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?

[Jadelman]

I’m having the same issue. It startedyesterday. My device wouldn’t hold a charge more than a few hours. I charged it and got the red x and now a black screen. My device is 5 months old with no damage. Fitbit has some explaining to do here. This seems to be a known issue and the product is garbage. 

[SunsetRunner]

@SunsetRunner @mike7rey  @jabob @Jadelman 

Exactly the same issue here. I'm currently sitting on hold with Fitbit phone support. This is my second call to them. The first call got me nothing, except an email with links to "how to restart your fitbit device", "can I extend my battery life?" etc. etc. Useless.  As is my Charge 5, which after fully charging is dead in less than an hour. For the first six months I was getting 6-7 days per charge, then suddenly a couple of weeks ago I started getting 1 hour per charge.

So, just got told the same bull**ahem** I got told the first time I called them. The only thing different was that she said there is now a Firmware update available that will fix the battery issue, that they are rolling it out, and so far have rolled it out to about 2% of Charge 5 owners. I asked: why can't they selectively roll out the firmware update to Charge 5 owners who contact them specifically about this battery issue? She couldn't give me an answer to that question, but cheerfully told me that the update also included some new clock faces, and a find-my-phone feature, and some other useless rubbish that I couldn't care less about, I JUST WANT MY FRIGGING BATTERY FIXED, OR REPLACED, OR A NEW FITBIT, OR SOMETHING THAT ACTUALLY HELPS!!

I made it very plain to this customer service person that I don't actually believe that there is a firmware update, and that I believe Fitbit are just fobbing people off with a lot of nonsense, instead of honouring their warranty for a useless piece of junk. I asked to speak to a supervisor, but was told they were all busy. She took my number and said she'll get a supervisor to ring me back. We'll see.

I am SO mad about this. This is the first Fitbit product I've ever bought, after reading lots of rave tech reviews. I will never again buy or recommend any Fitbit product.

[Sarahyogi]

Well done, but getting another Charge 5 isn’t the best resolution! 😩

[jabob]

I hear you loud and clear! Same response when I called and when I sent message yesterday. If they can’t fix it send a new product. I purchased mine at Costco and I am going to them with this issue and let them know that they should not offer this product if the issues it has. I charge and within an hour completely drained. While fully charged it will not let me even change the clock face. There is definitely a software glitch and they need to fix Immediately or they are going to lose customers. I have used Fitbit for many years and they have made things right in the past but the support staff, customer service and backing their products warranty has gotten very bad. If you get a response or solution please let me know and I will do the same.

Sent from my iPad

[Jadelman]

I don’t understand how they can continue to deny this is a widespread software issue with all of the people on these pages experiencing the same issues. 

[jabob]

I agree.

Sent from my iPad

[Stayler]

I have experienced the same issue just this morning.  I charged my 5 last night before bed and it still showed 97% in the morning.  Went on a 4 mile walk, usually finish in under and hour, used the Workout tracking function on the unit, this is a regular activity for me, usually drop 20% as the GPS in in use.  Well it died before I finished.  Do they monitor this site or would it be better to contact them on Social Media?

[SunsetRunner]

I do not know whether they monitor all posts.  Looking at prior communication strings on this community site, I came across comments made by personnel from FitBit.  If you want FitBit to respond to your comments I suggest contacting them on Social Media.  Good Luck!  It is my impression that FitBit's response to the many complaints is to simply sending you to a link that instructs you to turn off functions that drain the battery.  One of the functions they suggest that you turn off the GPS function.  It sounds as if the GPS function is something you like to use.  Not sure you are going to get any satisfaction.  

[jabob]

That is basically what happened to me with no warning. I suggest you call and also chat with them on site. All I received was site to visit to save battery life. The problem is a software glitch and many are experiencing this issue. I will also copy and send you site they sent. Let me know if you receive a fix that works.

Sent from my iPad

[WaxhawWoman]

I've chatted with them several times about the battery issue. Now the battery issue seems much better, but I can't swipe up or down or sideways anymore. The only feature I can access is seeing the clock and my "zone minutes."  Did they do something to the firmware to fix the battery issue and mess up the tools/resources/settings?  I plan to "chat" with someone about this later, but haven't been able to so far because of a busy workday... Now I'm just kind of venting...and wondering if anyone else has had this issue.

[jabob]

You can do more than I can do. I uninstalled watch and app and still nothing. I reinstalled charge 3 very old that I replaced for the 5. I am reaching out again tomorrow. I was told I would be contacted by email. I received one email providing sites to save battery life and they are working on the problem. Need replacement before they try and say I am past my warranty. Good luck.

Sent from my iPad

[mpking]

Same issue here. I've had mine for just over a month and up until now has been working great and I've been pleased with it. Now my battery drains in less than a couple of hours. I've contacted customer service twice and been fed the same line about a firmware upgrade. I'm frustrated they are not offering any solution, exchange, refund, etc...

