What you need to know
- Fitbit has announced a voluntary recall of its Ionic smartwatches.
- Fitbit says the battery in the Ionic can overheat and pose a burn hazard.
- The smartwatch was introduced in 2017.
Fitbit and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) on March 2 announced a recall of Fitbit Ionic smartwatches over safety concerns. Fitbit says it performed a thorough investigation and found that “in very limited instances,” the Ionic’s battery can overheat and pose a burn hazard.
So far, Fitbit has received 78 reports of burn injuries caused by the Ionic in the U.S. These include two reports of third-degree burns and four reports of second-degree burns.
Since Fitbit stopped making the smartwatch in 2020, the company isn’t offering replacement devices as part of the recall. Instead, Fitbit is offering a $299 refund to Ionic customers. Even though the issue doesn’t appear to affect every Ionic device, Fitbit recommends that owners stop using the smartwatch immediately.
If you own a Fitbit Ionic smartwatch, you’ll need to visit Fitbit’s refund registration page to apply for your refund. After you complete the process, your refund should arrive in three to six weeks. You will also receive a special discount of up to 40% on some of Fitbit’s best smartwatches, fitness bands, and services for a limited time. It is important to note, however, that the special offers must be redeemed within 90 days of registering for your refund.
You can visit the EPA website to find out how you should recycle or dispose of your Fitbit Ionic. Before you recycle the device, you must ensure that you perform a factory reset to erase all your personal information. Detailed instructions on removing all data from the device can be found here.
Fitbit has sold around 1.7 million Ionic smartwatches globally, out of which about 1 million were sold in the U.S. alone.
In a statement sent to Android Central, a Fitbit spokesperson said:
Customer safety is always Fitbit’s top priority and out of an abundance of caution, we are conducting a voluntary recall of Fitbit Ionic smartwatches. We received a very limited number of injury reports - the totals in the CPSC announcement represent less than 0.01% of units sold - of the battery in Fitbit Ionic smartwatches overheating, posing a burn hazard. These incidents are very rare and this voluntary recall does not impact other Fitbit smartwatches or trackers.
