Charge 5 battery drain

[pkjohn1]

Charge 5 on version 57.20001.188.58   I've had this one since Sep 2021 and no battery issues.  Then yesterday (2/26/2024), the battery drained in a few hours.  

Thinking that it was the age of the device, i swapped with my backup Charge 5 (on same version).   It too drained overnight (from a full charge).

Here's where it gets interesting.   I charged both Charge 5 to 100%.    The new one assigned in the app went from 100%-7%,  the old one not assigned went from 100%-97% in the same time period (about 8 hours).

It seems like having the Charge 5 assigned in the app is causing the battery drain.

[ManuFitbit]

Good to see you participating in the community @pkjohn1 

The Fitbit app drains battery, because it is constantly trying to sync your devices. That is the reason, as you mentioned, that this app requires background usage in order to fully function.

Please, make sure to follow all the tips listed here in order to extend the device battery life. 

Also, confirm that you are using the latest version of the Fitbit app and the latest version of your phone software.

[Rekuci]

I have the same issue - for me, it started two days ago, Feb. 25.  All of a sudden the same activity that used ~5% battery now use 25%.  Does anyone know what's up with that?

[pkjohn1]

For GPS, it's set to use phone only.  The wake is set to manual. Brightness is default.   App was updated 2/16. Phone software updated 17.3.1   The excessive drain only started on 2/25 to 2/26.    The original Charge 5 is from 9/2021 and the new Charge 5 i just pulled out of the box yesterday.   Both show massive battery usage when connected to the app (80% in 12 hours).   When not connected, drain is minimal (4% in 12 hours)    * corrected the drain when connected to app.

[Rekuci]

thanks, yeah, I have 17.3.1 and I have not made any changes to settings in the app or Charge 5, so nothing can be drawing all of a sudden more power than before that I caused.  Not sure about the App update on 2/16 - it shows I got the latest but maybe I can uninstall and reinstall; maybe it's just erroneously showing it's up to date.  I'll report back

[pkjohn1]

Yeah,  I typically charge it about once a week and it's usually in the 20% range.   But on the 25 / 26 it sudden dropped to 7% after a full charge overnight.   No changes on the app or device.   I only found out when I tried to sync it in the morning and it was so low it wouldn't even wake up.

[PetraMar]

I had the same yesterday. Charge 5, one year old. Never problem with battery. Yesterday suddenly on 4% from 40% on no-time After charging no more problems, very strange. 

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Exactly the same for me! Today it seems to be less extreme, but still more battery use than normal. I recharge 1x per week normally. I didn’t change anything in my use or settings. 

[Rekuci]

yes, exactly the same to me too.  From the responses it seems like happened to a lot of us.  Fitbit is stalling on a response...

[PetraMar]

It happened only one time in my case. User of Charge HR since 2016. Earlier problems were always resolved by fitbit. I don’t know why they ignore this problem now. Maybe very few people with this problem?

[jzsigo13]

Same battery drain issue with the same timeframe. I'm hoping Fitbit addresses their faulty firmware or app update. Before the updates, the charge 5 had been very reliable with the advertised battery range of roughly 7 days. Maybe it's time to move on from Fitbit if they can't be bothered to address this issue.

[SPTodd]

I completely agree- having same issues 

[Rekuci]

Yes, I raised this issue about a month ago.  Before the this latest upgrade, I could get away charging my Charge 5 every 3rd day; now I have to do it for hours each single day, and I did not change any of my exercise and/or activity levels, so it's not like I'm draining the battery more.  And Fitbit is typically good at responding and owning stuff, although with my last issue first they wanted all this "proof" that what I'm staying is actually how it is (I found a bug with iOS), but I guess there might be lots of gadget-illiterate people contacting them so they had to make sure, but now they own it and said they'll (at least try to) fix it with the next update.  Anyway, I don't understand why Fitbit is so unresponsive with this issue - from the community posts, it seems like not only a few are affected.  But even if it's a few, Fitbit should at least respond to us "few"...