Blaze battery not lasting

[tlkbarnes]

Hi all -

Ever since the latest firmware update, my Blaze has had issues holding a charge. Today it spontaneously turned off while I was away from home, which it also did a few days ago. Once I got home I plugged it into the charger and it seemed to turn on just fine with about half of its battery life left, but a minute later it was showing extremely low battery. (I fully charged it Friday morning, so the battery definitely shouldn't be that low yet!) 

I don't have any pre-set timers, nor do I use the FitStar workouts regularly. I do track my workouts about three-four times a week, but I can't imagine that would have changed the battery life, since I've been doing that on the Blaze for months now. Please help!

[tlkbarnes]

(I've restarted my tracker several times by holding the left and lower right buttons down, too. It appears not to have made a difference, so I'm not sure where to go from here.)

[Chooka67]

Same problem here. Charging overnight and it only seems to last 2 days before the 'battery low' message comes up. Sometimes I get the message, I plug the Blaze into the charger, it appears to be half charged (not low as indicated), so I'll unplug it but within half an hour or so, I will get the red warning light indicating a low battery. Please fix this, it is very frustrating to have to charge every 2nd day!

[chinook]

Same issue. Researched the problem and disabled most of the features I bought it for... still have to recharge the Blaze every 2 days. Contacted support. Was asked to perform a restart and a battery test. Reported test results and received a list of suggestions for improving battery life. This is my 5th and last Fitbit. Back to wearing the Charge HR.

[tlkbarnes]

Yeah, this is getting ridiculous, and I even emailed support yesterday and have heard nothing. They either need to get a new firmware update out there stat (since I'm 95% sure that's what caused this), or let us know what's happening. At this rate, I'd happily switch to another tracker that performs consistently!

[MariamV]

@tlkbarnes thanks for joining us. Your Blaze's battery can last up to 5 days but, because battery life is affected by use and other settings, actual results may vary. Consider the following tips when you want to conserve battery life:

• Make sure you're charging Blaze fully each time. When you think Blaze is done charging, take it out of the charging cradle and then put it back in briefly. If you see a large, blue battery icon you'll know the battery is full. 
• This is very important: if you use the Fitbit app, make sure All-Day Sync is turned off. All-Day Sync increases battery drain on both your tracker and mobile device. To find the setting, open the app and tap Account. At the top of the screen tap Blaze to see your settings, then scroll down. 
• If you use your Android device then turn off the Always Connected setting. Similar to All-Day Sync, it can reduce battery life.
• If you don't need heart rate data, change the Heart Rate setting to Off. When you turn it back on, use Auto. 
• Turn call, text, or calendar notifications off if you know you're going to receive many hundreds of notifications. A large volume reduces battery life.
• Charge your tracker more often if you use music control frequently.
• Charge your tracker more often if you do FitStar workouts frequently.
• Turn off Quick View. Since it causes the screen to light up when you turn your wrist towards you, turning this setting off may prolong battery life. To find the setting, open the app and tap Account. At the top of the screen tap Blaze and then scroll down.
• Don't receive reminders to move every hour. To get fewer reminders, make sure you walk 250 steps each hour, change the number of hours you want your stationary time monitored, or turn off the feature on days you don't need it.
• Don't use the maximum Brightness setting.
• If you have many silent alarms set, consider deleting some. Each alarm you add up to the maximum of 8 reduces battery life by a small percentage. 
• Don't charge your tracker in extreme heat or cold. 
• Shut down Blaze when it's not in use.

If you've done this to no avail plus you've already restarted your tracker then I suggest contacting our Support Team for further assistance. Mention them all the troubleshooting you've done to fix this. This will help them to provide you with a quick follow up. 

@Chooka67 thanks for bringing this up to my attention. Please restart your Blaze by doing the following:

1. Press and hold the Back and Select buttons (left and bottom right) until you see the Fitbit logo on the screen. This should take less than 10 seconds.
2. Let go of the buttons.
3. If your tracker doesn't work normally, use the instructions in How do I turn off my tracker? to turn Blaze off and back on again.

Also, I suggest following taking into account the tips I posted above. Good luck!

@chinook welcome to the forums! It was wise to contact our Support Team as they definitely have the proper tools to take a deeper look into your tracker's behavior. What was their resolution? Do let me know. I'll be around! 

[chinook]

After confirming my Blaze was still under warranty, they are sending me a replacement unit.

[Chooka67]

@MariamV Thanks for your reply. I often have to reset my Blaze by pressing the two buttons you describe (my Blaze sometimes won't sync unless I do so). 

This is is a very recent problem. I do have my Blaze set to all day sync, and all day HR, but up until now my battery always lasted 5 days (sometimes longer). I haven't changed anything but things seem to have gone awry since the last update. I will try turning the tracker off and on, but if this continues I will be returning my Blaze as it is still under warranty.

[MariamV]

@chinook thanks for the update! Our Support Team is indeed wonderful. After you receive your replacement Blaze, please make sure that you follow these instructions to set up the replacement tracker to your Fitbit account using a computer:

1. Click the Fitbit Connect icon located near the date and time on your computer.
2. Click Open Main Menu...
3. Click Set Up A New Fitbit Device.
4. Click Existing User and log in to your account.
5. Choose your Blaze and follow the onscreen instructions to continue.

Good luck!

@Chooka67 thanks for getting back to me. I see, so you mean to say that after the last update  your battery didn't last as it should and that the all day sync function plus the HR feature aren't working. If you have performed the restart and you still notice some discrepancies then I recommend contacting our Support Team for further assistance. If you have purchased from a retailer, you'll need to return your product directly to the retailer and follow their return and refund process. If, however, you are unsatisfied with your purchase directly from Fitbit.com for any reason, you have 45 days from the date of purchase to request a full refund. I'll leave the link to our warranty to avoid any misunderstanding.

Good luck and keep me posted. I'll keep my fingers crossed for your buddy. 

[Chooka67]

No @MariamV, I meant to say that I always have my Blaze on with all day sync and all day HR and the battery lasted fine on these settings....but after the update, the battery would drain very quickly.

i have followed your advice if re-setting and re-starting and there seems to be an improvement, though I won't know for sure until I do a full te-charge and see how long the battery lasts after that.

[Chooka67]

I purchased an additional 3 year replacement warranty and the store said if there were any problems, they would replace the device.

[MariamV]

@Chooka67 thanks for getting back to me! Glad to hear that the troubleshooting steps I provided you helped a little. I totally agree with you on letting your Blaze fully charge, keep in mind that charging fully may take one to two hours. Give it a try and keep me posted with the outcome! 

Hey, purchasing additional warranty was a great idea. Was it Square Trade you purchase by any chance? Do let me know!