I asked if I can manually upgrade the firmware myself: no

I asked when the firmware upgrade would be available: no timeframe could be given

I asked for an exchange: was told they can't do that.

So we're basically stuck with a defective device that they will not replace?

[SunnySusan]

Interesting, I wonder if they did something on the back end as I used to get days and days and today, although I did almost nothing I ran out of juice. It was at 100% when I showered this AM. I will do the resets everyone mentions and call tomorrow if that does not fix it.

[jabob]

I personally think they tried to do a software update and it failed and screwed things up. This week when I went to charge afterwards it did the Fitbit icon that looks like a star with blue dots and then my charging screen indicator for battery percentage was an amber color. The charge lasted about 2 hours and has since gotten worse like it is using the battery to try an update but it can’t. Thanks for your feedback. I hope they get it corrected soon.

Sent from my iPad

[jabob]

Just keep calling, messaging, and making people aware. They will have to do something. I am going to go to Costco and make them aware since that is where I purchased my product.

Sent from my iPad

[SunsetRunner]

@Jadelman  @jabob  @SunsetRunner  @SunnySusan @mpking  @WaxhawWoman  @Stayler

@mike7rey

Hi everyone,

So, I did get a call back yesterday afternoon, after asking to speak to a supervisor. This supervisor proceeded to give me the exact same scripted spiel that the first support person had given me. Totally useless. I interrupted the spiel to make it clear that this was not acceptable to me. I wanted no more spiel, and I wanted a refund for what is clearly a faulty product, and is still 5 months away from warranty expiry. They said nope, you can't have a refund, but we can replace your Charge 5 with a new one (still a Charge 5, but a new one.) They would send me a link that I could click on to fill out necessary info to claim my replacement. The link in the email went to this:

After thinking about it for a bit, I decided that I don't really want another Charge 5, that could very well end up having the exact same battery issue.  And I wasn't about to fork out any of my hard-earned money on some other Fitbit model, not even with a 50% discount. I simply do not trust Fitbit now.

So, this morning I took my now completely dead Charge 5 (it won't charge at all now) back to where I bought it. I told them what had been happening with the rapidly draining, now refusing to charge at all, battery, as well as the frustrating waste of time spent trying to get satisfaction from Fitbit 'support.' I produced my receipt from mid-December 2021, said I'd like to return my Fitbit, and I'd like a refund please. To my considerable surprise, they agreed immediately to a full refund. Didn't bat an eye. They were about to give me a cash refund, but then noticed that I'd originally paid with a gift card, so they couldn't do cash. "No problem" I said, and they gave me one of their store gift cards for the same value as the Fitbit. Which I immediately used to buy a Garmin. Not ever doing Fitbit again. The Garmin cost less than the Fitbit, so I even had enough to buy a nice new bag for the new Chromebook I bought recently.

One very happy customer here. In case you're wondering, the retailer that I bought the Fitbit and got my refund from was one of the Officeworks stores here in Melbourne, Australia. Wherever you all are, I sincerely hope you have as much success with whatever retailer you made your purchase from. If you bought direct from Fitbit, then you have my deepest sympathies.

[4eigner]

Same here, charging up to 100% takes an eternity, Charge 5 runs empty within 2 days. Unacceptable!

I bought a 40 euro Xiaomi watch with brightest screensettings, it lasts over 2 weeks on one charge!

It can be done, just not by Fitbit. Fitbit needs to step up and solve this.

[4eigner]

Same here, charging up to 100% takes an eternity, Charge 5 runs empty within 2 days. Unacceptable!

I bought a 40 euro Xiaomi watch with brightest screensettings, it lasts over 2 weeks on one charge!

It can be done, just not by Fitbit. Fitbit needs to step up and solve this.

[jabob]

So glad you got your problem resolved and the retailer stepped up to the plate. If Fitbit does not make this right they will lose me as client as well.

Sent from my iPad

[6TJS6]

I received my Charge 5 in January of this month and all has been well...until this week. I started to notice strange things which were irritating such as trying to swipe through the different screens to find what I was looking for (let's say to set the timer) but the screen would go black before I could do anything. I would double tap it to get back to the clock and it would just go black.  Several times I would want to check the time of day, and would lift my wrist only to see nothing, so I would twist my wrist down and then back up again only to see nothing again. The last time this happened I found out the reason, the battery was dead. So I would charge it but it only lasted a day, when before I could go days without needing to charge. Last night it was dead again and when I tried to charge it, it wouldn't charge. I went through all of the troubleshooting I could find, and ended up cleaning the contacts. To my delight it started to charge as normal and charged to a full 100%. I thought the issue was solved, until this morning when I wanted to check the time and noticed once again that the screen was black. Dead again overnight! So I'm trying to charge it as I'm typing this but I'm afraid it's just a dead unit now, as it doesn't vibrate when I connect it to the charger, and I get no indication it's charging at all. All I do notice is that the unit is getting warm, but it's not charging. Wonderful.