Warning Issued To Fitbit Users Over Safety Risk

Google has issued a warning to owners of Fitbit Sense and Versa 3 watches after reports of the wearables overheating.

Fitbit says a “limited number” of the watches are "at risk of their batteries overheating, which poses a potential risk for users” in a notice posted on the Google website on January 21.

There is already a fix in progress, but it will have a significant knock-on side effect.

A firmware update is rolling out at present to address the overheating issue but it will also “reduce battery capacity."

Fitbit says the issues does not affect all Sense and Versa 3 watches. How can you tell if your wearable is affected or not? It’ll tell you, apparently.

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.

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.

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It’s likely a smart move given even a slight risk overheating could turn into something more dangerous.

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.

Reading between the lines of Fitbit's bulletin, it sounds as though certain batches of Sense and Versa 3 watches use a type of lithium ion battery that isn’t aging with as much grace as you might hope. By reducing the battery capacity, the Sense/Versa 3 should be able to avoid some strain on the lithium ion cell.

Fitbit is offering a $50 “appeasement” to affected Sense and Versa 3 owners, through a form available from the Google Support website.

The Fitbit Versa 3 and Sense are now fairly old watches. Both were released in September 2020, a long enough time for plenty of watches’ batteries to be seeing the effects of time and charge cycles.

I've contacted Fitbit for more information on how wide-reaching this issue is, as the Versa 3 is still available to buy new in the UK, or as a return from Amazon Resale in the U.S..

The $50 compensation program will be available until 21 January 2026.