Fitbit Recalls 1.7 Million Watches Over Burn Concerns

Fitbit has issued an international recall of roughly 1.7 million Ionic smartwatches, after recieving over 115 reports of the lithium-ion battery overheating and burning wearers.

Two of these were reports of third-degree burns.

“The health and safety of Fitbit users is our highest priority. We are taking this action out of an abundance of caution for our users. We will offer a refund to Fitbit Ionic customers,” Fitbit said in a statement.

The recall affects about one million products sold in the US and nearly 700,000 others sold abroad, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission said.

The company is offering a full refund, plus a 40 per cent discount on another device.

Users are adviced to immediately stop using the watches. The Ionic was discontinued in 2020, but was sold from September 2017 to December 2021.

Fitbit says the issue affects “less than 0.01% of Ionic Smartwatches that were sold to the public.”