Charge 5: Short Battery Life

[Noelh15]

It’s happening very often and it is frustrating. My Charge 5 just randomly turns off even if it is fully charged, and the only way to turn it back on is connecting to the charger which is very inconvenient if you don't have it on you. 

Moderator edit: subject updated for clarity

[LoriFrances]

I've been having the same issue for weeks. It's annoying. I'll try changing the clock face, but can't imagine that will fix it. This is my third generation Charge, going back to May 2015, but I'm considering other options 

[Starlite1122]

Same issue now for months! They told me the same thing, which I did, but didn’t change a thing! They gave me 50% off new device…. WHY WOULD I SPEND ANY MORE MONEY ON THESE THINGS WHEN MY CURRENT ONE HAS LASTED LESS THAN 2 YEARS?! Now that they’re owned by Google, they should replace these devices out of principle at this point or they’re likely losing alot of business!

[larryc43230]

Beginning yesterday, 12/7/2023, my Charge 5 has begun turning itself off at random times. I charge the FitBit every morning, and the FitBit still turns off even when fully charged. The only thing that brings the Charge 5 back to life is to place it on its charger. When I do that, it immediately boots up and can be used again (I'm not required to do any button-pressing procedure to get it to boot).

This is extremely annoying. Each time it has happened I've been in the outdoors, far away from any charger, so the Charge 5 is useless until I get back home and place it on the charger. And that means losing any measurements that I rely on the Charge 5 to collect for me.

I haven't bothered to personally contact technical support, and I won't. I've read and tried all the troubleshooting tips and nothing has made any difference. Others who have contacted technical support have simply been given the usual advice for restarting the device, and the Charge 5 still continues to turn itself off.

For the first time since I purchased my first FitBit watch more than ten years ago, I can no longer trust it to not become a useless brick at the most inconvenient possible time.

I'll monitor this thread in the hope that the FitBit team finds the problem and a solution, but since this has apparently been going on for months I'm not holding my breath.

Larry

[no_need]

I'm experiencing the same/similar problem with my Charge 5. For me it seems to happen every time I use the timer feature - the timer will count down, vibrate a few times when it hits zero, then the device shuts off and has to be put on its charger at which point it immediately comes back on. This has been happening for a few weeks.

[larryc43230]

I never use the timer function, but there may be multiple features that can trigger the problem. I can be just walking or hiking and not even looking at my Charge 5 for an hour, then look at it to check the time and discover it's off.

When I put the device on the charger and it boots up, the time displayed briefly on the Charge 5 shows the moment it froze. Then when the device synchs with my phone, the display shows the actual time. The one time I noticed this, the device showed the time as 8:48AM and the actual time was around 11:15AM. After a few seconds (presumably after the Charge 5 synched with my phone), the time on the display changed to the actual time.

Larry

[richrobdent]

Same issue. I am also a long standing Fitbit user, but it appears that Google have wrecked the product. The last update is terrible, a real step backwards. And now my charge 5 randomly shuts down! My next next smart watch won't be a Fitbit.

[ShovelT]

Same issue for me too (Charge 5). It must be the software update for everyone to be having the same issue at the same time. It isn't a battery charging issue.

[SunsetRunner]

I have the problem 😞 Carge 5 turning off randomly.

[CreditAKA]

The same thing happened with me and a friend within a week. Tried all troubleshooting steps and customer service did not even acknowledge the fact that is a firmware issue from their update and sent an email with a 35% discount for an out-of-warranty device --- this discount is also worthless since it doesn't apply to the Charge 6 and Fitbit does not sell the Charge 5 anymore on their website. 

Very dubious practice and should be reported.

[richrobdent]

Fitbit is now owned by Google. Was a great device but they have ruined it. Will be looking elsewhere for my next Smart watch.

Sent from Outlook for Android<>

[Saratonin]

Mine has been doing this for several months too. So frustrating! Fitbit better get this fixed.

[Kellihutch]

I also have been experiencing this for the past several months. When I place the Fitbit on the charger it is always over 50%. The last few times over 90% battery life. This is very random and very frustrating.

[SunsetRunner]

I have been charging mine twice a day lately, but it makes no difference. Last night it charged to 100%, I put it back on my wrist and sat down to watch tv and one hour later it was at 76%.  Disappointed that Fitbit are not fixing this issue.

[kaysie09]

My Fitbit Charge 5 has started doing this - it is fully charged and the only way I can get it to turn on is by plugging it into the charger and forcing a reset - it is out of warranty but only 15 months old. Very frustrating!! What remedy does Fitbit have to solve this problem??

[Caroline7864]

I had this shutting down problem begin after the update that gave us the battery percentage back on the screen. I was also noticing the screen became non responsive after using another part of the watch- timer, alarm ... Then it began to occur for no reason. Pretty disappointed having been a long fitbit user.

[MargoFC]

Mine seems to shutdown at the reminders to move at ten till the hour.  Changing the clock face did not help.  I noticed today that there was an update, so I installed that today.  I had high hopes for the update but was let down because at the very next reminder to move my Charge 5 vibrated and when I looked at the screen it was off.  This is the worst.  My company does a lot of health challenges and Fitbit is the only one where your steps upload to the challenges automatically.  I’ll have to switch to a non-Fitbit product and just deal with the manual entry for the challenges because I can’t deal with this anymore.  I’ve gone from a satisfied long-time user of Fitbits to such disdain for this company. 

[SunsetRunner]

how can we rely on using fitbit for payments when we are out when it keeps randomly shutting down?  How embarrassing to try and pay and have it shut down at that moment.  Please  get your act together Fitbit

[Helsbelsuk]

I had a very similar thing with my Charge 4 and had an online chat with fitbit who talked me through some steps to try and resolve. When I said that it wasn't doing something even after a reset back to factory settings, they confirmed as still in warranty that they would send me a new one.  I didn't think it would be as more than 18 months old, but I had to send the old one back, and they replaced with a Charge 5 a couple of weeks later.  Definately worth going on the Fitbit app for a chat with them. 

[Jay7ne]

Hi 👋 thanks for this. I'm also facing the issue of my less-than-2-year-old Charge 5 turning off. Now the minute it comes off the charger the screen goes dark and even when back on the charger it remains dark until I follow the steps to restart the device. 

Anyone managed to resolve this? Or did you give up and buy another tracker?

[Jay7ne]

Did u give up?