Overheating issue on Fitbit

On January 21, 2025, Google released a statement that confirmed overheating issues on Fitbit Sense and Versa 3 smartwatches.

The overheating issue affects a few smartwatches of the Fitbit Sense and Versa 3 smartwatches. The company claims that not all Sense and Versa 3 smartwatches are impacted.

We look at the overheating and burning issues on Fitbit Sense and Versa 3. For now, the burning issue has been acknowledged for Versa 3 and Sense smartwatches. There is a possibility that the overheating issue may be impacting other Fitbit smartwatch variants as well.

Meanwhile, Google has been penalized $12.25 million for the burning issue of Fitbit Ionic smartwatches. The Ionic issue was first confirmed in 2022. It was reported that Fitbit Ionic smartwatches caused burn injuries to 78 people. To settle these claims, Google has agreed to a penalty of $12.25 million imposed by the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

We look at the Fitbit heating issues in detail below.

Fitbit Ionic Burning Issues – 2022

Fitbit recalled Ionic smartwatches in 2022 after it was reported that the watch caused burn injuries to the wearers due to overheating. In all, 1.7 million Ionic smartwatches were recalled.

Back in 2022, the Consumer Product Safety Commission received 115 complaints of overheating due to Ionic smartwatches.

These complaints and issues were reported between 2018 to 2020 by different Fitbit users. Fitbit tried to resolve the issues by releasing firmware updates for the Ionic smartwatches. But, these firmware updates did not seem to make an impact on all the affected Ionic smartwatches.

78 cases of burn injuries were reported. 2 users were reported to have suffered 3rd degree burn injuries due to Ionic smartwatches.

Fitbit was acquired by Google. And, Google has agreed to pay a sum of $12.25 million to the Consumer Product Safety Commission in a bid to settle the claims arising from burn injuries.

The CPSC claims that Fitbit knew that the Ionic smartwatches were impacted by battery heating issues. The company chose to disregard the public safety hazards due to overheating of the Ionic battery.

The ruling of the CPSC commission states the nomenclature of the Fitbit settlement:

In addition to the $12.25 million civil penalty, the settlement agreement requires Fitbit to maintain internal controls and procedures designed to ensure compliance with the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA), including enhancements made to its compliance program.  Fitbit has also agreed to submit an annual report regarding its compliance program, internal controls, and internal audit of the effectiveness of compliance policies, procedures, systems and training.

The CPSC ruling can be seen on this page.

More Fitbit Smartwatches reported by users

Many Fitbit users made complaints in 2023 against Google (Google had already completed acquisition of Fitbit). The user complaints reported that other Fitbit smartwatch models also displayed issues of overheating of the battery. The burn injuries, therefore, were reported on other Fitbit smartwatches.

Overheating on Fitbit Versa 3 and Sense

January 21 statement of Google confirmed that the overheating issues did affect some Fitbit Versa 3 and Sense smartwatches.

The company, therefore, offered to pay $50 appeasement fee to the affected smartwatch owners of Versa 3 and Sense smartwatches.

Affected watch owners will get notification about the issue in the Fitbit app. You can also find your eligibility for the appeasement fee.

To check eligibility of appeasement claims, Google asked Fitbit Versa 3 and Sense users to fill the smartwatch details on the Google form for Fitbit Versa 3 and Sense smartwatches.

In the interim, Google will release a new firmware update for the Versa 3 and Sense smartwatches.

This firmware update is designed to change the battery charging process or mechanism. Versa 3 and Sense smartwatches do come with Lithium ion battery.

The firmware update is designed to control the amount of charge that can be added to a Fitbit Sense and Versa 3 battery. This firmware update, upon successful completion, will reduce the battery backup offered by Sense and Versa 3 smartwatches.

So, Fitbit Versa 3 and Sense users need to follow the process below:

  • Check if your Fitbit Sense or Versa 3 smartwatch is impacted by an overheating issue. If “your device is impacted, you’ll see a notification on your watch and in the Fitbit app, as well as receive an email from us, when the firmware is available for you to install,” says Fitbit.
  • If your watch is affected, fill the Google support form and share details of the Versa 3 or Sense smartwatch.
  • Once Google validates your request, it will pay you a $50 appeasement fee.
  • The $50 compensation program will be available until 21 January 2026.
  • Otherwise, you need to apply the latest firmware update to Fitbit Versa 3 and Sense smartwatches. This isn’t an optional update either. Once your device receives the update availability notification, you have a “few days” to install it. If you don’t, your Sense or Versa 3 will factory reset, prompting the update when you try to set it up again.
  • If the firmware update is not completed within stipulated time, the Sense and Versa 3 smartwatches will be automatically factory reset.

As of writing this, the newest firmware update for Versa 3 and Sense smartwatches has not been released yet.

Meanwhile, Fitbit released another statement claiming that the overheating issue in Sense and Versa 3 smartwatches is rare and minor in nature:

Fitbit does not advise anyone needs to stop using or charging their Sense or Versa 3 watch, though, suggesting actual reports of overheating are not common or notably severe.

Is Fitbit Sense and Versa 3 overheating issue limited to US?

There is no confirmation about the region specifics of the Fitbit overheating issue on Fitbit Sense and Versa 3.

Fitbit Versa 3 is still being sold in many countries, including UK. On a similar note, Fitbit Sense is also been offloaded on many 3rd world countries. It is unclear if the overheating issue these watches being sold or already sold outside US.

We know for a fact that UK, Canada, and Australia continue to be prime markets for Fitbit smartwatches. Users in these countries must address overheating claims with the country-specific Fitbit customer support teams.

Fitbit overheating issue – other models?

For now, we have anecdotal evidence of overheating issues in Fitbit Ionic, Versa 3 and Sense smartwatches.

There is no official confirmation about Fitbit Sense 2, Fitbit Versa 2 or Fitbit Versa 4 smartwatches.

For a fact, the initial overheating issue on the Fitbit Ionic smartwatches just expanded to the Versa 3 and Sense smartwatches.

What should Fitbit owners do?

You must follow the Reddit thread about Fitbit overheating issues to find the latest in terms of claims, counter claims and settlement of the burning issues reported in Fitbit smartwatches.

We believe that checking Reddit thread on a regular basis would help give your the most current status of user complains, issues, and settlement processes.

You can check the Reddit thread here. This is specific for the Versa 3 and Sense smartwatches.