Fitbit Recall – SENSE

Bad timing of bad news hits Fitbit.

A recall is never good news but thankfully for Fitbit, this one is claimed to only affect a small number of devices. Specifically, it is the ECG functionality on Fitbit’s high-end SENSE model that is causing the problem and ‘only’ 900 of these are claimed to be affected. Naturally, Fitbit is replacing them FOC and is contacting customers to arrange that.

Although similar, this does NOT affect the Fitbit Versa 3 model as the ECG features are reserved only for the Fitbit SENSE.

It was clear that Fitbit had to release the Versa 3 and SENSE to meet customers’ needs for Christmas and analysts needs for the sale numbers in the key period of the year. Some industry commenters thought that the launch was a little rushed as there were also a notable number of niggles at launch…it looks like their concerns may have been justified.

Recalls are thankfully rare. You might recall a situation with the Fenix 5 and Fenix 5s a few years ago where a recall was possibly warranted but Garmin chose to rough it out, handily for Garmin, reviewers tied to Garmin tend to be too afraid to talk about these things too loudly. The success of the subsequent Fenix 5-plus and Fenix 6 showed that their strategy didn’t especially hurt their prospects. That said, this year’s Garminpocalypse melt-down really was bad news for Garmin but how often have you thought about that recently? Thought not…me neither!

Not to be confused with the Polar SENSE armband!

Here is the full email that affected customers should have already received from Fitbit:

“Hi,

This is Fitbit Customer Support. Thanks for your purchase of Fitbit Sense.

We identified a hardware issue with your device that could affect its ability to work properly. Please return the device to us. We’ll provide you with a prepaid return label.

To ensure the best possible Fitbit experience, we’re providing you with a replacement free of charge. Please keep all original accessories, such as your charging cable and band. You’ll receive a replacement device only.

After we receive your shipping details, you’ll receive an email message with the next steps for your replacement and then we’ll expedite a new Fitbit Sense to you.

Reply to this email message and provide us with the following information:
– Full name:
– Street address (line 1):
– Street address (line 2):
– City:
– Postal code:
– Phone number:
– Email address associated with your Fitbit account:

If you have any questions, please reply to this email message or visit: help.fitbit.com

Sincerely,

Joseph RL. and the Fitbit Team

Source: The Verge