Blaze battery draining fast

[Alex_the_blazeu]

Hi everybody! I don't usually uses blaze while I work. I put it on the table. After about four hours, the blaze turned to 60% batteries from 100%. Any power-down mode can I use in the blaze?

Moderator edit: Clarified subject

[soldermonkey]

Hm, okay, this isn't the first post drawing a connection between firmware updates and battery crash behavior.

So fitbit, how about posting a build list showing build number and their corresponding change notes, then let us choose a build in the app to push to our devices? Maybe we can find one that works properly?

[Carliard]

I am having this same issue with my blaze for about a month now. It used to hold charge for about 5 days, but now it doesn’t even last 12 hours after a full charge. I’m currently charging it at night when I sleep, which is irritating because I can’t use the sleep analysis that way. 

[soldermonkey]

It sounds as if yours simply wore out the battery via normal aging. Congratulations, most here don't seem so lucky (me included).

The obvious fix is to replace the battery, something fitbit won't do for you; it's up to you to attempt that. Fitbit says don't do that, buy a new device. I say observe how they support you now with a blaze, ask yourself "are they going to be any more stand up regarding the new product they want me to buy now?".

[DavideFitbit]

Hello @knigh149, @Carliard, welcome to the Community forums. I'm sorry to see you've been having trouble with the Blaze not holding a charge. Could you please confirm if you already tried the restart and the other steps listed here to improve battery life? 

Thank you for your feedback about the quality of the product @Ravindran, @soldermonkey. 

[Carliard]

Yes, I’ve taken all of the suggested steps.

[DavideFitbit]

Thank you for your reply @Carliard, and confirming that you already tried all the steps. I've sent your information to the Customer Support team for further assistance with this, so you should be getting a reply soon. Keep an eye on your inbox. 

Let me know the outcome. 

[Fitlucygirl]

I have the same problem

[DavideFitbit]

Welcome to the forums @Fitlucygirl, and thank you for letting me know you've been having the same difficulty with the battery draining too fast. 

Could you please confirm if you already tried the all the steps mentioned here to improve battery life? How many days is your battery lasting? 

Keep me posted. 

[merc1954]

Good luck there are many of us that have the same issue and Fitbit will do nothing but tell you to buy another model and give you a 220% discount.  It is a design issue that they won't fix.  I have 2 detective blazes that are garbage.

[soldermonkey]

Quite right, fitbit will do nothing for you but seek to entice you into buying a new device directly from them at 25% off full list price. Nobody pays full list for anything like this, and I suspect that's above their wholesale price. When they were shipping this defective in materials and workmanship product.

The good news is it's so common, you can find people on ebay selling "fix your miserable blaze watch" kits, as well as many vendors of replacement batteries. I bought one of the kits for $15, contains 1 battery (120 mAh), 2 drivers and 2 plastic pry bars, commonly called "spudgers". (No idea where that name came from.) USA vendor, so it arrived quickly. Also ordered 2 additional batteries from china, in case I have to do this every 6 months.

Fitbit tells you not only will they refuse to change the battery even for a fee, but you mustn't do it yourself because the battery could "possibly" be some sort of problem. I think you're supposed to imagine it bursting into flame on your wrist. "possibly" is one of those lovely lawyer words you can use to fudge any statement. Pigs can "possibly" fly... if you read the fine print and add in an airplane or trebuchet into the mix.

So. Mine worked fine. Drivers are very cheap, but sufficient to the task. Beyond those tools, you will need a soldering iron (I recommend a decent thermostatic soldering station for electronics work... not worth buying for this project if you don't have other uses for it) and a fine flat screwdriver. (The battery is stuck in with doublesticky tape and you will have to pry it out.) Also recommend tweezers, or possibly magnet to magnetize the phillips driver, because the internal screws are so tiny you will have a hard time getting them back into their holes with plain fingers. Illuminated magnifier, or assistant to hold flashlight and magnifier for you also helps.

Short form, it works! So far I've seen 16 hours operation, which is a lot better than the 2 hours I got from this "used, tested, fully functional" blaze. I finally get to see the sleep graph, since it lasted long enough to gather that data. Proof you too, or your neighbor's teenager, can fix what fitbit refuses to.

[AlvaroFitbit]

@merc1954 @soldermonkey thank you for your updates.

@merc1954 Support does follow the guidelines listed in the warranty so if your device is outside the warranty period they won't be able to replace it. This is why they offer a discount to help customers in this situation. Still thank you for sharing your feedback.

@soldermonkey happy to hear that you were able to fix this by changing the battery. Not everyone has the technical knowledge to do this.

I'll be around!

[merc1954]

oh should then put in your sales ads that will last 1 year and see how many people buy it!!

[Carliard]

Right! I was offered 25% off a new one, but as much as I loved it, I’m hesitant, because I’m seeing great reviews on other brands. I had the HR charge before this and it lasted less than a year, but I waited too long to call. If I’m going to spend that much, I’m counting on it lasting!

Sent from my iPhone

[SleeplessInAbby]

So, I just want to say your advice is insane. 

