Charge 5 Firmware Update 1.188.58

[YojanaFitbit]

Announcing the release of Fitbit Firmware Update 1.188.58.

This update should now be available to all customers! If you have any difficulty updating, make sure you are following the directions in How do I update my Fitbit device?. If you choose to post about your issue, provide as many specific details as possible in your post so that we can assist you.

*Firmware releases are not distributed based on region or location and can reach anyone no matter where you reside. We do not recommend performing a factory reset to force the update to your device as your data will be lost and you may not get the update. Please be patient and wait until you see the update banner inside of the Fitbit app to begin the firmware download.

WHAT’S NEW AND FIXED

• This firmware release has general bug fixes.

Full release notes from previous updates can be found here.

HOW DO I UPDATE?

• Step by step instructions for updating your Charge 5 can be found here.
• If you run into any trouble updating, review these troubleshooting tips. 

[ZZForums]

One thing I noticed on my Charge 5 after the latest update was that the inane Heart Zone Notifications popped up again on my bike ride today, despite the fact that I have them set to off for each activity.

I went in and turned them back on, and then back off. Hopefully that fixes the problem. I really dislike those fat burn / cardio notifications.

[Charanp]

Don’t see anything changed after update.

BUT ADTER THIS MY CHARGE 5 GOES BRIGHT AND BLINKS.  Looks like some Ransomeware is installed on my device!

[SunsetRunner]

Problem fixed by rebooting the Charge 5, thankfully no data lost from watch or app and Heart Rate fixed and restored.

[rockfruit]

The firmware update that was pushed on my Charge 5 tracker a few days ago Dec. 6, 2022 is draining the battery in less than 1 day. Apparently, this is a known issue since July 2022 when Fitbit announced the firmware update Introducing Charge 5 Firmware Release - Version 1.171.50  by LizzyFitbit and now a lot of Charge 5 owners are having this issue. I contacted Fitbit Support on Twitter and they gave a lot of recommendations but not admitting it's the firmware update causing the problem. I just bought my Charge 5 in Nov 22, 2021 and Twitter support says it is out of the 1 year warranty (2 weeks beyond the warranty) and can only provide 35% promo discount on a new purchase. Doesn't seem fair for a 1 year old tracker to be a brick already. The moderator just closed that firmware discussion forum thread mentioned above on Dec. 1, 2022 to quote:

"First off, I wanted to thank you all for your participation in this thread. Secondly, since the majority of Charge 5 users have reported successfully updating to firmware update (1.171.50), I am closing this thread. If you still have not updated your Charge 5, check out this link  for some best practices on how to update your device. If you are experiencing an issue with your Charge 5 unrelated to the firmware-up process, I invite you to start a new topic on the community or find a related topic."

There are several users complaining on that thread why suddenly closing the discussion when so many users have complained but remain unresolved.

See these complaint posts:

From SteveCDN:
Dec. 1, 2022,15:01
FitBit says people are successfully updating their watches to firmware Version 1.171.50 with no issue(s)
Hence after six months , over a 1000 messages over 56 pages they are closing down that community topic
What say you ??
Have you successfully updated the firmware without issue ??
(PS I think I already know the answer)

----------------

From cfsFit:
Dec. 1, 2022, 16:42
I was one of the people whose Charge 5 was destroyed after applying firmware update 1. 171.50.  I received a replacement Charge 5 and have not updated the firmware because I was still seeing reports of results similar to the ones that I experienced up to the present.  I am shocked that someone shut down the thread, because the problems are not resolved.  I heard recently from a Fitbit support supervisor that there is work on an update to fix the issues; I believe that the number is 1.183... based on a posting by someone who received that version in a replacement Charge 5, although the version has not been released.  I was told that we would be notified when it was released.  That will be difficult to do if the thread is shut down.  Please do not shut down the thread until the release to fix the previous firmware update issues is thoroughly tested and released, and has been proven to work by those of us who experienced issues with 1.171.50.

So here I am ranting on this firmware update problem that broke my Charge 5. Will anybody from Fitbit Support be able to fix this?

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[oeposada]

I experiencing the same problem.

My charger was working very nicely. Battery was lasting for 5 days.

This week I updated the firmware and the battery is not lasting overnight. I change the Fitbit 100% and in the morning is dead.

I have tried restarting the device without any positive result.

[JaceGonzalez]

Im experiencing the same problem with my Charge 5.  My charge no longer lasts a day, and it's less than six months old.   

[goarr]

Well since I did update... battery life has gone to max 8 hours. Rebooted... factory reset... turned off GPS... SPo2 etc...no use.

[vn512666]

Need to unlock fitbit pay before using Transit function after update. It's very inconvenient.

[BD91]

I was also experiencing battery drain issues on this version. 

What seems to have fixed it for me was charge to 100%, sync the charge 5 to your phone multiple times (i did it like 10 times lol) and restart the device. 

Mines back to draining approx 9% per day now. 

