Charge 5 - Battery short life

[SCusername]

My Fitbit works OK until it gets to around 50% battery then it shuts down or loses charge within an hour down to to 10%.  I then charge it and, within 10 minutes, the charge bounces back to at least 80%.  This is now happening on an almost daily basis.  I notice this is quite common from other entries on this forum and have already done the processes you have suggested in other threads, (checked for firmwear, removed any batterry draining apps, restarted it, cleaned the contacts on the watch and the charger etc).  How do I get the battery to operate properly?

The watch is only 18 months old, (bought in May 2023).

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Just to add to the above, it has gone particularly crazy this morning!  It said I have 4% battery so I plugged it into the charger and it immediately jumped to 81%. I left it charging and looked at it again 5 minutes later and it is now back down to 8%.

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[remma]

Mine is behaving similar.  Was at 100 yesterday but sometime during the night, went down to 3%.  Then charged quickly to 85%...2 hours later, at 50%.

[FatimaFitbit]

Hi there @SCusername and @remma! A warm welcome to the Fitbit Community!

Thank you for reporting this situation and for all your efforts.

Please follow the troubleshooting steps described in this article: Can I extend my Fitbit device's battery life? 

Do you have settings such as GPS or Always on Display activated?

[RiekoC]

Hello @SCusername , @remma 

When my Charge 5 started having rapid battery loss, I restarted and recharged my device multiple times over several days. As soon as I saw a rapid drop in battery, I restarted my Charge 5 and put it on the charger until it was back to 100%, often doing this multiple times in a day. Eventually, this process got my device "unstuck" and the battery went back to lasting 6-7 days. Although there's no guarantee that this will work for you, it might be worth a try.

[SCusername]

Hi @FatimaFitbit 

Thank you for getting back to me but, as stated in my opening post, I have already followed all of the previously published advice and instructions including turning off GPS, cleaning it, restarting it etc.  I had already been through the list of how to extend the battery's life and nothing improved but it is not solely that the battery is draining too quickly, it is more complicated than that.  I appears to be empty but then shoots up back to full within minutes of being plugged in which suggests the battery was not empty at all.  Furthermore, the battery goes from 100% to 50% or 60% over about 48 hours and then plummets to less than 10%.  It never has 20%, 30% or 40% charge - it is always above 50% or below 10%.

Please can you advise me of what to do next?

[FatimaFitbit]

Hi there @SCusername! Thank you so much for your answer and for all your efforts and details provided.

Since you have tried the steps and your Charge 5 still doesn't work, I need more information from you, which is best shared privately. I am sharing a link to a form for you to fill out here.

This form is for you only, so let me know when you have completed it.

[SCusername]

Hi @FatimaFitbit  I have completed the form.  Thanks again for looking into this.

[SCusername]

Hi @FatimaFitbit 

Now that I have filled in the form, what can I expect to happen next as I have not heard from anyone since?

Thank you.

[FatimaFitbit]

Hi there @SCusername! Thank you so much for your response.

I looked for your answer in the forms but I couldn't find it. Could you please fill the form again?

I'm sorry for the inconveniences! 

[remma]

Hi, I have gone through the troubleshooting.  Now, my Charge 5 has gotten worse. It does not hold a charge through the night so I no longer have accurate sleep information.  What can I do next?  Thank you

[SCusername]

Hi @FatimaFitbit  As requested, I have submitted the form again.

I have submitted it again but should add that within a few minutes of me stating that I had not got a response to the submission of the form the first time, I then got an email from you Fitbit somebody has found it, you definitely have it.  The response I got asked 2 questions:

1). What is my email address?  (You sent me an email to ask me what my email address is.  I am hoping you can see the level of ridiculousness in that!)

2). You asked me to clean the watch.  (As stated in this thread and in the form I had filled in, this has already been done so again, not in any way helpful).

So at this point, I have now repeated myself three times as I explained my problem on this forum, then filled in your form and now have filled in the form again but am no closer to getting a solution.  I am completely bemused as to why you ask for the form to be filled in anyway, we are just wasting time when you already have the information on here. 

I am also bemused as to why you have changed the title of this thread as it is no longer fully accurate.  The title originally reflected that the battery was erratic, not just that it is has short life.  The battery does have short life but it is also losing charge exceptionally rapidly OR gaining charge exceptionally rapidly, (before losing it again!). 

I am also bemused as to why a battery losing charge/gaining charge would be helped by cleaning the watch.

To be honest, I feel like I am being fobbed off.  Please could someone just sort his problem out, we appear to be going around in circles.

Finally to confirm - I have completed all of the suggestions you have in your 'extend the battery' link, please do not keep suggesting the same things.

Moderator edit: formatting

[SCusername]

Has anyone had any success in getting a solution with the Fitbit Customer Service team?  I posted about an issue with my fitbit on this forum and a Fitbit Moderator gave me published recommendations which I had already stated that I already tried.  I was then asked to fill in a form, then I was asked to fill in the form again as they hadn't received it, (even though they had responded).  I am now going round and round in circles with them asking me, by email, for my email address.  I have given them all of the email addresses I have and still they keep asking for it.  I am starting to wonder if I am wasting my time.  Has anyone actually had proper service from them or are they just humouring me until I give up and go away?

