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. 

[Centuryp]

I've uninstalled the ECG app on my Fitbit charge 5 and so far it's started on for the last 24 hours. Before that it used to switch itself off after 10 minutes with 99% charge still.. I think the ECG app is the problem on the Fitbit..

[RobertFoster]

This sounds a glimmer of hope. Will also try this.

[seandunderdale]

Ive uninstalled too...will report back how it goes.

[Cake96]

This happened to me last week.. My Charge 5 is 1.5 years old now, and has always lasted a solid 7 days. Now it drains from 99% (never charges to 100%) to dead 0% in 3,5 hours. I've exhausted every thread and done all I can with troubleshooting. Factory resetting the watch does nothing. I've contacted Fitbit but I'm getting no reply. I need my watch in my daily life, this is an absolute disaster. What more can we do??? 

[seandunderdale]

Uninstalled the ECG app and some others. Charged to 99%...then timed the battery drain... it took 2 minutes to get to 50% battery, and 3mins 20 sec to get to ZERO battery. My Charge 5 is well and truly f*cked. 

[winter.jeff]

Since the latest FITBIT update basically destroyed so many people's devices and they refuse to accept responsibility and push out a fix for it, I think we should contact an attorney for a class action lawsuit. IF anyone on here has a lawyer on retainer and could investigate, that woulde be great. Unfortunately, I do not.

[seandunderdale]

Was a forced / pushed update? Because I dont remember updating mine. 

[Redhawk001]

Davide,

I am having the same issues with my Fitbit 5. I had a live chat with a fitbit help desk and they uninstalled my fitbit. Then we wiped all of the information and re-installed in to merge with my Iphone 14. Unfortunately, the same things are happening. I am having to charge it  like every 3-4 hours. I cant log my sleep because the battery is just dropping out. This just started like 5-6 days ago. I don't know what to do as this is very frustrating. Any idea's?

[Centuryp]

Well after 36 hours it switched itself off again at about 69% charge... Anyway a new replacement arrived today...

[Horszi]

If its under warranty, ask for a replacement, if not, trashbin. A well known problem, the internet is full with articles, that says after the firmware update, the Charge 5 dies. The answer for problem was something like that, we will look into it. Months ago. So, no hope that tey gonna solve the problem... 

https://9to5google.com/2023/07/11/fitbit-charge-5-battery-bricking-update/ 

[FitEva]

Sure, I already give up and decided not to consider Fitbit devices anymore
as I couldn't see the company trying to solve the problem arisen from their
design but not customers' misuse. I have bought smart watch of another
brand already and will never go back to Fitbit again.

[seandunderdale]

Has anyone been finding that using the charge 5 in water more causes the issues? Maybe my shower use and a firmware update coincided, but I decided to start being less precious with it around water and just let it get wet. That was roughly when my issues began, and I dont remember doing any manual firmware update....and Id be a bit annoyed if it pushes updates on us, for this very reason. 

Also, Im not anti fitbit...I will consider buying a Google Pixel 2 watch when it comes out and Ive seen reviews on how it compares to the Galaxy 6. Google Pixel watch uses all the fitbit software, so Im happy to continue with it.

I will say though Ive never had a product go off a cliff so completely though, without any kind of mechanical failure (unless it was water damage)

[FitEva]

I didn't go swimming or wear it during shower but my Charge 5's battery
still drained to zero within a few hours.

[Benny21]

Same here. Mine lasted almost 8days then out of no where it starts buzzing and showing the logo then boom dead. I charge it to full within 4hrs it's dead again. 

I question why it's still being pushed out to unaffected devices knowing it's doing this.

-----

Was this a complete replacement or heres 35% a new one?

Moderator Edit: Merged replies 

[Jen00711]

Hi, mine was doing exactly the same. Used Fitbit customer help online chat, today. 
They suggested I plugged it into the charger, pressing the button on the UBS end x3 then you get the logo on screen the your Fitbit will restart. Since lunchtime I’ve only used 9% instead of the battery being fully drained. 
Hope this helps! 

[FitEva]

Thank you but mine was gone totally. I would never buy Fitbit product
anymore.

[seandunderdale]

Ill try that and see what happens....Ive had no luck with any suggestions support have offered...They did however admit they were working on a software fix, which does mean they know it was their fault.

I was also told they couldnt...or wouldnt refund my yearly subscription which had just recently renewed. Now that yearly sub is useless since theyve basically bricked my hardware. They did offer the 35% off towards a new fitbit device, even though mine is out of warranty. I dont plan to buy any new fitbit devices, discount or no discount.

A software update that rolls out and breaks loads of devices should not take weeks to fix. They should let us roll back to an older version and be done with it. 

Im getting used to wearing my old metal Casio classic now...and I kind of dont miss my fitbit like I thought I would. Maybe I dont need a smart watch / tracker afterall!

[Lowbattery69]

Do not hold your breath this current software has been out for over 6
months. They've ruined yours, mine and thousands of customers products

[winter.jeff]

I bought a Garmin SQ2 over the weekend and Best Buy gave me a $35 trade in credit for the USELESS Fitbit.

[tamarpac]

I have the same issue. The Charge five suddenly stopped holding the charge about ten days ago. The unit is barely a year old. Another one that I bought for my son stopped working about 3 months in. They did replace that one. Mine however is evidently out of warranty and they suggested that I buy a new one, WHICH I WILL NOT. From what I am reading in the community this battery charge issue is widespread after an automatic firmware update. In my opinion this is an issue that Fitbit needs to fix, and NOT just suggest to by a new one, albeit with a discount, plus shipping and handling.