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Fitbit is reaching out to some owners of its Sense smartwatch to suggest replacements after discovering a bug affecting its electrocardiogram (ECG) readings. Users on the Fitbit forums have reported receiving emails from the company warning that their devices are affected by an unspecified “hardware issue”.
Fitbit subsequently confirmed to The edge that the issue specifically affects its ECG functionality and that less than 900 devices worldwide are affected. The emails ask affected users to return the smartwatch to Fitbit and state that they will receive a replacement device for free.
Besides stress sensing and temperature tracking, Fitbit Sense’s ECG app is one of its key differentiating features from Fitbit’s other recent smartwatch; the Versa 3. The ECG feature allows the watch to read the wearer’s heart rate for conditions such as atrial fibrillation. Although it wasn’t available when we reviewed the smartwatch in September, Fitbit rolled out its ECG app the following month.
When contacted for comment, a spokesperson for Fitbit UK confirmed the issue to The edge, and said the issue affects the ECG app on a limited number of Sense devices. The problem means that the application may incorrectly display an “inconclusive” result during reads. Fitbit also confirmed that no other devices, or future shipments of Sense smartwatches, are affected by the issue and said it is contacting affected users directly to make replacements.
The $ 329.95 Fitbit Sense had a bit of a rough launch. Some of its more impressive features weren’t available in time for our review, and what was left could be a buggy to use. But so far, Fitbit has shown it is ready to fix these issues. It’s released updates to add new features like the ECG app and Google Assistant support, and now it’s proactively replacing devices with broken hardware. In our review, we said Fitbit needs to take a while to fix the Sense’s issues, and it looks like it does.
Update December 4 at 12:12 p.m. ET: Updated with confirmation from Fitbit that less than 900 devices worldwide are affected.
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