Fitbit, which is owned by Google, recalled approximately 1.7 million of its Ionic Smartwatches, after receiving reports that the lithium-ion battery included in the product can overheat and burn users, as confirmed by the Wednesday the company and federal security officials.
The voluntary recall of smart bracelets was announced after at least 115 reports of customers in the United States who noticed that their watches had overheated.
The problem resulted in 40 reports of injuries related to burns, including two reports of third degree burns and four reports of second degree burns.
The recall affects around one million products sold in the US and nearly 700,000 sold abroad, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission r of the US The agency advised the public to immediately stop using smart wristbands.
“The health and safety of Fitbit users is our top 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.
Fitbit said the issue does not affect its other smartwatch and fitness tracker models. In addition to the full refund, the fitness technology firm is offering affected customers a 40% discount on some of their other devices.
The company said it took action after a thorough investigation revealed that batteries overheated in some very limited cases.
Fitbit stopped producing the Ionic model in 2020. The product was sold by various stores, including Best Buy, Target and Amazon, from September 2017 to December 2021 at prices ranging between $200 and $330 dollars.
Fitbit noted reports of overheating batteries affected less than 0.01 % of Ionic smartwatches that were sold to the public.
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