Charge 5 battery display is way off

[John1D]

My charge 5 stopped giving me reminders to move this morning. This usually means a 3 button reboot which happens 2-3 times a week. The app and watch both said the battery was at 75%. Did a 3 button reboot and now it says 38%!  I’ve seen a variance of 10% before and I’m OK with that. 50% is a different story. No changes, app is at latest version and firmware was updated a few months ago. This just started. 

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject.

[Gr4ndp4]

Hi, @John1D it sounds to me that your Charge 5 is not syncing. Why won't my Fitbit device sync? - Fitbit Help Center addresses the issues.

I find it's a good practice to sync my Fitbit app twice when I get up in the morning, it ensures I have the most up-to-date sleep data on screen.

Let us know how you get on by posting here again.

Cheers

[John1D]

I had manually sync’s several times before I didn’t get the notification to move. St that point, I plugged the Chatge 5 in and did the 3 button reboot, 3 times in a row. I tried to sync and it failed. I followed the steps, multiple times and it now works, maybe 50% of the time. As far as the battery power, it’s always off by at least 10%.

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Forgot to mention that I just installed the new iOS app and it failed twice before it sync’d. Phone has been power cycled and is up to date. All other applications and Bluetooth devices work without issue. 

[Gr4ndp4]

Hi, @John1D, thanks for the feedback, I'll try & address each issue you report. This article on notifications may be useful What are the reminders I see on my Fitbit device? - Fitbit Help Center 

You say "As far as the battery power, it’s always off by at least 10", can you tell us what you are comparing to get a 10% difference? If you are comparing your Charge 5 (lower value) with the Fitbit app on your phone & it's not syncing as the Charge 5 uses juice - I would anticipate this and mark it down as another symptom of a failure to sync.

Syncing takes place over Bluetooth to your phone & then onto the Internet via your phone's connection. If you are on WiFi subject to a sound link this is usually the best way. If you are using your phone's data allowance on 4G or 5G it is less reliable depending on where you are. I recommend you visit your Fitbit App (you do not mention the make, model & OS of your phone) If you have an Android phone go to settings>Apps> Fitbit>permissions, ensure all are allowed>Storage & Cache, clear cache>Mobile data & WiFi, ensure background data is on and Unrestricted data usage is on - make sure your data account has funds>App battery usage, set at unrestricted. I'm sorry I can't advise how to achieve this on an Apple device as I have no experience with them. There is an iOS board here.

I hope this helps, let us know how you get on.

Cheers

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Hi, @John1D, thanks for that, as you have iOS my stuff about Android will not be very helpful but that's the best I can say. Successful syncing does require an internet connection.

Cheers

[John1D]

When I connect the Charge 5 to the USB cable, it shows a battery percentage.  I 3 button reboot the Charge 5 and it now displays a different battery percentage.  The lower the battery charge/percentage, the more off it is.  The majority of my syncing takes place via wifi from either my home or work connections.  I manually sync by sliding my finger down, while in the Fitbit app.  I just did it 3 times and the response was immediate.  When it doesn't work, the progress bar moves extremely slowly.  Once it disappears, if I click in the upper left corner, it says the device is still syncing.  It looks like it's sync'd, but it will eventually time-out/fail.  At that point, if I try to manually sync again, it will fail anywhere from 1-3 times more and then it will sync.  It looks like it can't connect to the Fitbit servers to update and times out. 

Other web pages work and my bluetooth headset continue to work.  Going into Settings and Bluetooth, it says the Charge 5 is connected.  In general, poor sync reliability started with V4.  If this was a phone or settings issue, it wouldn't work at all.  

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If the problem was my wifi, I couldn't connect to anything external.  When the progress bar starts going slow, I open a browser and connect to other sites or run a speedtest.  All connections work without issue.  The only problem is connecting to Fitbit to update.  Could just be busy times and everyone else trying to update.  Heavy network load is understandable.  However, the fact that the battery is off by 10 to 50 percent is a concern.  What else is off by that much?

[Gr4ndp4]

Hi, @John1D, thanks for the update, were you able to review the Fitbit app settings on your phone?

Let us know.

Cheers

[John1D]

Phone settings checked out fine. This started with V4. 

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App says 75% and so does the watch. Did a manual refresh in the app. Took 3 attempts, but it finally sync’d. No change, both say 75%. Plug Charge 5 into cable and do 3 button reboot. Comes back up and now says 70%. Not the 50% difference that started this thread, but there’s a problem.