Charge 5 battery draining quickly

[Carlybc]

I’ve had my charge 5 for about a year now. all of a sudden the battery isn’t lasting as long. It used to last me a week. Now it’s drained within a few hours. Anyone else having this issue? 

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[MarreFitbit]

Hi there, @Carlybc. Welcome to the Fitbit Community Forums. Thanks for the details provided in your post about the issue with your Charge 5.

Regarding the battery short life, in general, it is recommended to follow the recommendations listed in this article to improve or extend battery life.  There are a few features that would make the battery drain faster than usual, even in one day. Some of these features are: 

• Built-in GPS (Charge 5 can have a battery life of up to 4 days when using this feature regularly, or up to 5 hours if you use it continuously).
• Always-on display (Charge 5 can have a battery life of up to 3 days when using this feature). 
• Tracking SpO2 (Fitbit points out in this article that you may have to charge your Fitbit device more often when collecting SpO2 data).

If this doesn't apply to you, another step that has been helpful for other users having battery draining problems is the three pulse restart procedure using the charging cable. Nevertheless, since you mentioned you already tried that, please confirm that you performed the restart as described below:

1. Connect your device to the charging cable. For instructions, see How do I charge my Fitbit device?
2. Press the button located on the flat end of the charger 3 times within 8 seconds, holding each press for about 1 second.
3. Wait 10 seconds or until the Fitbit logo appears.
4. If the device doesn’t restart, wait 15 seconds to try again.

[Carlybc]

Thanks for your reply. I should also mention that I have not changed any settings since I first got it a year ago. It wasn’t showing any sign of aging. It went from holding battery perfectly fine to not at all. 

[NCMc]

My charge 5 is doing the same thing.

[kwibeck]

@MarreFitbit My Charge 5 (purchased this may) started doing the same thing 2 days ago after i installed the new Android App (not sure if that's related).

Just as for @Carlybc my Charge 5 went from 5-6 days to just a few hours.
Right now the battery level is down to 33% after less then an hour since disconnected from the charger...😡.

I've reset the Charge 5, reinstalled the app and removed / added the Charge 5?

This very annoying behaviour came from nowhere and has made the Charge 5 totally useless... 😓

[ebkeating]

I too am having the same issue. I have followed every step for troubleshooting online, as well as with your help desk.   Clearly there is an issue with the Charge 5, as I see many forms with the same issue.  A smartwatch going from 5-7 days of batter life to 1-2 days overnight is not right.   FitBit needs to figure out a fix for this - as it is not realistic to expect customers to purchase a new device after 18 months.  I love Fitbit and have been a supporter for many years - however I am not comfortable spending more $$ on a device, when I am not confident in the brand.  How do I know this will not happen again in a year ? 

[Carlybc]

I feel the same way! I loved my fitbit, but if this is what happens then I’m not buying another one. Did this happen to yours after the app updated? 

[NCMc]

Mine has been this way for about a month, since before update, but seems even worse since the update.

Sent from my iPhone

[ebkeating]

I am not 100% sure if it was after and update but I suspect so, as it literally died one day (after being on for 6 days) and the next charge it only lasted 2 days ... and has been getting progressively worse with each charge.  I am so disappointed as I loved the Charge 5 - it was the perfect tracker for me. 

[Vivieke]

Exact same issue. Received my Fitbit charge 5 in April 2022. Great product. Keeping charge for nearly a week. Then, a month ago (when the product was 1 year and 5 months in use) the battery could no longer hold charge. It drains in less than an hour and that is if I don't touch it at all. If I dare sync it, or use it in anyway, it's drained in minutes. I tried all the suggestions in the community, but to no avail. I contacted Fitbit support and they started again with the change of settings, but if the settings worked fine for all that time and the next day it can't function at all, I would say the settings are not the issue. They said they'd check the warranty. Obviously the warranty period passed, but that is NO EXCUSE for a product of this price to stop functioning just after the warranty has passed. It's useless now. Considering the many complaints about this exact same issue, I would say it's high time Fitbit offers some real solutions to their customers. My partner has a refurbished Garmin. Has had it for 4 years and ZERO issues! Unless Fitbit can answer for their lack of product quality, I know what I'm switching to. 

[Tallulahtwirl]

Having the same problem - and it does seem to be since I updated the app. I was getting a full week of use until I updated that and now it doesn’t make it through a night. I’ve checked my settings (also with some difficulty thanks to the new app!) and nothing has changed or is excessive.
Again, I loved my tracker to this point but it’s now completely unfit for purpose as I can’t be charging it every few hours just to track my day.
Like others, I am incredibly unimpressed if this is an example of how things might be going forward. Unless there is a quick resolution, it feels like I’ve paid a premium subscription for something that does not provide the service advertised and is unusable. 

[Carlybc]

I chatted with someone from customer service. They told me to charge it to 100% and then frequently sync it until it hits 0%. Then they can look at that data. I’m not sure what they will do from there, but it’s how I have to prove that this issue is happening. 

[ebkeating]

They told me the same thing - when I provided the data they could do nothing.  Told me to wait to hear from the Warranty Team via email.  They offered me a discount on a new device.  They could offer nothing with regards to why it was draining.  

[Carlybc]

That is so frustrating! Did you end up buying a different brand? I’m looking at Garmin watches. 

[ebkeating]

Not yet - I am hoping that they are going to listen to customers, and come out with a fix for their issue !!!    It baffles me that a company as large as this, is not willing to own the mistake and make it right for their loyal customers.  

Sadly, I am probably going to have to buy something else - I am just not sure what brand.  

[EMatthew]

I've been having the same problem since Sept. 22. I see many others have this problem as well, so I believe it is an issue with the update. Fitbit engineers will have to fix this. No amount of resetting/deleting apps has helped. Customer service offered a 50% discount on the purchase of a new Fitbit, but even at half off, it's not worth it if the software updates make the Fitbit unusable.

[Dbailey2050]

Yes, I'm having the same issue. It started about a week or so ago.

[Edwardsk]

I charged mine on Saturday night - mine generally lasts about a week, then this morning I went to check my sleep and it wouldn’t sinc, looked at it and it was black screen.  According to the app the last sync was 4.15am with medium battery level, at 8.30 am dead , I have put it on charge and it instantly showed 3% and I then got the your battery is low email , so mine has drained battery in a couple of hours and failed to send the message.  This is my 3rd Fitbit with the past 2 failing , if this continues I will be moving to a different product after 10

years 

[Tallulahtwirl]

Yeah, definitely reflects my experience, just a week later. I was getting a full week from it then it suddenly wasn’t lasting a full night, even with the sleep sensitivity reduced (the full week had previously been with that set at ‘sensitive’)

Even with minimal use it needs charging at least twice a day now, so is pretty useless for how I was using it. I have tried switching the app off on my phone in case it was excessive syncing but that made no difference… 

[Dbailey2050]

If they would just acknowledge that there's a problem and that they are working on it... maybe I could find some understanding. But what I'm hearing sounds like they believe that we stupid and don't know how to use their products. Because some of my health issues it important to track my heart rate during the day....now I can't do because the battery dies before I finish work. How hard is it for this company to explain to us what is happening and their plans to fix it.