[Muri.brazil]

i was hoping the new update would fix the issue but the battery keeps draining in minutes.

[Dlynch12]

I have the Charge 5 and have had FITBIT's right along for years. My Charge 5 is not in warranty but went from 5 days battery life to less than a day to go from 100% to 0%. I thought I had turned on a draining program mistakenly but nothing on my end changed. I did all the trouble shooting tips. It has to be the software push that is draining the battery, or my battery just decided to go bad after the push. Extremely disappointed in FITBIT response. They won't fix a known issue but expect me to buy a new product from them. 

[Tskuan]

I have 3 FITBIT CHARGE 5! NONE OF THEM IS WORKING OR USEABLE TODAY.

One bought for my Dad in SEPTEMBER 2022 (just 2 months back) which drains 10% battery in 8 minutes. I am doing a VLOG on it every 8 minutes to illustrate the ridiculous issue.

I bought one in NOVEMBER 2022 (1 month back) and it is dead now due to swimming with it.

The last one I bought in SEPTEMBER 2022 which died due to swimming with it too, which is why I bought the one above again while waiting for my replacement. Now my replacement does not connect and sync with my phone too due to some apparent ANDROID 13 issue...

Super frustrating. Anyone knows if there is a refund policy? Full of regrets now not reading up on this forum first about the Charge 5. It feels like a very unfinished product. =(

[JK42]

I now understand what has apparently gone wrong with my Charge 5

i used to get over a weeks use and now am down to about 7 hours. This happened round about the date mentioned above, namely about 6 days ago. Product is useless in this state and is less than six months old so at least I should be entitled to a refund?

checked the GPS etc. and will try a restart but not hopeful after these posts.

[Formidable]

Anyone check available clock faces with this update?

[MaiaNiko]

Always had it. At least mine had it since I bought it and I use ir a lot 🙈🤣

[charwhee]

This is what I found: https://gadgetsandwearables.com/2022/12/12/fitbit-samsung-z-flip-folds/

"A Fitbit Charge 5 and Luxe update that goes under firmware number 20001.188.58 fixes an issue that has cropped up with Samsung Flip & Folds. The company has quietly unveiled this latest sofware refresh a few days ago without officially publishing the change-log. Which is not a great way of going about things. However, a bit of digging around reveals that Fitbit support channels have explained the reason for this rollout. 

It seems the sync problem first appeared in early December following an Android 13 update for the Samsung Z Flip & Folds. Customers noticed that the Fitbits on their wrists have stopped playing nice with the Samsung phones. The issue does not affect other Android 13 smartphones. One user speculates that this is due to a flaw in the size of the Bluetooth packets in Flip and Fold devices. So a fix could, potentially, be issued by Samsung.

A Fitbit Charge 5 and Luxe have memory for up to a week of data. So a fix for the issue is quite urgent. At the moment all these customers have to rely on is the data that can be seen on the Fitbit itself. The app is useless as it is not pulling latest data.

A factory reset or clearing the app cache does nothing to fix the issue. The same is the case for other typical troubleshooting steps. But this latest firmware update that goes under the number 20001.188.58 supposedly does.

We don’t have confirmation that this latest software does, indeed, resolve the problem. Also it is unclear at the moment whether there is any additional functionality with this release. Probably not, as Fitbit would have published by now a detailed log if that was the case.

But this has left users on social media and Fitbit forums asking the question what exactly has changed with this latest firmware update. Hopefully this article answers that question.

[Savysam]

I just went to put my charge 5 on the charger and noticed that there was a notification to update the firmware today.  I did not do it yet though.  The previous update to the firmware was difficult to complete so I’m not looking forward to going through that all over again. I have no information on what is included in this new update.  

[robinrunner66]

This is exactly what must be happening to my Charge 5! 

I have been with FitBit for a number of years with the Alta, Charge 4, and now Charge 5. I have had more trouble with my Charge 5 than with any of the others and contacted support with little help besides a replacement.  My original Charge 5 had problems at 4 months & the replacement has recent problems.  Why don't they admit it, fix the firmware, fix the software??? 

This is a useless unreliable product!  I am so frustrated that I am seriously thinking of leaving FitBit and looking at other trackers that are more reliable. 

[mchili]

Mine just updated but afterwards stopped getting notifications. Had to restart it multiple times unpair repair it worked for a while then stopped. Anyone else have this problem? And there are no new clock faces. So far the update doesn’t improve syncing issues either 😑. 

[robinrunner66]

After the update, battery drain issues on this version to the point that my Charge 5 stopped working. I have tried everything that was suggested. Support was not helpful. 

Now the Charge 5 will not even charge and shows as a big X / red circle. I even let it sit for several hours before trying to charge again.  I never had such problems before with my prior FitBit trackers.  

What a waste of time to try re-charging, synching, pulse restart, changing clock face, etc. Now I have lost over a week of steps/fitness tracking. This is an unreliable product, not even a year old.