You know, as consumers we don't ask for much from our smart products.
Mostly that's because they do a lot of really cool stuff we couldn't have imagined even needing to begin with. We mostly just want them to do what they claim to do, which is look cool, make things easier and be sold at an affordable price.
Oh, and if they could not sear our flesh off, that would be great.
Some Fitbit owners, unfortunately, have had that very issue. The company announced Wednesday that it was issuing a recall for its Ionic smartwatch model due to the lithium-ion battery within overheating, posing a burn hazard.
The recall comes from the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission after almost 200 Fitbit owners reported the watch battery overheating as they were wearing the product.
Of those, 78 reported burn injuries, some of them second- and third-degree, which is not cool on any possible level.
Fitbit
What Fitbit Ionic Models Are Included?
Well, if you own an Ionic watch with the model number FB503 on the back, you're going to want to pry that off your wrist immediately.
The recall includes all colors the watch has previously been sold in, including slate blue/burnt orange, charcoal/smoke gray, blue gray/silver gray, and the special edition co-branded with Adidas in ink blue/silver gray.
Fitbit stopped selling the Ionic in 2020, however, so you don't have to worry that you'll accidentally buy one and forget until later than it might turn against you.
If you'd like to return your Ionic model as part of the recall, go here to complete a recall form that will ship your hazardous old watch back off to Fitbit, which they will refund for $299.
You cannot obtain a replacement since the model is no longer made and is not safe to wear anyway.
But Fitbit will also give you a discount code for 40% off selected devices in case you'd like to chance wearing another device that may or may not injure you.
There's also a pretty comprehensive FAQ in case you have any other questions.
Fitbit
Why This Looks Bad on Google
Google (GOOGL) bought Fitbit back in January 2021 for $2 billion dollars, hoping to nudge its way further into the health space.
Many Fitbit users chose to stop using the products after the acquisition, worried that Google's famous passion for user data meant their personal information would be heavily mined.
One customer even shared publicly that their data was still used even after specifically asking Fitbit to remove it, which only gave those already worried more to be concerned about.
But considering that the Ionic was purchased by about a million users in the U.S. and about 693,000 internationally, it's likely on a lot of wrists as we speak.
There's also nothing like a recall to cast a long shadow over a brand's reputation. The discount code for 40% is surely intended to offset that, but it might not be a sweet enough deal to entice people who were already growing wary of the brand to begin with.
Not to mention, there are plenty of other solid smartwatches to choose from on the market. So if you want to change brands from here on out, there's no shortage of options.
