Fitbit recalls 1.7 mn smartwatches due to burn risk

The US Consumer Product Safety Commission said in a recall notice that it received slightly more than 100 reports of Ionic wearers being burned by the smartwatches.

A handful of those burns were reported to be second-degree or third-degree.

"Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled Ionic smartwatches," the commission urged.

About a million Ionic smartwatches have been sold in the United States and another 693,000 or so outside the country, according to the notice.

Fitbit is offering refunds of $299 each for the recalled smartwatches, which the company had manufactured in Taiwan but stopped producing in 2020.

Google completed its buy of Fitbit early last year in a deal valued at $2.1 billion and is expected to soon release a Pixel smartwatch designed to sync with Android-powered smartphones.

Fitbit was a pioneer in the market for "wearable" devices used to keep track of activities from sleep to running but quickly faced rivals including an Apple Watch with sophisticated health-focused features.