Charge 5 Firmware Update 194.91

[LizzyFitbit]

We’re excited to announce that a firmware update version 194.91 for Charge 5 is now available! If you installed it, let us know what you think!

WHAT’S NEW AND FIXED

• All exercise modes are now available in the Exercise app, and your most recently used modes appear at the top. For more information, see How do I track my workouts with my Fitbit device?
• Find new clock faces in the Fitbit Gallery in the Fitbit app. For more information, see How do I change the clock face on my Fitbit device?
• View your daily readiness score on your tracker (Premium feature only). For more information, see What’s my daily readiness score in the Fitbit app?
• Support for global characters and right-to-left text notifications:
  Arabic
  Hebrew
  Thai
  Hindi
  Vietnamese
• This release includes bug fixes and improvements.

Full release notes can be found here.

HOW DO I UPDATE?
See How do I update my Fitbit device? for step by step instructions for updating your Charge 5. If you run into difficulty updating, review these Why can't I update my Fitbit device?

We’re interested in hearing your feedback on this update! Let us know what you like! If you encounter unexpected behavior during or after your update, please post the details below.

[Renietus]

I just called the Fitbit helpdesk and they are going to replace my Charge 5. They didn't make a fuss about it at all, I might not even have to return my bricked one. So if yours is still within warranty, do contact Fitbit to get it exchanged!

[MMMHHH]

What number did you call?

[Renietus]

I called the Dutch customer service, so the number I called probably won't work for you.. Unless you're located in the Netherlands too 🙂

[UlrikeDG]

Hey, folks. If your device got bricked and CS says its out of warranty, did you buy it with a CC? If so, check your CC benefits. Some offer an automatic warranty on electronics purchased on the card. I have one card I use for all my electronics purchases just for this reason!

[Deenav66]

After the routine round of troubleshooting CS has replaced mine twice now, no fuss no muss 🙂


Thanks
Deena

[SunsetRunner]

After repeatedly attempting to get my Charge 5 operational since September last year, with nothing but the blue Fitbit logo of death, it has now gone completely unresponsive to charging or charging cable button push attempts to reset it. I hate to throw it in the trash but I think it's time to do so, and just call it a day on a losing proposition with what was a 14 month old device when the pushed-through Fitbit firmware update bricked it. Good luck to those who choose to stay.

[Chandlr2]

lucky you cuz my CS told me to get a new one, its 12 months and 6 days old

[MeridianOMRebel]

My wife's Charge 5 is doing the exact same thing. I have tried to do the reset option on the cable at least a dozen times (push the button the cable 3 times within 8 seconds) and I get the FitBit logo to appear, but the screen goes back to blank. I can see the green light turn on the back of the device, but that's it. 

These devices cost too much money for FitBit CS to put out a faulty firmware update and just tell everyone "Meh....go buy another one" if you've had it longer than 12 months. These devices should last for several years. 

We've had FitBit devices for well over a decade, but they really dropped the ball in how they bricked so many devices and aren't taking responsibility for it. So, no more FitBits for us.

UPDATE - They are gonna replace it afterall.

[Thesoftspot]

Since my last post, I have had another very weird thing happen - my fitbit appears to get to about 40% battery, then will just die literally overnight.  This happened the other day, so I popped it onto charge and kept checking it (the charger doesn't seem to stay connected very well despite cleaning the contacts etc.) and the battery level slowly increased to about 35%, where it stayed for nearly an hour!  In the end I had to get to work so I disconnected the device and wore it with this level of battery.  Oddly enough, that 35% later turned into 51% - go figure.  The fitbit lasted the rest of the day and I then charged it overnight.

This morning it was on 42% at 7am, it's now on 25% and its 10.30am.  It definitely seems that the last 40% of the battery charge depletes much quicker than the first 60% for some reason.

I'm pretty gutted to be honest as the fitbit is only about 6 months old and I bought one for my mother at Christmas too because I was so happy with it!  Definitely can't afford to buy another one so I guess I will have to put up with it for now.

