Fitbitannouncedthis morning that it is participating in arecall of its ionic smartwatch by the United States ConsumerProduct Safety Commission following reports ofbatteryoverheating and potentialburns.
TheCPSC adds in a report today that at least 115 people in theUS –and 59worldwide –have reportedthe device’sbatteryoverheating. Thesefiguresincludea total of 118burn reports,with twothird-degree burnreports and foursecond-degree burn reports.
TheCPSC notes, “Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled Ionic smartwatches and contact Fitbit to receive prepaid packaging to return thedevice. Therecall applies toiondevices with model number FB503,which isone million in theUnited States and693,000worldwide.
Fitbitis refunding the productfor$299 (plus a discount on futuredevicesif you want to replaceit).
The Google-ownedwearabledevicemaker says it participated in the recall“outof an abundance ofcaution.
“Fitbit’sfull statementis: Customersafety is alwaysFitbit’stoppriority,andas a precaution,we arevoluntarily recallingFitbit Ionicsmartwatches. We havereceived a very limited number of reportsof Injuries: Totalsin CPSC announcementRepresentless than 0.01% of unitssold: Thebattery in Fitbit Ionic smartwatchesisoverheating,causingarisk of burns. Theseincidents are very rare and this voluntary recalldidnotanyimpactonother Fitbit smartwatches or trackers.
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