You are basically saying turn off all

features of the fitbit except for the watch, in order to be able to consistently use it. Ummmm, that’s a terrible product then, if it’s features render it useless. I have had all features turned on for 18 months and it has worked fine. Now suddenly, like all of these other customers, my fitbit can’t hold a charge for more than 6 hours. That is clearly  a battery issue, likely designed on purpose, to render it useless and force you to buy a new device. I’m in agreement with the other users that’s I won’t be buying this product again. It’s very faulty and temperamental and designed to fail. If everyone’s here is having a battery issue just slightly after the warranty expires, it would appear it is being done on purpose. If you told people that their $300 product would only last 1-2 months beyond the warranty, they would not buy it. Maybe fitbit needs to make the warranty valid for 2 years and see how much their profits drop when they have to pay for the faulty product, not the consumer. 

[NatalieJackman]

I was researching why Fitbit is acting the way they are. Did you guys know that in February of 2018 Fitbit’s stock took a huge hit because of poor sales. Then in September 2018 it was reported that Fitbit was having a even worse year in 2018.

I guess big surprise considering how they treat their valued customers and design the products to fail.

It turns out Apple and some other brands are taking over the market. This is not surprising to me based on how I have been treated and seeing how other customers in the same situation are being treated.

[soldermonkey]

We here are seeing the bad side of consequences fitbit brought on themselves, but IMO the situation was brought on not by any malice, but by a bad decision: push short charging time as a convenience for millenials (who famously have no patience), trade off battery life to do it. Only hard point is we don't want them failing inside warranty period. So I think they did this, resulting in a device that charges in 10-15 minutes, but dies in about 15 months.

Very bad decision, IMO; They triggered a bunch of customer dissatisfaction (which doesn't hurt them very much as average millies are fickle creatures anyway) without effectively exploiting the "feature" that is causing so much trouble. At least, I don't recall any national marketing campaign touting "buy our device, it has the fastest recharge time!". So they built in a horrible flaw to obtain a feature they failed to tout in marketing materials.

Then I think they committed another huge management blunder by deciding the way to deal with unhappy customers is to blow them off with saccharine pseudoadvice and a downright insulting "discount" offer. Correct decision would be to either exchange units, or replace batteries, possibly for a modest fee. Or a worthwhile coupon offer. Multiple available acceptable options.

Short form takeaway, I think they made a huge blunder in trading off service life for charging convenience, failed to benefit from that "feature", then decided the way to fix things is to stonewall the customers who complain. I would suggest to fitbit that rather than treat customers this way (presumably due to financial stresses), the reason they're in a tight financial spot to begin with is in part *because* they behave like this. When you mess up (and we all do), the right thing is to man up, admit the error, and make it right. You gain a lot more respect and retain customers vs going all weaselly and evasive, do the barest minimum you can get away with, and imagine your customers will accept that treatment. In the long run, they won't. Except maybe millenials, who have about 8 minutes of long term memory. Maybe fitbit thinks all its customers are such mental mayflies? Maybe they're right, we'll see.

[FerdinandFitbit]

Hi there guys @soldermonkey @merc1954 @Carliard @SleeplessInAbby @NatalieJackman, good to see you in the Fitbit Community Forums! 🙂

I'd like to thank you all for your feedback about this. I'm sorry that most of you are not satisfied with the alternatives offered by our Support Team. This is all based on the warranty policy. If you'd like to take advantage of what our Support Team has offered, feel free to let us know and we'll be happy to help you out!

Anything else you may need, we're here to help.

[Senipooh123]

Mine is doing the same thing. I charge it fully, the icon shows fully charged. I put it on and within hours the battery is drained. Weird thing is that if I pop it back in the charger it will show as fully charged. I've done everything in the troubleshooting guides. Nothing works. Very disappointed because I love my Fitbit. Can't  afford to keep buying them though.

Moderator edit: format

[SleeplessInAbby]

It’s so frustrating, isn’t it?!! My battery literally lasts 4 hours max and it just happened over night one day. It was slowly lasting less time, like from 5 days to 3 days, then boom, 6 hours now 4 hours. Soon I won’t even be able to use it. It has been 16 months, so no warranty, and judging from everyone else's comments, fitbit won’t do anything except tell me to buy a new one. But why bother if it’s just going to die again. I think they need to change the battery or offer a huge discount, like 50-75% off a replacement. It’s a poorly manufactured product. If I buy a $300 TV, it has a life expectancy of 10 years and I would expect that same life expectancy of this very expensive bracelet.

[DavideFitbit]

Hello @Senipooh123, @SleeplessInAbby  , I'm sorry to see you've been having trouble with the battery of your Blaze draining too fast. 

Thank you for sharing that you already tried all the troubleshooting options in the guides @Senipooh123 , could you please confirm if you're referring to the steps mentioned in this article? And let me know if you've tried all the steps mentioned as well @SleeplessInAbby. .  

If all troubleshooting options have been exhausted, I can send your information over to the Customer Support team so they can get in touch with you for further assistance with this. 

Keep me posted.