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?

[rrrzzz]

The battery drain issue has not reoccurred for me since I did two things:

1. Switch GPS mode from "dynamic" to "phone", and
2. Restart immediately after charging, every time.

I appreciate that this may not work for everyone, but it may work for some.

[ComradeF]

Just adding to the chorus of angry customers here... I've had my Charge 5 since September 2021, and a few days ago, the battery started draining in about 12 hours for no apparent reason: neither my settings nor my lifestyle changed. I can't identify a cause, and none of the proposed solutions have helped. Fitbit support said there's a firmware update in the works, but there's no timeframe and there's still no explanation as to why this defect came out of nowhere - so I suspect faulty hardware and am requesting a replacement. This unit didn't even last a year. Yeesh.

[Rodpud]

Good luck lol they straight up told me no to the replacement and to wait for firmware that people been waiting for like 6 months to come out lol 

[MalRadd]

Yes... Good luck getting a replacement for your faulty Charge 5!!!

To be clear, I absolutely loved my Charge 5 until May 7th, 2022. My Charge 5 is the best Fitbit device I have ever owned and I have owned about 5 different Fitbit devices over the years. On May 7th, my device died after only 6 hours of use after a full-charge which completely shocked me. That was the start of my journey as a disgruntled FitBit Charge 5 customer....

I bought my Charge 5 device in October 2021 and it has worked flawlessly until May 7, 2022. I was previously getting 5-7 days per 100% charge. 

Last week, I spent two days with FitBit tech support last week following various troubleshooting scenarios to eliminate every possible cause then I demanded a replacement device under my warranty. I was told that would require an escalation to get a replacement device and they would contact. After about two hours, I received an email explaining that this is a known issue for Charge 5, a firmware fix is coming (no timeline on the firmware) and please be patient... I am now thoroughly annoyed for getting the run around for 2 full days.  

I have been tracking every use cycle from 100% charge since I dealt with Tech Support last week. The longest my device has lasted after a full charge followed by a restart is 28 hours - this is the one anomaly. Most of the other charge charge/use cycles are 2-5 hours now... There does not seem to be any pattern that I can see.

Congratulation FitBit... You have taken a loyal long-term customer and product/brand advocate and turned him into a vocal detractor of your products and customer service... Well done!!

[GDSchulz]

@dguzauckas, I agree.

For most of us, the battery is fine. Since I began using the
recharge/restart workaround I have had no further problem with
battery drain. My Charge 5 is only sipping about 6-8% of the charge per
day. I'm getting easily a week between charges. I do have GPS set to
Phone. But that is about my only settings change.

People who are complaining that their batteries have to be charged every
day or two (and are using the default screen settings) have a different
problem. No amount of toggling other features on or off is going to fix
it.

NOTE: One other note. The only exercise app I use is WALK. Unlike my old
Charge 3, the new app has an extra button you have to press at the end of
the exercise. To end the walk you have to press PAUSE then FINISH then
DONE. The DONE button is all the way at the bottom of the stats that
display beneath the FINISH button when pressed. Don't forget to press
DONE. Might affect battery drain if you forget, I'm not sure. Don't know
about the other exercise apps.

[NewSuttonGirl]

It is now over 2 months (late March) since the Fitbit rep said Fitbit is working on an update to remedy the battery drain.  That there is STILL NO UPDATE in June demonstrates Fitbit is in no rush to remedy its faulty hardware/software assuming Fitbit is actually working on such an update which is unknown. 

What do you think your husband will recommend for your next fitness tracker?

[NewSuttonGirl]

A Fitbit rep said in this very thread that Fitbit was working on an update to remedy the battery drain BACK IN MARCH!  It’s JUNE.  This must be some fantasy update because where is it?

[Magnus1973]

I've turned off all notifications except the reminder to move every hour during the day... I've also changed the setting so I have to tap the device to show the display i.e I have the bare minimum running and now the battey life seems to be slipping more than the 26 hours I had a couple of days ago..

This is super annoying, I've come to use my fitbit for alot of feedback and motivation to get more sleep, move more, keep track of recovery with readiness score etc. 

I've had several fitbits befoe, they all had good battery life (and I never saw a firmware upgrade that would turn a device from having 1 day battery life to 5 days as advertised). 

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

What does customer support say? To wait for new firmware? I'd be furious if I couldn'r use me device at all with no help from fitbit.

[Dammers]

I just keep getting what feels like an automated response from Customer Support about having the latest App version installed... and wait for a firmware update etc. To be quite honest with you it doesn't feel like a 'human' has even looked at the messages that I have submitted.

Charge 5 & Battery in message = send the automated reply about firmware update.

Its very frustrating I have to say. How long is it deemed acceptable to be informed to keep using a device that is 1) not fit for purpose & 2) that has to be charged 3-4 times per day? 

[Magnus1973]

I called them so I got a human atleast but the message was the same "wait for new firmware" and they had no clue as to when I could expect new firmware. 

Hopefully you can get it sorted where you bought the device if fitbit won't help you?

[Snkitten]

Yep, wait for new firmware. I tried contacting Amazon, where I bought it, and could only get a message about it being 6 months ago and too late to return it. I considered contacting my credit card company, but they’d take the money from Amazon, not Fitbit. Stuck in a frustrating loop and will never buy a Fitbit again. I may switch to an Apple Watch. I’ve had good service from Verizon on other Apple products and can’t imagine they’d leave me in a lurch like this.

[7028]

I gave up. Worst purchase ever.

Sent from my iPhone

[BMP01]

I have noticed the same problem. I went from 50% last night to nothing this morning (I forgot to charge it). I often go from 100% to 70-80% within a day. I just purchased this device to upgrade from a charge 3. Bad decision at this point. 

[DaveJ1855]

I've finally made the decision to abandon the Charge 5 and go with another brand. The abysmal support for FitBit and apparent apathy to a well-known issue is really unfortunate. We've been FitBit users for quite some time and have purchased several devices but I think it's time to move on.

Best of luck to the rest of you and I hope, one day, this magical firmware update comes out.

[Trevor.G]

Wish I'd have read all the comments here before my purchase.

Surely it can't be classed as Fit for purpose under the sale of goods act in its current state.

[NewSuttonGirl]

Dave, which replacement did you choose?

[JT313]

Went through this forum and tried everything mentioned. Also spoke to customer service and they reiterated this is a firmware issue as of the time of this posting. I asked about replacement under warranty and was told that there was no guarantee it wouldn't happen to a new Charge 5 as well.  Thankfully, I got mine from Costco and will be returning it instead of waiting for the long promised firmware update. Good luck to the rest of you. 

[I_Fix_Things]

Same. This is a joke. I just went through the customer support, and they said they'll release a firmware update. Where is it???

I paid money for a working product and still have over 1-year warranty! They refuse to send me a working one.

Moderator edit: word choice 

[ComradeF]

It's getting progressively worse. I couldn't even get 6 hours on a full charge this time. There's no way this is a firmware issue, at least not for my unit.

[Alex_Lane]

Where is yours made @ComradeF ?  Check it in About on your Fitbit - scroll to the bottom.