Initial Charging and Setup of Fitbit Blaze

[wrae82]

I just got my 1st Fitbit tonight and it is a Blaze.  It has been on the charger for 2 1/2 hours now and still says battery low on the app.  I know that it won't show the battery icon yet since it hasn't even allowed me to update the software yet.  It still shows the fitbit.com/setup on the screen.  I was excited to get the Blaze but I am very quickly becoming discouraged with my purchase.  How long should it take to charge enough just to get the set up started? I've made sure that the prongs are lined up, my computer makes the noise signaling that something is connected...but it still shows the red battery with "Battery Low" notification on the app via my phone.  I even put the app on my computer and it shows the same thing.

[MakMak]

Hi, @wrae82! Until your Blaze syncs, it will not register the battery level in the app. It sounds like you haven't even gotten through the setup process yet. I would suggest going ahead and getting it set up and everything else should fall into place. The time you have charged it should be more than enough for setup.

[wrae82]

Thank you @MakMak ... How would I get the set up finished?  I can't do anything at all with it. I have a Galaxy S7 Edge and I have the app on my phone and it is showing the Blaze on my app...am I missing something?  I've done everything that it told me to do.

[wrae82]

I think I may have just figured out an issue.  The Blaze was connected through my computer's Bluetooth and when I just disconnected it from there an icon that is right above the battery icon in the app turned from gray to green. I'm hoping that is a sign that it is going to start either charging properly or syncing properly.  Either way, it still said battery was too low for the software update.

[wrae82]

Hi @MakMak, it's me again. Lol I left the Blaze on the charger all night bv it still hadn't made any progress. Somehow the screen showed the red battery when I tried to reset it, just troubleshooting because I still can't update. The software still isn't updated and it is of no use to me. This thing should be so complicated. I should have read this forum before I made my purchase. I really think I will be returning it to the store today. It stinks too bc I was really excited about it. 

[MakMak]

This is all really strange. It sounds to me like you were able to connect the Fitbit to the app but not charge it. Have you tried using a different charging source? If it's plugged into the computer, try plugging it into the wall, for example.

[wrae82]

I tried to charge on my home computer and via wall charger and it didn't do anything.  So I brought it with me to work just to see if I could mess with it anymore and it is actually charging while connected to my work computer.  It is so weird...but it charged enough to let me update software and it was about 50% charged so I have it back on the charger to get fully charged.  I'm hoping that the only headache was getting it to charge initially.  I'm a little more hopeful now but we'll see, I have 14 days to return it if I don't like it. lol

[MakMak]

Wonderful! I'm so glad to hear there is progress being made. Electronics are funny, for sure!

[MichiganKelly]

The same exact thing is happening with me....

Were you able to set your Blaze up yet?

I will keep trying

[wrae82]

I did finally get is set up. For some reason it wouldn't charge while connected to my home computer or to any if my wall charger but it charged just fine on my work computer. It's so weird. 

[MichiganKelly]

So glad you were able to set it up! 

I may just return mine...I really have no other place than my home computer to charge it at.

It has been over 3 hours and no change.

To much $$ to not be able to use it...and if it finally may charge, will I still have problems soon in the future?

Thanks for your feedback so quick with me!

[MakMak]

@MichiganKelly, have you tried plugging into the wall? Sometimes plugging it into a PC doesn't work.

[MichiganKelly]

No, I haven't.

I do not have anything that would allow me to do that.  So, that would mean having to purchase something else when I should not have to.

The product is supposed to be capable of charging through the pc with the provided hook up.

None of my other devices have issues with Bluetooth or not charging through my pc, so I know it is not an issue with my pc.

Thank you for the suggestion though.

[wrae82]

I actually took the 1st one back @MichiganKelly b/c it wasn't charging and I wasn't able to take the 2nd one back b/c the store was closed. I had planned to take it back after work yesterday so I brought it to work with me and figured I'd try it one more time and it worked. I agree, it is way too much money to have so many issues and I worry about if it will do the same thing when I try to charge it again.  I did just order a cheap $10 charger from amazon where I don't have to take the fitbit out of the band to charge. I'm hoping it will charge better than the one that comes with it. If not, I have about 12 days left to return my fitbit. lol

[Heavenlu]

I have and am having the exact same issue.. took first back to store this morning, got another one, get home, put on charge, and NOT charging.. again!!

I have been charging my Surge on the computer no problems.. but the blaze appears to be a total waste of money, effort and time.. so very very disappointed

Guess i will be taking the second one back tomorrow and asking for my money back

(I have tried three different USB ports on my PC, and tried a second PC... and the shop tried their PC and it wont charge... slightly.. well more than slightly peeved right now)

[Normanh]

I am in a similar situation. My first  blaze indicated that the battery was dead when I brought it home from the store. I connected it to my computer overnight to charge it. In the morning there was some small indication that there was some power in the battery but only enough to display  " fitbit setup.com"

My cell phone was able to sync to it, however the message " battery is too low, charge it" was displayed. I connected it to a wall charger for 3 days, ( all the while checking for some improvement in battery life- to no avail). I returned it to the store for a replacement.

It was the same story all over again, dead battery, unable to take  sufficient charge for it to do anything.

I am taking it back to the store for my money back. I need a device that actually works.

[wrae82]

That initial charge is super frustrating, for sure, but since then I have had zero issues.  They shouldn't make it so hard, there is obviously an issue if so many people have the same problem on setup. 

[Tony92]

If anyone here works for fitbit, I have the issue mentioned in the below forum 

https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Blaze/Initial-Charging-and-Setup-of-Fitbit-Blaze/m-p/1888699#M50815

It looks like many others have the same issue. It has been a very frustating experience to get a device started. You should take the feedback in that forum with importance and fix that issue soon. I spent like 3 hours and still not able to resolve the issue. I will try to contact customer care and if nothing works the only option is to return the device and look for some other reliable brands.

[MariamV]

Greetings everyone! 

Thanks for bringing this up to my attention. If you're having issues charging your trackers, please take a look at the article called: Why isn't my battery charging?

@Tony92 welcome aboard. You might have noticed that I moved your post the the correct board (Blaze) since it was originally posted in the Charge board. Please make sure you are giving your tracker enough time to charge. Charging fully may take one to two hours. 

For set up instructions click here. Last but not least, here are the instructions to restart your trackers:

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.

I really hope this helps! 

Keep me posted.

[Rich_Laue]

If your using the pc to charge yoir tracker i wpuld sisable aleep mose. Often when the pc goes to sleep it limits the ppwer and it might take many hours to charge.