Battery draining Blaze

[ASTHoneyBadger]

I have a Fitbit blaze that is completely dead. I cannot charge the battery and when I plug it in, the screen turns on like normal, but even after I allow it time for a full charge, the battery says it is completely dead.  I think it needs a reset or something along those lines, but I can't utilize any of the buttons or anything like that because the battery is dead.  Any suggestions?

Moderator edit: Subject for clarity

[GreggJ]

I am having a similar issue. The battery for my Flex didn't even make it a year, so I have been very careful in regards to keeping my Blaze clean. But over the past month, I have noticed that my battery charge is lasting less and less. Right now, I'm lucky if I can get 36 hours out of it, with the HR monitor off. I will be contacting customer support shortly, but because I bought my Blaze in March of 2016, I'm afraid I'm going to be told that I may have to get a new one due to it being outside of a year. I agree with previous posts, if we are spending $200 we shouldn't expect to have to buy a new one every year. I'm keeping my finger crossed, but I'm doubtful.

Moderator edit: Subject for clarity

[Jud48]

I had this problem when I first received my fitbit blaze.  I ended up leaving it in the charger attached to my desktop computer on Friday night and on Monday morning it was charged!   It should not take this long to charge the battery on a new fitbit.  However, on Monday I was able to setup completely and still needed to put back in the battery charger to get it fully charged.  Worth a try.

[DrM951]

it has been restarted, it is clean, it takes a full charge, then go's dead after 20hrs! 

[Daniel_Wescombe]

Hey @ASTHoneyBadger

I'm sorry to hear about your Battery Problem! Have you tried any Troubleshooting methods? If not take a look at this link:
https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Blaze/Battery-draining/m-p/1862003#M49284

Here are some troubleshoot methods that can help can help extend your Fitbit device's battery life. If non of these methods work, I would suggest you go ahead and contact Fitbit's support team. Fitbit's support team is amazing, and I can guarantee they will be happy to help you out.

Best of luck! Let me know how it goes!!

[MelYow]

So I'd like to respond to my own post.  Here's a novel idea for Fitbit.  Assuming that the company is not participating in a conspiracy plot to have users buy a new unit every year, how about offering a full two-year warranty.  No questions asked ... if the battery fails and the user has tried all recommended solutions, and the user attests to the fact that he/she has taken care of the unit by the manufacturer's recommendation, the user gets a new Fitbit.  And, by that, I mean the user gets an immediately printable certificate that they can take to any local retailer and get a replacement.  The retailer would take the old FitBit and return it to FitBit.   That would solve the problem of batteries failing just after the one-year warranty expires.  Perhaps it would motivate the engineers at FitBit to come up with a real solution to the problem.  I don't think I've ever seen someone complain about their FitBit expireing after two years, so I think this would make customers happy.  In fact, I'd like to hear from someone out there who has a FitBit that is more than two years old.  Are there any such customers?  Thank you for your consideration.  PS - as I write this in July, the replacement FitBit  that I received from REI in June (not quite two months ago) is beginning to demonstrate a decrease in battery life.  I'm still getting about 3 days, but as I indicated in my previous post, I take meticulous care of y device; charging from a computer only; making sure it is clean; turning off essential functions.  Nothing I am doing today is different from the what I did the first week I received it. Yet, I'm already seeing battery degredation.  I am quite confident that this replacement device will not make it a full year.  So sad.

[Daniel_Wescombe]

@MelYow I understand your frustration. Understand that your probably is not that common. In 2016 alone, 22.295 million Fitbit devices were sold. I can make an educated guess and say that LESS than one million of those Fitbit devices that were sold, were reported with battery loss. 

So your problem (if my guess is correct) is a 1/22 chance of occurring. Do you expect better? Maybe. I'm sure everyone would like EVERY device to be perfect and fine, but no matter what company, there will be faulty products. 

Apple has faulty iPhones. It's just the way it is unfortunately. I believe the one year warranty is good enough. I have had my Fitbit charge for over 3 years now. I have had my blaze for nearly 2 years now. 

I hope you stay with the Fitbit Family.

[Sparklie12]

I have cleaned the contacts on my Blaze.  I also have very little 'running' other than one back-up alarm in the morning to make sure I don't oversleep.  My charge has gone from 5-7 days down to less than 24 hours this week.  No particular reason why, I haven't changed any settings.  It is common that a Blaze's battery dies in less than a year? 

I agree with the comments of some others that it is silly to have to pay $200 to replace a fitness tracker every year!  Thinking about going back to my watch and getting an old fashioned pedometer!

Thanks for your help!

Deb

[MelYow]

Thank you, Daniel, for your response.  I'm not sure I follow the math.  If you asked me if I would be willing to spend $200 on a product that had a 1 in 22 chance of failing within one year, would I do it?  Definitely, no, I wouldn't.  That seems like a very high failure rate to me. Secondly, I've had three units in a row fail within a year or less.  As noted in a previous post, the replacement unit that I received in March (unit #4) is already demonstrating a shorter battery life than when new, in spite of my efforts to ensure that I follow FitBit's recommendations precisely as far as cleaning, charging, periodic rebooting, and turning off unnecessary functions. The 1 in 22 statistic probably carries some weight if, after the first failure, the purchaser gets a replacement that does not fail.  But, the probability of acquiring 3 units in a row, and possibly 4, that fail, suggests an inherent problem in the design, manufacturing, or component content. Just my take on the numbers.

[Roaringchowder]

1/22 is still an approx a 4.5% failure rate.  Not great.  I think FitBit can do better.  

