Last month, Fitbit Versa 3 and Sense house owners began getting notifications to obtain a compulsory firmware replace. The downside? Overheating batteries. In an official shopper discover, Google (which owns Fitbit) notes that the firmware replace would “cut back the danger of battery overheating and cut back battery capability.” Affected customers, of which Google says there’s a “restricted quantity,” had been additionally eligible to use for a $50 credit score.
Technically, fixing this sort of downside is an efficient factor. You don’t need batteries to overheat and burn a buyer — and the official discover additionally notes that this difficulty doesn’t influence all Versa 3 or Sense gadgets. However, affected customers have reported on Fitbit’s boards and subreddit that the replace dramatically decreased their gadgets’ battery life.
Multiple customers have complained that gadgets that used to final wherever between 2-6 days now barely final a single day after updating to the brand new firmware. Some have mentioned the discount has now made their gadgets ineffective. Others are upset that Fitbit is just providing $50 as an appeasement.
In its discover, Google does word that the firmware replace will end result within the battery lasting “for shorter intervals between costs and [users] might must cost [their] gadgets extra regularly.” However, to smartwatch customers, there’s an enormous distinction between charging extra regularly and charging day by day. Many individuals who go for Fitbits achieve this exactly as a result of the model’s smartwatches are recognized to last more than a single day. The Verge reached out to Google for additional particulars, however the firm declined so as to add any extra commentary past the official discover.
Meanwhile, a lawsuit filed in 2022 alleges that Fitbit’s downside wasn’t restricted to the Ionic. The plaintiffs claimed the difficulty additionally impacted the Versa Lite and a Versa 2. The lawsuit additionally included photographs of burns that individuals mentioned got here from their Fitbit Blaze, Inspire, Inspire 2, Sense, and Versa 3 gadgets. The newest firmware replace appears to validate that battery overheating no less than was an issue with the Versa 3 and Sense.
These kinds of battery complaints with Fitbits aren’t new. Peruse the r/Fitbit subreddit, and also you’ll discover years’ price of Fitbit house owners questioning if their gadgets are burning them or simply inflicting pores and skin irritation. There are additionally quite a few threads of customers pondering sudden, fast battery drain. Almost all these threads additionally spotlight tough experiences with buyer help. In different phrases, this most up-to-date case simply underscores how this has been an issue for fairly a while — a problem exacerbated for longtime Fitbit customers by a messy transition interval since Google acquired Fitbit.
