Charge 5 battery drain

[ayaashpaw]

Having used the Charge 5 Fitbit for around 13 months I am experiencing severe battery drain issues despite having battery advantageous settings, from minimal apps, screen off until double tapped and having the gps off. The warranty got over at 12 months & not sure what to do. This is happening past 1 week & the device was perfectly fine before this.

Moderator edit: subject updated for clarity

[Jagoose]

Thanks for the advice. I will try it.  My Charge 5 behaves very weirdly. If I restart it after charging to 99% (obviously not patient enough to let it fully charged), the battery immediately goes back to 1%. 

[ayaashpaw]

So Sad, I threw my Charge 5 and got an Inspire 3

Moderator edit: format

[DavideFitbit]

Hi everyone, thanks for sharing that you've been having the same inconvenience with your Charge 5 and for all your feedback, 

If you're new to this thread, please make sure to review the general troubleshooting steps mentioned here earlier. If the issue persists and you've exhausted all troubleshooting options, please make sure to get in touch with the Customer Support team so they can let you know the options available for you. You can also check out the warranty policy here, this will start counting from the date of purchase.  

See you around in the forums. 

[ayaashpaw]

@DavideFitbit Tried everything, nothing seems to work. Device was 13 months old when i wrote the post. So out of the 12 month warranty as well. Unfortunately, no option but to throw the Charge 5

[MEHoffman]

Yes my wife's unit was in that "just past" warranty area when hers started the "add card" and went on into the <16 hour battery life.  My Charge 5 is right around 9 month old mark.  Needless to say I have picked out my replacement unit and will go back to my roots.  I primarily switched from Garmin to Fitbit as my wife wanted me to be able to join the challenges.  So.....

[Chandre72]

I have tried everything listed above. I was lucky that mine started not holding a charge (and then not really charging well) right after the 11 month mark, so Fitbit sent me what is supposedly a brand new replacement unit. However, my old unit would easily last 7-8 days between charges (before it started acting up). The new one is lucky to last 4 days, and its settings are just like they were on my old one. I love the Fitbit app and interface, but it would be nice to have a product that actually lasts beyond its warranty.

[Spaz1976]

How old was it? 

[paracelsus51]

9 months old.

I mailed mine back last week. I took detailed pictures of it, so hopefully they send me a new one. I have no expectation that any fitbit I buy will last very long, which is why I always make sure I use a card with an extended warranty. But now I have to go through not only the usual contact support with rebooting and such, but also make a video of the exact right size to upload of what I am doing and then find a box and mail it back and in a week or so they will have it and decide what to do. The upside right now is that I got an Inspire 2 really cheap this summer, so am wearing it, though it has its own problems. They've made it harder to get a replacement, so it's got me thinking of other options for the future.  

[3rdRockHome]

Since most everyone's issue started after Fitbits last update, then it's not the consumers doing, it's Fitbits responsibility to fix this issue. I've read all these comments and everyone has the same issue regardless of how old the device is. Fitbit has with their update BRICKED our devices. The least they could do is look at their update and find the issue, then release a fix update for it. This is too coincidental for this many too have the same issue. Step up Fitbit and make this right! I guess maybe they don't care because they sold out to Google and eventually there won't be any more Fitbit devices. Google only bought them to use their tech on their own devices. Say goodbye to what was a good thing. So very sad 😢

[MEHoffman]

I agree 100%

[JPRas]

This absolutely has not worked for me. I have reset/restarted the device numerous times, uninstalled and reinstalled the app on my Pixel 2 phone (also numerous times), removed every optional app/feature (what's the point of having a Charge 5 if you can't use these), and switched every required battery-draining feature (looking at you, required GPS location) from the watch to my phone. My Fitbit Charge 5 will not hold its charge though even an 8-12-hour period--with the screen off! The stupid FitbitPay feature--which I never use and have no interest in--is constantly popping up. Despite not wanting this feature and resisting its activation, I caved in to the incessant, battery-draining, device-invalidating setup prompts. Now, although those have gone away, I am greeted--seemingly anytime I move my arm (both when I want to see the watch and countless inadvertent times throughout the day and in the middle of the night--with the "Tap to unlock" icon and message. I've been a Fitbit Charge user for over a decade and have bought over a half dozen Fitbit devices at this point. The Charge 5 took away the "Relax" app--a feature I keep being reminded to use in the app itself-- , which is the primary reason, along with the heartrate and sleep monitoring features--that I have continued purchasing the successive iterations of Charge when my old devices wear out. My frustrations with Charge 5--taking away Relax and then, AFTER I had bought and been using the device without problems, forcing Fitbit Pay--which, for months now, has caused me new rounds of headaches every time there is some update to the firmware or a glitch with the device that requires a reset--on me and other users, have convinced this long-time loyal Fitbit (and Google) customer to drop this brand for good. Charge 5 is both the most expensive and the most useless Fitbit I have ever owned, and the total disregard from Fitbit/Google for the community of Fitbit users is exceedingly frustrating and disheartening. 

[Tvgal]

I agree 

[Orc3y3z]

Amen, I’ve been using Fitbit for years with excellent customer service etc. Now its a complete shambles.  I’ve done exactly what you said and no fix. Support sent me a 30% discount coupon to buy a new one, sounds just like the way Google handles things.  I ended up forking out a little more $ for an Apple watch. Google will take a few more years to fix this **ahem**show if ever. 

[paracelsus51]

They've bought fitbit so they can use the tech in their pixel watch. I don't need all the extra bells and whistles, so I am not going to fork out $349 for it. It's been a couple iterations of fitbit charge since I've even been able to get notified of phone calls or texts. No doing anything works to fix it.

[JoeGrind]

Unfortunately, this didn't work for me.

[DavideFitbit]

Hi everyone, thank you for sharing the some of you are still experiencing issues with battery life. 

It seems that most of you have already tried all the steps shared in the forums to try to resolve this problem. If you're new to this thread, make sure to exhaust all the troubleshooting steps mentioned here earlier. 

Since the majority of users have already contacted the Support team for further assistance, I will go ahead and close this thread. If you're still having this problem after the recommended steps, please get in touch with the Customer Support team or make sure to continue the communication with them if you already have a case created, so they can provide you with the next steps. 

If you are experiencing an issue with your Charge 5 unrelated to battery life, I invite you to start a new topic on the community or find a related topic.

Thanks again for all your feedback and contributions on this thread.