This week the Consumer Products Commission announced this, this Fitbit has agreed to pay a settlement of $12.25 million over one of their older smartwatches that had a battery fault that had left some users with serious burns. Meanwhile, Fitbit itself announced that some of its newer smartwatches – the Sense and the Versa 3 – –May also have a problem with overheating batteries This could pose a danger to carriers and they are updating their software to fix the problem.
What’s the problem with Sense and Versa 3?
According to a Notice posted in Fitbit Help CenterSome (not all) Sinn and Versa-3 devices have a faulty battery that could overheat and potentially cause burns. Both watches were released in 2020. To date, Fitbit has not identified any newer watches as having this issue.
What to do if you have a Sinn or a Versa 3
Fitbit says they are rolling out an update for the affected watches (again not everyone Sense or Versa 3) limit battery functions. Fitbit says: “The update improves the stability of the device’s battery performance and reduces the risk of the battery overheating. As a result, the battery will last shorter periods between charges and you may need to charge your device more often. “
If you not I would like to update your device, sorry. After this notification, your device will be factory reset after several days. This means that data that has not been synced to your phone will be deleted and you will have to go through the setup process again. During the setup process, the new firmware update is installed. There doesn’t seem to be a way to continue using the device without an update.
You’ll know your device is due for an update thanks to notifications sent to your phone, device and email.
You can get $50 if you have an “affected” sense or against Versa 3
To soften the blow, Fitbit has a facility a form You can fill out to determine eligibility for a $50 “appeasement” if your device was one of those forced to update. Fitbit says it could take a week to verify you’re eligible. During this time you may be asked for further information and an additional three weeks to process the payment.
Fitbit also agreed to pay a fine over a previous dangerous battery problem
While it shouldn’t affect current Fitbit users, the company has also agreed to pay the $12.25 million settlement to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission over a previous battery issue. The Ionic, a smartwatch launched in 2017, started burning people back in 2018.
In 2020, the same year that Ionics was discontinued, Fitbit rolled out a battery update to reduce the risk of overheating (Hmm, well known), but continued to receive reports of burns. They worked with the CPSC to do a full recall in 2022. You can More information about this recall can be found here.
The liquidation -Fitbit is now paying not consumers who had the affected watches (that compensation was intended to be addressed with the recall), but rather the CPSC itself for failing to inform the government agency about such a seriously dangerous product. There were 78 reports of burn injuries, including two reports of third-degree burns and four reports of second-degree burns, the CPSC said. The company is also required to “maintain internal controls and procedures to ensure compliance with the Consumer Products Act (CPSA).”
A battery update is not necessarily an ideal solution for consumers. For example, Fitbit’s parent company Google recently recently Introduced a battery update for its old Pixel 4A phones (Published in 2020) That some users say makes the devices unusable. I’ve reached out to Fitbit to ask if the Sense and Versa-3 update are related to the CPSC settlement and will update this article if I hear back.
