Anybody Else Very Disappointed by the Charge 5?

[Natalia7]

I was so excited to upgrade my Charge 3 to the 5, expecting a much better product. So disappointed. The built in GPS is inaccurate, as is the counting of swim lengths (the GPS was one of the main reasons I switched to the 5). When I received by Fitbit, there was a tiny mark at the top, which has now become a crack down the screen, and I've been using it for less than 2 months. I'm definitely noticing a decrease in quality as I had my previous 3 Fitbits for a couple of years each and they had no such damage. 
😕

[NolaGyrl]

I took over my husbands because three times I tried to get one to work out the box but the screen remained black.  I ended up giving him his 5 and went back to my 3.  It seems to be inaccurate as activity is usually half or less than that of my actual activity, HRV is always in the sickly range, and resting heartrate is about 30 beats higher than every other device reads including just the old fashion finger on pulse count.  
Last time I used it, I wore my 3 and the 5 and they were not showing similar results.  My 3 showed about 99% of my activity and closer to normal resting heart rate of ~63, the 5 showed about 1/8 of my activity and resting heart rate at ~98.  I found when I was using it, I was charging it more and the screen required tapping as it would not light up with just a flick of the wrist or tapping the side.  Unfortunately, I don't think my 3 will hold out much longer as the display is dimming out but its still better than the 5.

[Epain1]

Yep, considering going back to my charge 3 and find something else not fitbit

[Natalia7]

My dimming Charge 3 screen was also the reason I switched. Unfortunately my screen is so dim that my Charge 3 is unusable. 

[ChrissyNemetz]

I received my charge 5 for Christmas, so I haven't been using it for long. But I can already say I'm incredibly disappointed. I'm considering going back to my old charge 2. 😒

[Screech1]

I agree. I can still return mine so it’s going back. Face is froze and cannot go from screen to screen. Waste of $$$ 

[roushjk]

Yep, count me in.   I didn't know that it no longer recorded stairs, and now it is tracking my every move with GPS, Location Services, and Bluetooth all turned off.   Wow.

[b0bafe11]

Absolutely, was difficult to register some touches, ECG hardly ever triggered despite my best efforts, and to top it off the strap came off when I was swimming in the sea! Avoid if you can folks

[Poziichris]

Mine is very dissapointing/expensive rubbish! It won't sync unless I Un unstal and re install it each time! It can't count steps anywhere near accurately. I know my phone is accurate and on overage my phone counts 14000 odd steps a day and my new charge 5 counts approx 9000 the same day! It has Never shown notifications even after restarting everything which I shouldn't have to do!

I've contacted fitbit which is near impossible to do outside the states and they have no clue how to fix it apart from expecting me to troll thru their "help" paged/hoops as they can't do it themselves!

Maybe mine is the only one in the world that can't count or receive notifications!!

Good luck with yours, if you are in the states at least you can phone someone!

On the positive side it seems to tell the time accurately and I assume it's waterproof!

Then again so are watches which cost 10% of the price of a not sp smart fitbit! 

[Daveuk02]

I had the same problem, the screen was barely visible. For some reason the brightness had set its self to dim, you can change it in the settings. I’m going back to the charge 3

[Rich_Laue]

@roushjk GPS is only turned on during a GPS recorded event, like Run, hike, walk, or bike. 

The app does not track your location unless you use the phones GPS during one of the above events. 

Yes Android v6+ requires location access for a Bluetooth Low Energy device to sync. I've checked and duringfa sync, the fitbit app does not request location. 

Having location access does not mean that the app is tracking you. It simply means, if needed it can. Just like if you had a key does not mean that you have to open a door as you walk by. 

[YULmartha]

I am disappointed by the terrible clock faces that do not allow you to see all the data at once. And they removed the altimeter. I also find it finicky to navigated the menus.

My Charge 2 was much better designed for those aspects. They new bells and whistles like ECG and EDA are of limited utility for me, and they have  removed the fundamental design elements that made it and simple and solid product. 

[6TJS6]

There's going to be pros and cons with everything. As for the price I might be more picky if I paid for mine, but got it through my health insurance. Yes, it would be nice to have more clock faces to choose from, but hopefully that will come with time. The GPS only has to be on when you want it to be and I've found compared with using my phone for walking everything is pretty spot on as far as mileage, time, GPS tracking if I use it and steps. The only thing that's off are calories burned. Don't know how they figure that on the Charge 5 or my phone app, but something must be different. There is also the issue with the face not turning on when you flip your wrist up to look at it at times, but I find this is mostly at night when I'm in bed, but I guess that's because it thinks I should be sleeping and not checking the time. The sleep time seems pretty accurate as well. That's my 2 1/2 pennies worth.

[rmjones5278]

The Charge 5 is the worst and won't hold a charge. The only thing worse is FIT BIT "CUSTOMER SERVICE". They have no solutions and always promise a call back that never happens.

[roushjk]

Rich, you may be a "Community Legend", but, I'm sorry, you don't know what you're talking about this time.  The picture below is a screenshot of a treadmill walk taken last week;   GPS is turned off in the Walk settings,  Location Services is set to "never" for the Fitbit App, and I said "no" to the "Turn Location On" prompt.  Bluetooth was on for this one.   The phone was on standby and I didn't touch it during the walk.   Previously, it would do this with Bluetooth completely off as well....one suggestion on this board last week at least now has it better to the point that if I turn Bluetooth off in my phone now, it doesn't track anymore, but I shouldn't have to turn off Bluetooth on the phone every time I want to take a walk.  GPS on the exercises and Location is still off so it shouldn't do this, but it does.

[Poziichris]

I’m guessing at least yours counts steps, syncs, and shows notifications,?
everything you expect a “smart watch” to do!
Thing that most annoys me is Fitbit either has no idea how to fix it, or
doesn’t care, or Both! …