- Real-life experiment shows bug spray can kill Fitbit Airs
- It has to do with the chemicals inside the repellent
- Spray carefully as you are not covered under warranty
Here at TechRadar, we’ve been pretty impressed with what the Fitbit Air has to offer, but one unlucky user has found out the hard way that you shouldn’t use bug spray when the fitness tracker is wrapped around your wrist.
The problematic incident was recorded on Reddit (via Phandroid), and it appears that a thorough and protective application of bug spray has eaten into the plastic component of the Fitbit Air, preventing it from functioning.
“Went for a hike this weekend with my Fitbit Air,” reads the original Reddit post. “I’ve had it for 14 days now and I found that bug spray will destroy it. I had put something on the cuffs of my hiking shirt and it transferred to the unit and broke the plastic down.”
To make matters worse, the user reports that the same fate also befell his wife’s Fitbit (although it’s not clear if it’s also a Fitbit Air). The original post ends with a recommendation to “save your money for something better built”.
A little sympathy
Fitbit air and bug spray don’t mix from r/fitbit
The Reddit detectives went straight to work determining that it was likely the chemical DEET (N,N-diethyl-meta-toluamide) that was causing the problem. It is widely used in insecticides and is quite tough on plastic as well as insects.
And sympathy seems to be in short supply on the Reddit thread. “The documentation says very clearly not to come into contact with sunscreens and bug sprays,” writes one poster, while another says: “That’s on you mate.”
Google is not very sympathetic either and tells the affected user that the damage counts as environmental damage or accidental damage and is therefore not covered by the warranty. There will be no replacement for the Fitbit Air in this case.
There have been other stories like this in recent days, so it seems that a significant number of people are unaware of the damage that insect repellent can do. As always, always read the fine print – on both your fitness trackers and your bug sprays.
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