[auntlahlee]

MelYow,, I like your idea about the full two-year warranty. I too take care of my Blaze. I like my Blaze so much that I have all three colors of bands, and the stainless steel, which I wear the most. That fact that I have gone from my Blaze holding a charge for 4 to 5 days to now only holding a charge for 6 hours is quite maddening.  When charging my Blaze, I put it on the charger going to bed, so it has about a 7-8 hour charging time.  Either a two year warranty, or replacement battery would be nice. Not sure if I will get a new one, it may just go in a junk drawer with my cheap watches that need batteries.  Think I may look into a different tracker/manufacturer.

[MelYow]

Unfortunately, I don't think a 2-year warranty is in FiiBit's plans.  I'm sure you've read the entire string of e-mails.  Most of the emphasis on a "fix" is to ensure that the customer is following FitBit's care and cleaning procedures.  I haven't seen any posts from FitBit suggesting that they are doing anything to resolve the issue, and by that I mean decreasing their failure rate (which per their response is just under 5% and which in my humble opinion is at least 10 times higher than I would accept from their engineers if I were running their company). They have been pretty good about replacing units that are less than 12 months old, so if your unit falls within that parameter, you might have a chance to get a replacement.  I don't have direct knowledge of other brands, but at least one retailer stated that he believes that the other major player, Garmin, has a high failure rate as well.  My $100 watch has a replaceable battery, and I don't have to replace it more than about once every 2 to 3 years.  Doesn't make any sense to me that FitBit design a unit with a replaceable battery.  Except that, in our country (which I dearly love), the economy is sustained by periodic (that is, frequent) replacement of durable products purchased.  Only when the purchasers decide enough is enough and stop buying products that fail too soon or too frequently will we see real improvement.  Just my soapbox, because, like you, I don't want to spend $200 every year or so just to replace a sophisticated pedometer.  Thanks for your post and for listening to this rant!  8-)

[Manhart]

I've had the same problem and with zero resolution.  My issues started happening month over my one year warranty.  If it even works at all now, the battery lasts a measly 3 hours...tops.  I've talked to support and have done every troubleshooting method.  It's disappointing to know that the features you paid for could be draining your battery so much....had I known that, I would've never purchased it.  It's extremely frustrating, especially since I talked my parter and her sister into getting one a few months before my troubles.  The only thing offered is a discount on another. 

[tim-Indonesia]

already done all these and still didn;t work...

[Amitmaurya]

Hi Tina I too am facing the same problem how you got your blaze replaced please let me know 

[MelYow]

So sorry to hear that you are having the same problem that so many of us have had.  If your Blaze is less than one year old, you can contact whomever you purchased it from (FitBit, retailer, etc).  They should honor a one-year warranty and replace your Blaze.  I originally had purchased a Surge, and its battery went dead in about 8 months.  FitBit was very nice and replaced the unit for me.  The replacement failed in about 6 months.  They were not as nice about replacing the second failed device.  So, I decided to purchase a Blaze from the retailer, REI.  The Blaze failed after 11 months.  REI was very gracious and exchanged out the Blaze right in the store.  I didn't have to wait on FitBit to ship me a new one.  I asked what would happen if the replacement failed.  The Manager told me that they have a 100% satisfaction guarantee, and they would deal with the issue if it arises.  I took that to mean that they would provide a second replacement if needed.  In the long term, continuing to replace these devices is not the answer.  I am of the strongly held opinion that FitBit needs to implement a design change for at least the Blaze, allowing perhaps for a replaceable battery.  As I have mentioned before, I have a $100 watch that has lasted a number of years with just changing the battery every year or year and one-half.  I wish you luck in getting your device replaced.

[sleder73]

I have posted a couple of times. I've gotten no intelligent response.  Is 1 out of 22 an acceptable number of failures, NO. I have had mine replaced once already,  I think in May,  and the problem was the same with the new one. When will someone at fitbit actually listen. Like everyone else, I've done everything "in your previous post" and I'm convinced that's a catch all response.  You know that that just frustrates people so they no longer complain.  You make people think it's their fault and it isn't.  And might I add, if people complain here, as a rep for fitbit why don't you have support contact us? This current issue isn't from charging "wrong" or not caring for it right. These issues popped up right after the last update.  Admit there was an issue with that. Make it possible to rollback the update and you see if the problem is still there. Instead of just flagging my response,  listen and fix this issue.

[tim-Indonesia]

Fitbit is sending me a Blaze replacement unit. I should be receiving it soon. Hope it lasts for a while.

[HeimirE]

Having the same very short battery life now.  Probably not even getting 24 hours.

On the phone with support as I am typing this and its going something like this:
Me: battery life is very short.

Support: Did you follow the troubleshooting steps online.

Me: Yes, but it made no difference.

Support: but did you follow the troubleshooting steps online?

Me: yes, I cleaned the connectors.  The battery charges and shows full charge but doesnt hold charge.  I also restarted the watch.
Support: Did you follow the steps online?

Me: seriously?  I told you 3 times.
Support: one second, let me put you on hold>
Support: restart the watch for me please.  Hold left button and bottom right button until you see the fitbit logo.  
Me: yes, just did.
Support: Can you do it again, I dont see it in our system.
Me: how can you see it in your system unless my phone uploads it. 

Support: can you do it again please.
Me: done.

Support: I cant see it, can you please do it again.

Me: You will not see it instantly since there are nothing that communicates with the device besides my phone.  And thats not communicating now.  Please explain how it will communication by itself.

Support: please do it again. 

Me: no, transfer me to someone that can actually support me.

On hold now.

Spoke to a supervisor.

She wanted to start the SAME process over again.

Didnt get anywhere, the battery is bad.

Its outside warrenty so I am screwed.

I think its pretty clear they have a battery problem, do a quick google search and you find a few billion hits regarding this.

Will not buy another crappy product from Fitbit again.

[sleder73]

Welcome to the world of fitbit customer support 


Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE Device

[cstaub]

ditto for me too!