Charge 5 battery draining too fast

[SharleneH]

I have had the new Charge 5 for 2 days. The battery discharges within a day. GPS is off, the phone is not set to always on. In looking over the troubleshooting instructions from Fitbit, it seems that you essentially have to disable all of the features that were selling points of this device in order to get decent battery life. Even my ancient Charge 3 got 6 days on one charge! Has anyone with this battery problem found a solution other than disabling everything?

[MikeDarrach]

I charge my new charge 5 up to 100% last night and this morning it's down to 50% is my battery bad

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[kingRidiculous]

Did you have GPS on?  Was you screen set to "Always on"?

[MikeDarrach]

No gps is off and screen is set to manual wake

[Ingy]

I’ve had my Fitbit on my wrist for less than 10 hours and it’s down to 60%.  I went for a 40 min bike ride using GPS on my phone.  It does not have the always on display turned on.  It’s worse than my Apple Watch for battery life so far which was one of the main reasons for the switch 😞

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[SilviaFitbit]

@kingRidiculous Thanks for your input.

@MikeDarrach and @Ingy Hi there. Thanks for the details mentioned. 

I see where you're coming from. I'd like you to follow the tips mentioned on this article Can I extend my Fitbit device's battery life? After this, continue monitoring its functionality. 

Hope this helps. 

[tn1268]

The battery life just plain sucks, I followed your link and did everything it said. I'm going to have to leave this on the nightstand if I want to get the battery life fitbit claims I could get up too. I charged to 100% at 5:05pm last night, made the changes according to the link you posted, woke up this morning at approx. 7am and I'm at 67%. Went for a 4mile walk/run at 8am and down to 46%. I switched from my Apple 3, this watch may be going back, I told my wife not to even set hers up at this time.

[gamefreakwizard]

I'm having similar issues. I haven't done anything with it other than wearing it. GPS is on the default setting. I have had my Fitbit a little under 52 hours. I charged it to 100% before using it. My Charge 5 was at 25% after the first 40 hours. Then I charged it to 100% again. Around 12 hours has gone by and my Fitbit is at 69%. Again, I just wore my watch and didn't use any of its exercises or GPS.

[Smiley2958]

Had the Charge 5   3 days  .  Started day at 100%, ended each day at 31%. Fitbit emailed me a return label. Sent it off this morning. 🤨

[SunsetRunner]

I charged mine to 100% this morning around 9am and then by 2pm it was at 77% so it lost 23% in 5 hours. GPS is off and the screen is on auto so only come on when I lift and I have not yet tracked any exercise. Have we got a bad batch or is this the case of all devices?

[SleepyxEquus]

Well Fitbit loves to fudge the truth on a lot of their amazing “features” that the devices like to offer. I just got mine today and plan on running my fitness adventures for a week and making my decision. As I am not getting stuck with a glorified paper weight, if it comes down to this device being like Versa 3 and the Sense. 

[SharleneH]

Really hope they correct this. My old Fitbit was bulletproof until the
screen died.

[SleepyxEquus]

They probably will…when they get two more new devices out in a few years lol I loved my Ionic and if this new Charge 5 is 💩. I am just going to return and go buy an Ionic and use it till I have to go back to my Apple Watch. 

[mikeyt1818]

I have had mine on 24/7 since Friday. I have GPS on, I look at my heart rate often and I receive texts and emails. It is now 72 hours of usage and I still have 67% battery left. My Sense never got me more than 4 days of usage, I think this should get very close to 6, possibly even 7 days? It is crazy how so many people have different results. My brother received his on Saturday night and is down to 42% as of this post. 

[Smiley2958]

I had a Versa before this, and I would get approximately 3-4 days. I was hoping for at least that. But 3/4 of a day!! Hope they will send me new one that works. I wanted it for all the health stuff on it. I ordered it a month a ago. I was really looking forward to getting it.


Sent from my iPhone

[Riverbear]

Sadly, I am having the same exact issue. I received the Charge 5 two days ago deciding to try it after my Charge 4 broke at the band attachment point. I like the 5's look and lighter weight, but was really disappointed when I realized that they removed the altimeter (no more stair counts). I was going to live with that until I realized how poor the battery life is. For example, last night I charged it to 100% before bed, turned on sleep mode, and woke up to it at 67%. It's now down to 31% in the afternoon. I am getting what looks like 24 hours out of a full charge. I have the GPS off and the screen brightness down to medium, but I want the other features so I'm am not going to disable everything. I think I am going to return it and get a new Charge 4. It has everything I need and holds a battery charge for many days. Maybe they should have thought about another name for the the 5 since "charge" it is not. 

[Smiley2958]

I love the new color display on the charge 5.  I want to keep it for the health features-  I hope when they receive mine back (sent return label), they will send me  new one that works . One that holds a charge.

[SharleneH]

Completely agree. What a disappointment.

------------------------------

Lol!!!! I think that needs to be their new motto. I thought they
discontinued the Charge 4?

[Riverbear]

They still sell them on amazon! 

[SharleneH]

I just reached out to customer support to return the device for replacement
or refund and was told that it needed to be sent to "higher support" for
review. This definitely leaves me with the impression that Fitbit is not
standing behind this device! Very frustrating, especially after
pre-ordering and waiting for a month.