Fitbit announces recall of 1.7 million smartwatches over burn hazard

Smartwatch manufacturing giant Fitbit has made an announcement for recall of its smartwatches. The Consumer Product Safety Commission said that recall has been made due to a potential burn hazard. The agency on March 2, 2022 said that the recall is voluntary and involves some of the iconic smartwatches by Fitbit. The smartwatches by Fitbit are powered by lithium ion battery that have the risk of getting overheated and pose a burn hazard for the users of the device.

The agency has also informed that the recall has affected nearly one million of the smartwatches that were sold in the United States. Apart from that the recall will also affect the additional 693,000 devices that were sold in the International market. Before the recall was announced the company has received 174 reports on a global basis of overheating of the device. Out of these 78 burn injuries have been reported in the United States which includes two reports of third degree burns and four reports of second degree burns.

Fitbit is owned by Google, and a spokesperson from the company Andrea Holing confirmed about the recall in a statement released and clarified that the number of injuries reported had represented less than 0.01% of the units that were sold. Holing also said in the statement that their first priority is customer safety and have always considered caution first. It was also clarified that such incidences are very rare and the voluntary recall does not impact the other Fitbit smartwatches or the trackers.

The company has also urged people who are using those devices to stop using them. The agency has announced that the company would be processing a refund of $299 after the consumers return the Fitbit devices. It was also added that the company would be providing the participating customers with a discount code of 40% for some of the selected devices by Fitbit. Google had acquired Fitbit in a $2.1 billion deal.

Photo Credits: Mashable