1 million Fitbit Ionic smartwatches recalled over burn risk

American consumer electronics and fitness company Fitbit has issued a product recall for close to 1 million of its Ionic smartwatches sold in the United States because they pose a burn hazard, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) said in a statement on Wednesday.

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According to the statement, the company had received at least 115 reports in the United States of the watch battery overheating. Seventy-eight of them reported burn injuries, with some of them being second-degree and third-degree burns.

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These watches were sold at Best Buy, Kohl’s, Target and other stores nationwide. They were also sold online at Amazon.com and Fitbit.com from September 2017 through December 2021 for between $200 to $330. The production of the smartwatch was stopped in 2020.

“This recall only involves the Fitbit Ionic Smartwatch. It was sold with a polyurethane band and has a 1.4-inch color LCD screen. The watches were sold in slate blue/burnt orange, charcoal/smoke gray, blue gray/silver gray, and a special edition co-branded with Adidas in ink blue/silver gray. The smartwatch tracks activity, heart rate, and sleep. Only the following models and colors are included in this recall. For the Ionic device, the model number (FB503) is on the back of the device near where the band attaches. Fitbit is printed on the front of the Ionic Smartwatch,” CPSC said,

Meanwhile, in an emailed statement to USA TODAY, Fitbit said such incidents are “very rare.”

“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,” said Fitbit in its statement.