14 DAY TRIAL // Sense is Fitbit’s flagship smartwatch, and naturally, it comes with the best the company has to offer right now, including ECG functionality.
Launched with much fanfare earlier this year, Fitbit Sense is supposed to be a premium device competing against the Apple Watch, so the feature lineup is impressive, to say the least.
However, the soon-to-be-Google-owned company says it discovered some issues with the ECG sensors, and by the looks of things, they can’t be solved with a software update, so it decided to replace some of the smartwatches sold to customers out there.
According to an email sent by Fitbit to customers, the company will replace the faulty Sense units with new ones that are supposed to work correctly. No specifics have been provided on the actual ECG glitch and how users can tell their devices are malfunctioning.
Fitbit cryptic about the hardware issue
“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,” Fitbit says in an email sent to customers.
“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.”
Needless to say, while some customers believe this is a scam email, Fitbit has confirmed it’s reaching out to users who purchased the Sense and provides them with instructions on how to send in the smartwatch and then receive a new unit that works correctly.
No specifics have been shared on the issue, and Fitbit insists users communicate on email, with no other information disclosed on public channels.
UPDATE, December 8: Fitbit has provided us with a statement on this, explaining there are fewer than 900 units that would be replaced.
“We have found an issue in a very limited subset of our initial Fitbit Sense shipments – a few hundred devices globally - that could cause the ECG App to default to an ‘Inconclusive’ result during readings. We are able to identify the impacted devices upon set up and are immediately reaching out to these users to provide them with a new replacement device free of charge. No other Fitbit devices are impacted, and future shipments of Sense devices will not be affected by this issue.”