[BobD50]

Exactly same issues, Again tried ALL Suggestions as @SCusername.

Also found another suggestion to restart Charge 5.

Connect and Disconnect Charger Cable 3 times within a short 1 sec break. no logo, just Displays 100% charge. Left on charger for a day several times.

Tried to "Total Reset to Factory" as per manual. Using Screen settings, Hold finger on reset button, that button dims, device pulses, release finger, Display returns with 2 buttons to select on Screen Reset & return not sure as I cannot get to settings to view. Screen displays Logo, and vibrates once, returns to Display parameters,  which are Zero, because Charge 5 has not been wearing due to left on Charge. Display shows fully charged 100%.

So I would suggest Charge 5 is not even being Reset to Factory. As Described in Instructions. Restart methods not working. Support has no ideas to fix. Charge 5 requires a Firmware Update to restore functionality back. Need a process to download again latest version, as I suggest the Charge 5 Devicel is Working correctly. Firmware is the issue.

Need Support to provide method, that they use to refurbish these faulty devices to returned from service centre.

Need a contact phone number or Email to Support in Australia,  in Sydney not some helpdesk overseas, whom Have very limited Knowledge other than return for replacement, or refund as Charge 5 is still within warranty period.

Please assist and stop just repeating same ideas, that obviously are not the answer, as everyone on community have been mentioning many times already.

Escalate to an actual service member to provide fix, after a real investigation has actually occurred by real technical staff, not a moderator whom thinks they are helping us user's.

Regards Bob

Moderator edit: formatting

[Hendrik55]

Hello @SCusername ,

See this thread.....😔😡

Fitbit-Charge-5-battery-problems-since-update 

[SCusername]

Hi @Hendrik55 

Very interesting, thanks.  I am still battling with their customer service team who keep asking me about where I bought it from, where I live etc but still haven't made any suggestions about how to resolve this.

I also find it really concerning that the moderators are able to amend our posts.  They have changed the title of this thread and so it is no longer representative of the problem and they have also hidden my seperate thread about whether customer service ever solves the problem and buried the post in this one.  Why do that?  As a result, nobody sees that query and I will never get an answer as to whether anyone gets help. 

[SCusername]

Today's joy... when I last looked a few hours ago, the charge was at 61%.  Just looked again and the watch had gone dead and the app was showing 4%.  Plugged it in to the charger, it immediately shot up to 68%.  Refreshed the app no more than 2 minutes later, it has now dropped to 38%.  This is actually exciting as I have not seen a charge of more than 10% and less than 50% for some time.  Quite the novelty!

9 days the issue was reported.  Fitbit have been in touch directly and asked me lots of personal details, (address, phone, email etc), but nothing heard since.  Not a single step in terms of progress of sorting this after 9 days.

[Hendrik55]

Hello,
I too had battery problems that started with me after the firmware update  Jumping percentages, fast drain, etc....
See: "Charge 5 Firmware update 194.91"  Thread closed but problem not solved yet! Link is not allowed!😡

After a whole discussion with the phone help desk, I finally received a new Charge 5 3 months after the 2 year warranty expired. I read that many users were offered discounts when purchasing a new Charge. My advice: DO NOT ACCEPT THAT!
I received mine for free which is as it should be. Just because the warranty has expired does not mean that the device no longer has to work under normal use.
According to European rules and regulations, you can expect a device to continue to work during its normal lifespan. For a smartwatch, I believe that is at least 5 years.
It is therefore unacceptable that Google treats its Fitbit users this way and also does not respond to posts in the forum. Even worse, Google does not come up with a solution to the problem and abandons users.

If big car brands treated their customers this way they would have been out of business a long time ago!

My new Charge 5 still has firmware 188.58 and is functioning reasonably well so far, except for some sync issues, but I know how to bypass or fix those by now.

[FatimaFitbit]

Hi there everyone!

Thank you for your answers and all your efforts. I'm sorry to read that many of you are having the same situation.

In this case, please try to contact support if you haven't already. They can help you further. Fill out the form. You will then be recommended some help articles. After that, you will be able to choose how to contact support.

[SCusername]

I have filled in the form twice.  Been asked to verify my email address 3 times.  Been asked for my email address in an email to my email address 3 times.  Been asked for my phone number twice.  Been asked for my address once (but fully expecting that to be the next question).  And this evening I have been asked which Fitbit I have.  Every other email you have sent me has had 'your inquiry about your Charge 5' written into it but suddenly it didn't and you asked me which fitbit I had.  If it wasn't such disgustingly bad service, it would be hilarious.  I suspect I am talking to a bot who is just taking the micky out of me - is that the case? 

@FatimaFitbit How do we get some action on this?

Day 10 since initially reporting it.  More emails received asking for the same information.  No progress!

[FatimaFitbit]

Hi there @SCusername! Thank you so much for your answer and for letting us know about this situation.

I contacted support so they can help you further. You will receive an answer soon. 

The Fitbit community is always available to you.