Charge 5 battery draining quickly after the update

[bttrswt36]

Updated the firmware on my Charge 5 and immediately the battery, which had no issues previously, started draining within 24 hours. Three days later it is now completely dead and won't charge. Fitbit is taking zero responsibility for this even though it is their update that caused the issue. I'm assuming other people are experiencing this as well? I find it completely unacceptable...

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[drpelpi]

The same is exactly happening to my wife's 16 months old Charge 5 since last week. Before battery life was 5 days without problems as she never used it for anything else than receiving text notifications and looking at the time, NEVER ever used GPS, sports tracking, ECG, etc. Out of the sudden last week she ran out of battery and charged to 99% and after a few hours the watch just died, we found it super weird. I thought well I suppose it didn't charge well, but the same happened again again and again charging all night long. We went through all unpairing, resetting, using different chargers, cleaning drill Fitbit is recommending and nothing works. Full charge showed on the screen and the battery drains totally in 1-2 hours without even touching the device staying flat on a table. She is in the last firmware but we don't remember updating it recently. As usual Fitbit customer support is using the typical ping pong of doing that that and that and requesting to sync it the device while is discharging fast. 

[Chuck.OBX]

I am also seeing battery drain. Plus. watch at  night (not sure when) has stopped tracking my sleep, heart rate, resting and erases all records of previous day. 
It used to automatically track my overnight sleep that would sync the next morning, but the last few days everything changed. Previous days are still recorded on cell app. Help please
Device is always fully charged before I go to bed

[C_S_2100]

Indeed. Currently drained within half a day; no issues prior to update.

Of course, like an idiot, I also accepted the update to google which has made it even worse.

Customer support offered a 35% discount on a new device, but why on earth would I even consider that? This combined with losing years of menstrual data tracking recently (that they managed to recover) does not inspire confidence. Plus their attitude of legally defending themselves by not taking any responsibility for the reaction to the update… yeah, I’m gone.

[BFinch343]

I am having the same issue!!! 😭

[Gd1631]

My FitBrick never recovered. The battery holds as much of a charge as it has for a few months now…none. I must admit it doesn’t bother me as much since it went in the trash and is to never see any of its relatives in my house ever again. 

[Palmtreegirl]

It's good to see that the word about this is getting out there. Hopefully this will help those whose devices are yet to brick, to have a better outcome from Google than hundreds of us on this forum have had.

https://www.techradar.com/health-fitness/fitness-trackers/fitbit-denies-that-charge-5-update-has-bri...

[LisaC86]

I’m having the same issue with my charge 5 after doing the update. It’s useless now and I can’t keep it charged for more than 8 hours. I’m so frustrated and disappointed. I’ve tried everything!! I lived this tracker abc now I can’t use it 

[Kk1982]

Same issue today, had a perfectly working Fitbit charge 5. Updated software today and it lost 71% battery in 10 mins despite being plugged in to charge. Now I can’t get it over 1% battery as the minute it hits that it cuts the charging process and dies again. Fitbit you owe me a new fully functioning Charge 5 thanks to your dodgy update.

---

Ps if you can’t be bothered to send a replacement consider yourself a vocal (and I mean vocal) customer that has been permanently lost to a competitor 

[LisaC86]

I will never buy a Fitbit again! I’ve bought at least 6 Fitbit trackers over the years and this one completely sucks! They need to fix the Charge 5xs a day problem. 

[aed82]

Just updated my app firmware last night and this morning after unplugging my fully charged watch from the charger I was at 3% in less than 10 minutes. Not sure which of the fix strategies here might work for me.

[Meis68]

Same here - it was working perfectly. Now I’m just over the one year warranty and it won’t hold a charge. I have to recharge multiple times a day. Not acceptable!!

[aed82]

I called Customer Service yesterday to no avail. They talked me through a reset and reinstall of device onto app and now I can't even take it off the charger because it resets to 0% battery every time.  

[Kk1982]

I was fighting with them forever on Facebook messenger, they ignore you on twitter. Had the same issue with mine not going above 1% charge and the stupid suggestions of reset it, press the charging button 3 times and whatnot. But I think the only reason they replaced mine was because I forgot I purchased an extended warranty as they only referred to that for my replacement and ignored any mentions I made of their faulty software update.

Keep pushing them as it seems a few people managed to get replacements regardless of the device being out of warranty.

[Buttercupdd81]

I have the same issue, battery is dead within 24 hrs. It looks like the green light on the back is on continuously instead of flashing like it used too. I have tried doing a reset (watch plugged and pressing the button 3 times on the charging cord),  bur makes no difference.

[Meis68]

They offered me a 50% discount to replace mine, but they are already 23%
off in many vendors, so it wasn't as great a deal as it seemed. Also, it
is just shameful that they expect people to replace an obviously faulty
system, regardless of whether it is the device, software, or battery.
Built in obsolescence is just not okay.

[FatBloke44]

Worth a try, thanks for that. 🙂

[Palmtreegirl]

Please keep us updated if you have any success with consumer protection organizations. I not only did not get a replacement, but had just paid my annual premium fee when the update bricked my device. Google would not refund even a portion of the annual fee. I disputed the charge with my credit card but Google prevailed.

[Chuck.OBX]

Fitbit died over weekend.  Will no hold any charge.  They have offered me a 35% discount on a Charge 6.  Debating but don’t see an alt as won’t invest $$ in expensive units. 

Sent from the all new AOL app for iOS

[aed82]

@chuck OBX, same experience here. I will not be buying another fitbit.  My Samsung S24 received a Fitbit update over the weekend and now the watch won't come off the charger without switching to off/0% battery. I asked Tech Support to walk me through a rollback on the update and they said they won't do it because that comes from their programming team and not customer service.

[Karinewi]

Mine has been in the landfill for some time.  Goodbye