Charge 5 after update just ruined

[tigyzinho]

Hi everyone, my Charge 5 started with occasionally not responding to taps and stopped responding at all a 1, 2 month ago and is black since. 

I've already done the 3-button reset, I've also reset it through the app, and nothing worked. The watch doesn't even last 12 hours — it just shuts down very quickly. On top of that, after 30 minutes to an hour, the screen goes black. I try tapping it but it doesn't respond. It only reacts when I put it on the charger, and then after a few minutes, it goes back to a black screen again.

Can you help? Has anyone managed to fix this? Is there an update planned to resolve this issue? It seems like this started happening after a software update, because it never happened before!

Is anyone else having the same problem? If you had this issue, were you able to fix it?

Thanks!

[clstone85]

You are not alone! A couple weeks ago, my Charge 5 started randomly shutting down and the only way to turn it back on was to put it on the charger. When it turned back on, it still had a sigificant % of battery power, so I have no idea why it shut down. Both times this happened I was in the middle of a run. I read that it can help to restart the device, so I tried that but it didn't come back on without me putting it back on the charger to "wake it up," so to speak. My device was about 5 years old, so I ordered a refurbished one on Amazon to replace it. Unfortunately, the refurbished one barely holds a charge for a few hours! Even when I'm just sleeping, it runs down FAST and dies. 

I did some online research and found out that MANY people have been having this same issue with the Charge 5 and 6 as well as some of the other Fitbit models. This seems to have started after an update in 2024. As for me, the issue just started this month although I had been noticing a very gradual decrease in battery life. I attributed it to my device being so old, as I used to get a full week out of a battery charge!

I haven't been able to solve this issue and it doesn't seem like Fitbit is doing anything to correct it. My solution may be to return the refurbished one I bought and get a different, cheaper brand of fitness tracker.

[Kris227]

All of these sound to me like one or more cells of the battery have failed. If you do order one from amazon or ebay or wherever, do make very sure that you can return it. Battery problems will be clearly apparent in less than a week. often in a day. (like very slow to fully charge, or won't fully charge at all - back it goes.) I can't fault Fitbit on this - to me it is just something that will happen in a small number of cases.

[ash1eyrose]

Yes, it’s the battery. I had the same exact problem, replaced the battery myself, and it now works great.

 The battery is easier to replace on the newer Fitbit models, compared to the ones that you had to solder the new battery on. Now, there’s just a connector, which can still be a little tricky since it’s all so small, but ultimately it’s doable.

If you’re just gonna end up tossing it anyway, what is there to lose? Although, I’d see if you can get the screen off successfully, and without damaging anything, before buying a new battery. There’s videos on YouTube that show the process.

[JF79]

I’ve been having this issue for a few months too. I’ve realised it goes blank and unresponsive when it vibrates. So when out for a walk for example if you go into cardio mode it sleeps and stops tracking. Or if it does stay awake when you go to finish the activity it vibrates and goes blank. Then the walk doesn’t register in the app. Or if you reach the step count. Or the alarm vibrates etc. When connected to the charger it wakes up but showing the time it was at when it went ‘dead’. I switched the vibrate strength to normal, reset the device and it seemed to work for a while. But it’s back to the same issue. 
All the customer support in here seems to do is gaslight customers telling them to make sure it’s fully charged, reset etc. Or the sneaky 50% discount off a new device. Great way to get more money out of customers and improve sales figures. 
Fact is, an electronic device should have a better lifespan than the less than 3 years mine is. In fact consumer LAW in my country says so. If there’s an issue it should be fixed or replaced. Electronic gadgets should have an average lifespan of 7-10 years. 
It’s interesting these issues have appeared after Fitbit teamed up with google, forcing us all to switch/migrate accounts on the premise it would provide ‘improved experience’ Yeah, right. 
Get your act together Fitbit and provide a proper solution to this problem. 

[clstone85]

If we're unable to do that ourselves, who do we get to do it? Do we have to go through Fitbit or can it be done at a watch shop...assuming there still are any. LOL

[xcherbearyx]

I literally have started having the same issue over the last week or two. I've had my Charge 5 for more than a year and have never had issues until now. Very odd that so many are also experiencing it at the same time. Maybe a component is reaching the end of its lifespan. As a 10 year Fitbit customer, this is very disappointing and really has me looking elsewhere for my next device since it is almost clockwork to have to replace one every 1-2 years as it is.

[clstone85]

I've had the same Fitbit for 5 years and just started having this issue a couple weeks ago. A lot of people have said that it was caused by an firmware update.