Charge 5 - Poor Product Quality and Fitbit App

[DoshiBM]

I have been using Fitbit devices since original charge launch but last year I had upgraded the product to Charge 5 and my nightmare started. This device is very poor quality. First the battery has many issue, sometime it doesn't charge or many times it take too long to charge. After that the device was replaced but then the battery issue started with new device as well. 

The Fitbit App is also having many issues and it doesn't sync data, many data is getting lost, have to reset the device frequently and reconnect the device, etc etc. 

Really big big disappointed by such poor quality product. Not at all worth the money and time. I feel this is my last Fitbit device and soon will switch over to Garmin or Apple watch, which are more reliable.
Good luck to other Fitbit users! 

[Zed134]

Completely agree, exactly the same issues myself

I’ve had Fitbit trackers for years and service and reliability was always excellent. Bought the Charge 5 a year or so ago and the last few months have been horrendous. Stops syncing for no apparent reason despite Bluetooth and App showing connected and syncing. Regularly have to re-pair it but lose the previous days step count. There are so many days that are not correct and just told to manually add it back in, but don’t know the exact number and like it to be correct, it defeats the point of a tracker if not. Also loses the 250 step count for no reason, and a colleague at work has the same story - not sure if it’s just specific to the Charge 5 or their systems. This is regular and I will look at alternative brands too, very disappointing whatever they are doing and very poor service for the user. Not what you expect and now overpriced for the unreliable service in my opinion

[rincewind666]

Did it start after the big phone app redesign?

I've heard a ton of complaints from others about sync issues since that upgrade. Me, I've refused to upgrade and still running the last version before it, because I was warned about the crappy new design, and then read about the sync issues. My charge5 continues to work fine with no sync issues to this day.

You might want to try downgrading your phone app to a version before the redesign, to see if it fixes the sync issue.

[Zed134]

Hi, thanks for your response - that would make sense. It started this year, before that I’ve never had problems and had a Charge 2 for years. Support response has been it’s just me and not a known problem. However, I looked at forums yesterday and there are loads of people as you say. I’ve had more syncing issues yesterday and missing a lot of data over random days. I’ve decided to try a cheap Apple Watch and see if I get on with it- reviews are pretty good and fed up with the FitBit/Google problems that seem to be a regular issue now

Sent from my iPhone

[9v9z9f]

My charge 5 Fitbit is now now two years old and it's still working, apart from sometimes freezes on the EDA scan, and ECG scan. Also sometimes the watch strap comes off, or the watch doesn't charge properly sometimes. But apart from that it's fine and working alright. I want to try the charge 6 sometime, but don't know if it is worth it yet. Can anyone tell me what the charge 6 is like, and if it's worth getting?

[DoshiBM]

@9v9z9f Good to know that your device is working fine. I even haven't tried EDA or ECG scans so far so I am not sure on how they work. My concern is on the basic functionality of the tracker, which is not working as expected.

As suggested by  @Zed134  getting a cheaper Apple watch is still better option to me, rather than getting expensive Fitibit device, which breaks down frequently within the warranty period of 1 year.  They have replaced my Fitbit device twice within warranty period and soon I shall be out of warranty so not sure how long will it last and what should I do next.  

[9v9z9f]

I don't know what you should do when your watch is out of warranty, but yes maybe try an apple watch, or maybe try a different kind of watch, or if that doesn't work there are always different apps that people can download that track different things. But I might try another Fitbit when my charge 5 comes to being out of warranty, just because I like Fitbit, and my charge 5 hasn't given me much trouble, but that's just my opinion.

[Zed134]

Thank you and good luck if you replace your Fitbit. Like you, I’ve used Fitbits for years and always loved them; it’s only the last few months that things seem to regularly glitch and stop working with the syncing and other issues - after the third time in as many months with problems it is the only reason I’ve decided to try another make 🙂
Sent from my iPhone