Fitbit needs to reconsider the adhesive that they use to seal their watch.

[DudeMon]

Had 2 Ionics one failed after a swim in the pool for about 20 minutes. The 50m water resistance is complete hoax. The adhesive that they use to seal the watch fails or the application of the adhesive is flawed. Luckily they had recall on ionic due to spontaneously combustible battery. So i got my money back. decided to give it another go with sense. The biggest water exposure was the pulling the cork from the tub after giving my son a bath. Depth was at most 20cm for 4-5 seconds, certainly nowhere near claimed 50m. and whoop the 67% battery charged sense goes blank. Trying to recharge, no response. tested charging cable, everything is fine. and conveniently after a 16 month of use. i seriously hope that someone will read this and pass along the message TO LOOK INTO ALTERNATIVE SEALING COMPOUND. because the one that is being used is not working.          

[Jdsenter]

Once the seal fails, it needs to be dried from the inside out or it will short and fail The factory seal degrades over time, once the device gets on your wrist, it is subjected to g-forces, water, heat, cold, kids, animals, falls from various heights, while being subjected to tons of hits or bangs. You expecting it to last...

Besides most companies expect things to last for the warranty, 1 year in US, 2 in EU, unless you bought an extended warranty. If it fails during that time, depends on the agent but either you get a replacement or a discount towards another.

Just my two cents your millage may very... 

[DudeMon]

I would expect a better quality for something that costs over $300 and
longevity of more than a few months after the standard warranty expires. I
enjoy the product and the app, I am simply disappointed with the product
that is used to "seal" the vulnerable components and suggest we revisit
that crucial component that is continuously failing. I am aware that the
seal does degrade over time under different conditions and factors. However
there are thousands of different products that can be researched, tested
and implemented to improve the durability and longevity of the product. I
hope this will be considered and implemented for the future of the product
and customer base. Simply going by the feedback from a large number of
customers on various forums, this issue is quite common.
Also, I gave sense to my mom on mother's day almost two years ago and out
of nowhere the face of the watch just fell off.
So once again, I would urge your engineering team to revisit the bounding
compound that is used on the product.
I am a fan of your product but the component quality is driving me to look
into other options on the market.

[Jdsenter]

@DudeMon I understand, agree to a point, I activated my Sense on 6/2021 it has been stable and the seal is still together. I treat my device as if it is not water prove or resistant. I try very hard not to get it wet or soaked because of my Ionic which I detailed in the Ionic threads. My Sense is still working as my daily watch. It has not yet failed yet, but again I never expected it last. Yes $300 is a lot of money, but if you want a better device other companies make them for $799 or more that they provide a better seal or IP rating. Their replacement device is the Pixel Watch, which does seem to have a better seal, but we will see as time comes to pass, if it is any stronger. 

[Guy_]

Hi @DudeMon - thanks for posting. This is a known issue, on some watches the faces just come off, even before water gets in.

If your warranty is 2 years it can be replaced which Fitbit chose as the solution in preference to improving build quality.