon's Smart Home and Health arm into which Halo slotted, that told staff of the plan to close the division. "Halo has faced significant headwinds," Cha told employees in a leaked internal email first publicized by The Verge, "including an increasingly crowded segment and an uncertain economic environment. Although our customers love many aspects of Halo, we must prioritize resources and maximize benefits to customers and the long-term health of the business."

The legitimacy of the leaked email was confirmed by Amazon with a public announcement, attributed to "Amazon Staff." "We recently made the very difficult decision to stop supporting Amazon Halo effective July 31, 2023," the company's announcement reads. "We are incredibly proud of the invention and hard work that went into building Halo on behalf of our customers, and our priorities are taking care of our customers and supporting our employees."

Those who had bought into the Halo ecosystem, which included monthly or annual subscriptions atop the cost of the hardware, will be made whole, Amazon has claimed: any hardware purchases made in the last 12 months will be refunded in full, as will any unused subscription fees. "If you have a paid subscription," the company's statement reads, "as of today you will no longer be charged the monthly subscription fee."

The hardware, meanwhile, will be bricked on August 1st, with all Halo health data automatically deleted. The company is encouraging owners to send the devices in for recycling under the Amazon Recycling Program, with free shipping — though we're expecting to see several end up in the hands of hackers and tinkerers interested in bringing them back from the dead with alternative firmware and storage services.

Amazon's full statement, including information on using the Amazon Recycling Program, is available on its corporate website.

Gareth Halfacree
Freelance journalist, technical author, hacker, tinkerer, erstwhile sysadmin. For hire: freelance@halfacree.co.uk.
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