Charge 5 Battery Life Gone

[Phdrunningchick]

I have tried searching for this topic and seached for how to turn off autosync on the IPhone app. Can't find it. I've owned a Charge 5 for less than an year and have had great battery life until in last week. Overnight it was lasting for a week to draining in 36 hours. I have no clue what happened or what settign might have been changed accidentally. 

Moderator edit: updated subject for clarity. 

[isasukarni]

Hi Davide,

I bought a charge 5 last January and the battery life was fine lasting up to 6-7 days. However until this last week, it’s been draining very quickly lasting barely 2 days after a 100% charge. In this last 10 mins it’s dropped from from 64% to 60%. Not sure what happened so I started googling and noticed this community thread where a few ppl have been experiencing the same. 

I tried the suggestions you mentioned here and the watch is actually already on those modes because I haven’t changed anything from default since I got the watch. 

So I’m just wondering why this is happening all the sudden. I’ve been using fitbit since charge 3 mainly because of the long lasting battery and not having to charge every few days. It’s been reliable since. Im hoping it’s because of a recent firmware update ? And maybe it can be fixed with a newer update? 

Hope there can be a solution for this as I really like the Fitbit charge.

[GDDUB]

This Post was from December 2022
To read in March this is not resolved is poor service
We are having the team work on this problem is not a " best answer"

I'm having the same issue, I don't know whether it started after a firmware upgrade or not
I do know it was working well until I went on vacation.
The first day, battery drained fro 100% to 0 in less than 12 hours
At one point I was getting repeated messages about adding a card to wallet ( which I don't use)
Those stopped after I restarted the device, but the battery still drains to 0 after several hours use. 
My charge 5 is over a year old.
Hard to accept that is the life span of the battery.
I have don't leave display on, I have GPS set to phone
I made no changes to any other settings before these problems started.
Very frustrating

[Sailorlil]

Yes I have the identical problems. Currently looking at Garmin as an alternative but prefer the colour screen on Fitbit. Does anyone know an alternative to the 5 with a colour screen. Just fed up with Fitbit poor customer service 

[Bigdog19]

My first charge five stopped recording sleeping and O2 when it was only a couple weeks old. I returned it and got a new one.  
This one intermittently has battery draining issues.  When it’s good it’ll last a week and a half on one charge. I just charged it two days ago and woke up this morning and it’s dead. This is at  the second or third time that it has happened since I got it 3or 4 months ago.  
Last time it just fixed itself also.  Getting frustrated.  You shouldn’t have to jump through hoops to MAYBE fix your battery issue

[Poedel]

this immediate draining of the battery after full charge has nothing and nothing to do with 'how to improve your battery life.'  Ridiculous. Out to the blue my Charge 5 is not able to keep its charge after normal charge - resetting didn't work and certainly not the stupid change of recommended clock face. 

Fitbit need to trace back what triggered this sudden behavior and stop finding excuses on all other settings. How difficult can that be.

You have to stop communicating these troubleshooting options as if it resolves the issue of immediate draining after charge - the Charge 5 is not able to keep its charge and Fitbit users have been very clear in the issue. Customer service did the same with me - pointing I am at fault here because I do not how to use my Charge 5. Again - trace back what has changed to cause this behavior for so many users.

Better say:

"Fitbit has recognized our end-users experiencing serious battery issues with the Charge 5 and is working towards a resolution. We sincerely apologize for the inconveniences and trust you will stay with us while we are working hard to get your Charge 5 back to normal"

[Bigdog19]

I would recommend Fitbit do a post Mortem on dead
Charge 5s that are sent back to them.
Granted, the problem can be intermittent but they should still be able to figure it out.

Sent from my iPhone

[MAdeeb]

I am having the exact same issue.  Did it resolve for you yet? If yes how?

[Bigdog19]

Sorry, I have no good advice to give. It resolved with no action on my part. It was dead as a door nail this morning. (2 or 3 days after last charge). Now 12 hours after charging to 97% it is at 95%.  Battery will look great and then go dead all of a sudden.  Usually dies at night.

[isasukarni]

This needs to be voted Best Answer for this topic, couldn’t have explained it any better lol

[Kaycee11_P]

Hi Phdrunningchick - I'm wondering if your replacement Charge 5 is still working properly?   I can't get over the huge number of complaints, seemingly, after each firmware update.   I mean, there are hundreds and hundreds of similar complaints - how can Fitbit continue to sell devices that barely last a year?   I am on the fence about getting the replacement AGAIN or just switching to the Apple watch....my only hesitation is the same as yours......at it's finest, the Charge 5 lasts nearly a week and there is a lot to be said for that, but it's getting old.  My 3rd Charge 5 in less than 2 years. 😞

[Bigdog19]

This is my first replacement charge five and 95% of the time it works great. Just a couple of times the battery died real quick. I have had it a few months. My first charge five stopped measuring O2, and stopped measuring sleep phases after a couple months. It did not have a battery problem. I had a couple Charge 4s before.
They lasted on average well over two years, with no problems. One of the things I liked about the Charge 4 was the altimeter that counts how many flights of stairs you do. Charge five doesn’t do that. Hopefully this is helpful.

Sent from my iPhone

[RS_HK]

I’ve replaced my Charge 5 twice in less than a year. The 2nd one lasted a few months but I am experiencing the same issues again. Battery draining super fast at first and then “the battery is not charging messages” and then black screen / dead Charge 5. 

[RJ214]

Today I messaged with customer support and they had me go in and change my clock face. I scoffed but did it and so far my battery has been steady for hours and my Charge 5 has been stable.

Update to my earlier reply. Charge 5 just died. Apparently the "change the clock face" is not the cure all. I am now holding to my original scoff.

[Bigdog19]

Wow! Who would have guessed changing the clock face would help battery life?

Sent from my iPhone

[Azukiel]

I also have the same issues. I have tried everything suggested on the forums. My Fitbit Charge 5 started doing this after the firmware update which I think was in March or April of this year, 2023. It is now mid-May. It seems this happens with EVERY firmware update as this OP was from 2022. I've tried contacting Customer Support and cannot get through to anyone in the chat (is it not working?) Not sure what I should do now. 

[isasukarni]

There’s nothing you can do. Literally.
Just have to wait till customer support contacts you directly. I was contacted by them asking where I got the watch, when, etc. replied them but haven’t heard back since.

- Isa

[Sailorlil]

Update on my dying battery problem. I contacted customer support via chat. They talked me through a couple of fixes. None of these work. They checked my warranty and as it was still active, replaced the Fitbit. Have new Fitbit and it is currently working!

[Monyetla]

Same here 

[RJ214]

So this did not fix the problem. I now have no display and it will not reset using the button on the charger cable.

[Paulie14]

I have the same issue. One day worked absolutely fine, died completely and wouldn't charge, reset and only a black screen. After a week or two it started to charge but 100% battery lasts 3 to 4 hours! It's extremely annoying.