Since installing the latest firmware update my Fitbit now needs to be recharged at least twice a week where before it might have lasted about 5 days, now it only seems to last for 3.  What's really confusing though, is that when the battery dies completely and I connect the charger, it will suddenly display something like 51% within just a few seconds - surely that can't be right??!  The update definitely doesn't appear to have done the device any good at all in my opinion.

[sema4]

This version has killed the battery on two devices.  Battery lasts minutes after a full charge and after swimming the screen goes black.  I'm overseas so getting a replacement is a nightmare. 

When will you come out with a fix?

[exsharaen]

I have the same problem since this latest update. My Charge 5 last for about 4 days now, I'm pretty sure previously it was 5-6 days. Actually I'm pretty okay with that, but the low battery notification is not so reliable. It didn't always trigger on my Charge 5 nor my phone, but emails did come. Also, I think something is wrong with the battery indicator. I woke up today with a blank screen and when I charged it, the battery indicator showed 60%. But when I unplugged the charging cable, it quickly display "Critical low battery" with 18%. The battery low email arrived at 6am, and according to my sleep data it might have died around 9.30am (I woke up around 11am, please don't ask why 😅). This happened multiple times now after the update in similar fashion: battery indicator shows a normal percentage (can't remember exactly, might take notes from now on), but it quickly becomes a "critical low" condition, and when plugged in often jumps to around 40%.

Judging from the 30-ish pages in this thread, I am worried about my Charge 5 future (and Fitbit in general)...

EDIT:
Now this is weird... when charged today, my Charge 5 only showed battery around 24%-32% for more than 2 hours, but suddenly it jumped to 100% full. Previously the inverse (at least after the update) happened: at the beginning of a charge, it showed > 40%, then slowly charge up to 100%.

[MsCapriccio]

my charge 5 still hasn't gotten the update and the android Fitbit app doesn't offer the option to check for an update. are they still rolling the updates out?

[Yellowstonegirl]

Be glad you haven't got it. It's withdrawn now.

[MsCapriccio]

ok thanks..I was hoping it would fix the other issues..I guess I just need to go to another brand. thanks again...

[maggiebro]

Mine was exactly the same. I set up a log to check and always had a different reading once I put it on charge. It’s not acceptable that Fitbit don’t take us seriously.
Sent from my iPhone

[DanFBVT]

My Charge5 bricked on October 2023 after suffering the "loss of full charge in an hour" problem, nothing worked to get it going again. Just for grins I pulled it out of the drawer yesterday, cleaned the contacts, and tried the three-button-press restart about five times. No luck, but then I opened the app on the phone and it synched and came back to life. It's been a day now, and it's holding charge normally and working properly. And this is on the old 188.58 firmware, it is not giving me any option to upgrade to 194.91. My guess is that the folks at FitBit/Google don't really fully understand their own software, and have just moved on to the next shiny penny. 

[OctavianM]

After few months of not using my Charge 5 for sync problems due to last update, today I logged in App with my google account ( I also have fitbit account not migrated to google) . After that, the update logo appeared on the tracker and after that it said update completed. Firmware version is still 194.91. Does anyone experienced something like that? Charge 6 will not be an option for me, even all Google efforts shows that this is all they want.

PS Trying to sync manually the tracker restarted!! Will see what will happen next days

[DanFBVT]

I'm not sure I'd buy another one (having moved to a Galaxy Watch 5), but the Charge 5 does have its benefits when it's working: it's small, light, and simple. It's been working fine for four days now, hopefully that's a trend.

[BilliamB]

I started with the battery draining quickly - went from 5-7 days with charge to every couple days to draining overnight. 

And then last night I noticed the screen wasn't working. Put it on the charger (but noticed the charge wasn't the issue on my app). Found the charge (through the app) was 100% but only getting a black screen. Tried the reset and can get to the blue logo flashing briefly on the screen but no further. Super disappointed to have a useless item that I can see is very likely related to the recent update (which is when all these issues started). There's an occasional green light that comes up on the back of the device. 

As I get on a plane in a few hours, I'm annoyed to say that I won't be able to track my upcoming race. 

[DanFBVT]

BilliamB - I'm grasping at straws here, but make sure you have the latest FitBit app, then try doing a reset while the app is open on your phone.