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.

[velver]

Hello Fitbit Users, I have good and bad news. Charge 5's bugs have been (mostly) fixed, but they got rid of sleep score on the fitbit side. you can now only view it on the app. They also did a very good job of adding ALL of the fitness choices, so you don't have to go to your phone to change it anymore.

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[gdio53]

@LizzyFitbit 

***EDIT 1/5/2024***

After my initial post, I experienced rapid battery drain after a week or so.  Now the screen is black and won't respond to any touches.  Tried to restart using the button on the charge cable, it vibrates quickly with the button pushes and get the longer vibration after the 3rd button, but still no screen,  I can see the device using a BT scanner on my phone, but can't do anything with the tracker.

Original post:

I updated the other day and received 194.91.

Didn't have any issues with the install, and battery has been great.  I never installed 194.61 because of all the posts regarding battery life, and now that I have another device that I use as my primary, I decided to give it a try.  If the update did have battery issues, It wasn't an issue for me as I only wear the charge 5 when my Pixel Watch 2 is charging.

[Paolov80]

No new Watch faces 🤷🏻‍:male_sign:

[narf57]

Received the .91 update on Dec 14th on my 2 year old Charge 5, after one week it's working fine. Don't notice any differences in functuality. Can't tell if there are any new watch faces. Still getting about 6 days battery life. Never was offered the .61 update; I guess I was lucky with that. Update took about 10 minutes to install. I put both the phone and the watch on charge during the update, just to be extra safe. 

[Perlut]

Although it's mentioned in the release notes, I can't see any new clock faces. 

So fingers crossed we'll see an app update in the coming days. If not that would be very dissapointing. 

[shed53]

I installed 194.91 on Wednesday evening.  Unlike all the reports on the previous version, battery performance for my Charge 5 seems to be unaffected - now 31 hours since the update.

Like the other commenters, I see no new clock faces. 
Another Fitbit fail? 🤦‍:male_sign:
But then, probably unsurprising 🤷‍:male_sign:

[AndiP2002]

As of today by Charge 5 is frozen with the fitbit logo on the screen. In the app it said an update was available but was greyed out and I could not update. Can't update my fitbit as the screen is frozen. Uninstalled the app and reinstalled and now it won't sync. Only 13 months old - yes, 1 month out of warranty - surprise surprise. Any ideas on how to fix this please?

[Paolov80]

Don’t hold your breath 😂

[John1D]

Just did the update. Battery went from 82 to 65 percent. No improvement in syncing. Takes forever and fails regularly. Still only tracks to the minute, not the actual exercise time. Don’t really see any change. 

[DeanK96]

I updated to this version this week and it has introduced the infamous battery drain / unresponsiveness of previous versions. Before this update my Charge 5 worked perfectly and would only require charging on a weekly basis.

On Thursday morning, the battery drained from 80% to 0% as I got ready for work. It is now struggling to charge as the battery drain is likely overtaking the rate of charging if the connection isn't perfect. It is no longer synching with my app, save for a few brief moments once or twice a day. In those moments I can tell it is trying to charge as the battery charge gets updated dusing these brief synchs but the device screen is completely unresponsive. I have tried resetting the device via the button on the charging cable multiple times as directed in other threads but the device is either dead and cannot charge or it doesn't respond. On one attempt it did successfully reset but the screen was flickering and visuals were somehow grainy in quality. 

It's a shame that my device has gone from perfect to non-functional overnight, especially since I purchased it 11 months ago and committed to a premium subscription this summer.

[Ykaiser]

How do I see that I am on the latest version update on Charge 5? I see Version 20001.188.58 but cant find it anywhere in forum and help.

[shed53]

I imagine that 194.91 is the latest version, judging by the language in this post and its date - Thu 21st Dec. 

You can identify the version of your device's firmware from the Charge 5 itself (swipe down until you reach Settings, tap this then swipe up until you reach Device Info) or from the smart phone app. In the iOS app, you tap in the device icon at the top left pof the home screen, then choose Charge 5 from the list of devices connected to Fitbit.  The version will show near the top of the device info on that screen. 

But, I should warn you, I'm "only" a Fitbit user.  I have no connection to the company so my answers may not be definitive.

[JeanieJ23]

Before the update my tracker hadn’t been showing Heart Rate Variability (after numerous contact with Support - very, very frustrating). Since the update my sleep data is wrong (correct sleep and wake times, but the total hours recorded is about half what it should be and not showing detailed view) AND still not showing HRV. My O2 levels sometimes show and sometimes don’t. Altogether, my experience with Fitbit has been very frustrating. Support is zilch.

So, I’m not sure whether the update has made things better or worse, but overall I would never recommend anyone buy a Fitbit tracker, if looking for more than just a step counter..

[RobertaRose]

AWFUL watch hold charge for more than 15 minutes,  

[LucianaFranco]

It happened exactly the same thing to me and still didn’t fix it. Have u figured out any solutions?

[JeanieJ23]

No, unfortunately not 🥺 

[SunsetRunner]

I had quite the ordeal with the update. The Fitbit would crash constantly and forcing a restart with the charger had no effect. Finally, I cleared the user data on the Fitbit and it stopped crashing. However, it now loses about 1% of its battery per minute. Restarting it, rebooting my phone, and clearing the cache have no effect. I purchased this in Nov '22 and before the update the battery would last 6 days.

----

Update: I contacted support and it was determined my battery is the issue. It was never an issue before the update. Also because I purchased the Charge 5 in Nov 2022, it is out of warranty. I was given a 50% discount code for another Fitbit device but I think it's time to switch to a Samsung. Whats funny is I just hit my "10 years of the Fitbit Community" as I was typing this. 

[abrighenti]

Same here 

[John1D]

It’s been a few days since the update. To be honest, I don’t see a difference. No battery drain and it still syncs correctly, maybe 50% of the time.