Battery drain/Notifications - Samsung Galaxy S8/S8+

[AlessFitbit]

Fitbit Update: 09/3/2017

Our team is still actively investigating the root cause of this battery drain with Blaze and the Samsung Galaxy S8/S8+. I'm sorry that many of you are still having issues with a shorter battery life, but rest assured this is being looked at as high-priority for our team. My apologies for the inconvenience, and thank you all for your patience! I will provide an update as soon as there is more information available. In the meantime, please continue manually syncing your Blaze trackers only when needed. This will help preserve the battery-life.

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Fitbit Update: 08/14/2017

Hi everybody!

Thanks for reporting your experiences with a rapid battery drain on Blaze trackers and your Android device - Samsung Galaxy S8/S8+. Our team is aware this is affecting Blaze users and they are investigating the root cause. I will update this thread when there is more information available. 

As a temporary workaround, turn OFF "Always Connected" and the "All-Day sync" features. Make sure to manually sync your devices at least once a day.

Thanks for your patience! 

[Maino3196]

I am lucky to get 24 hours out of mine.  I have had 3 shipped to me.  Makes no difference, must be the software package

[bassthumpa]

So Fitbit's last response was more of the usual crap, but they took the extra step of telling me that they checked their backend tools and saw that I didn't charge it for at least 2 hours.  Of course they only looked at the last charge and completely ignored all of the OVERNIGHT charging that I'd previously done.  And once again, they refuse to acknowledge this thread that I linked to them, showing them that their own team confirmed a known issue.

So I think I'm done.  Garmin has just announced a few new watches, one of which  makes Fitbit's new Ionic look like crap at the same price point: 

https://youtu.be/Bq6N_gRuZzw

I think I'll be going that way, and ditching Fitbit's scale too.  At this point, I want nothing to do with their products anymore.

[labluvr11]

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@bassthumpa wrote:

So Fitbit's last response was more of the usual crap, but they took the extra step of telling me that they checked their backend tools and saw that I didn't charge it for at least 2 hours.  Of course they only looked at the last charge and completely ignored all of the OVERNIGHT charging that I'd previously done.  And once again, they refuse to acknowledge this thread that I linked to them, showing them that their own team confirmed a known issue.

So I think I'm done.  Garmin has just announced a few new watches, one of which  makes Fitbit's new Ionic look like crap at the same price point: 

https://youtu.be/Bq6N_gRuZzw

I think I'll be going that way, and ditching Fitbit's scale too.  At this point, I want nothing to do with their products anymore.

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I like the looks of the new Garmin watch.  It looks like they are also trying to compete with the Samsung Gear.  I saw some posts earlier in the week stating that some people were able to get their Blaze to start syncing and get notifications so I decided to charge my Blaze and add it back to my Fitbit account.  I was not able to send myself a test notification and it showed syncing for at least 20 minutes.  Needless to say, I immediately removed my Blaze and went back to using my Charge 2.  I am experimenting this week and wearing a Garmin Vivosmart 3 on my left wrist.  I have also swapped the wrist that I wear the devices on (I'm a lefty and prefer to wear my device on my right wrist).  The devices have consistently been within 100 - 200 steps of each other.  I, too, am just about ready to abandon the Fitbit ship.

[JohnLMills]

My Blaze hasn't been itself since I switched from an iphone to the Galaxy S8+. I now finally get notifications but the battery runs down in one day. Have heard it's because the phone runs bluetooth 5. Can I be guaranteed the Ionic is fully compatible with the s8, since it also has the older bluetooth?

[SteveH]

This is a known error. Keep an eye on the following thread which as the latest updates from the moderators:

https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Blaze/Battery-drain-Samsung-Galaxy-S8-S8/m-p/1963139#M65290

[Gunnerp245]

Has anyone tried the "fit notification" app? 

[ashwooi]

Don't hold your breath. Updates to that forum are very infrequent and largely have no substance

[chnandler_bong]

I received a ~170MB security-related update to my S8+ Unlocked a few days ago, and I haven't been watching my Blaze's battery very closely but I think the "battery draining quickly" issue has gone away.

To be clear, my Blaze's battery would last about 2 days and I don't think I ever had any problems with notifications.

[ShaftLH]

I got an update on my S8+ yesterday as well. Gonna see how long it takes
for the Blaze to run out now.

Shaft Howard
Sent from my Verizon Wireless 4G LTE Smartphone

[Shivvy22]

Last night I spoke with fitbit community advisors on a live chat. I am now being sent a replacement blaze free of charge and I do not have to return this one. This is then to the problem not being with every blaze.  Maybe you should speak with someone this way. They can check via your login email how many times you are having to charge your tracker.  

[ShaftLH]

Yeah so a lot of us have already done this and the replacement Fitbit does
the exact same thing.

Shaft Howard
Sent from my Verizon Wireless 4G LTE Smartphone

[Maino3196]

Is the update on fitbit?

[Melancholyblues]

I have just spoken to fitbit and they haven't released an update yet. Still working on the issue. They will release a firmware update once the find a solution. There was an android update last week.
I have not tried turning on syncing features since the update, I am not hopeful.
I did ask how they would inform us once the sorry the issue. We need to keep an eye on social media.

[tmrakic]

If you ask me, they should just give all Blaze owners the new Fit Bit that is coming out shortly called the iconic if I'm not mistaken. You can't pay over $200 for a device and not be able to use all the functionality. This isn't our issue, it's their issue and they need to find a fix or make it right!

[Spartan64]

I hope that they get the firmware update soon. 
The Samsung S8 and S8+ are the 2 highest rated smartphones by Consumer Reports. Fitbit needs to resolve compatibility quickly to keep up with phone technology.


Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone

[bassthumpa]

Last straw.

My Mother-In-Law also has a Blaze (I bought it for her) and her battery barely lasts a few hours.  She has an iPhone.  She calls support, and this joker had the nerve to tell her that these things are only designed to last about a year.  She called him on that product, and then he offers 25% to buy another device.  Heck no!  Then she basically tells him she's gonna get an Apple Watch instead, and then the backpedaling began and they offer to send a replacement Blaze.

So you first try to say that your product is admittedly not working and just deal with it, then have the nerve to try to sell another discounted product?  Then ONLY after a threat to abandon and badly rate their product do they offer to do something decent?

Geez.  I work in Customer Support, so I know about doing the right thing for customers.  This is the exact opposite. I told her to take the replacement, but never to spend another penny on a Fitbit product.  She had another Fitbit device before and like it and the Blaze, but this experience was completely unacceptable.

 So, barring some major change of heart, that's a wrap.  No more Fitbit purchases for me or my family.

Moderator edit: format

[ashwooi]

So....update from my perspective. My S8 took a software update on Friday so I tried again.

1. Charged Fitbit and its still showing full 18 hours later

2. Notifications working so far

3. GPS connects to phone then loses connection almost immediately. 

I upgraded to Blaze for GPS functionality so unit is still of no use to me.

[AJ89]

I had the same thing happen when I had an issue with my first blaze not syncing. The customer service rep did the exact same thing to me. First said this product was only designed to last X amount of time, then offer a 25% off discount, and when the customer isn't satisfied miraculously you have the authority to send a free one?  That entire interaction was shady.

[KHFlair]

Still a problem, when are they ever going to get it fixed? Also I still can't get Notifications. 

[SunsetRunner]

This is beyond frustrating! I also have an iPhone 7 Plus and it’s running iOS 11 beta and my balze works perfectly with my iP7+ ... how can Fitbit get things right on an iOS BETA but not on finalized versions of Android (running on current company’s flagship devices)???!!