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?

[jabob]

Thank you for sharing. I made another call today requested a supervisor to be told not available but will email me response. I was told this two days ago. There is a software glitch that is not updating and this is causing the battery to drain become hot. I had this happen on another model years ago. You need to Inform Fitbit so that your warranty does not run out while they are trying to resolve the issue. Apparently it is happening to everyone. That being said, Fitbit step up to plate and make it right by your customers or you want have any.

Sent from my iPad

[nvfostermom]

Same here. Mine is only a week old and it will only hold a charge about 3 days at most. It will be fine, then all of a sudden the screen is black and it wont do anything. I put it on the charger to charge adn it works for a day or 2.. Support is NO HELP> THey say they are working on it?? 

[Sarahyogi]

Mine has gone from being utterly rubbish and unwearable to now not even charging at all! Anyone have this issue? I thought a battery life of an hour was bad enough but now it’s totally dead! Not sure how any update is fixing this now? 

[jnewman22]

I have this same problem.  I called and escalated to a supervisor because mine won't charge at all.  They asked me for a video showing this, which I sent them a week ago, and then I reached back out to support yesterday, where they told me they had "accidentally" closed my ticket without resolving it, and they would reopen it and escalate it again.  I still have not heard anything back yet.

[SunsetRunner]

@jabob Have you tried getting a refund from Costco?

[jabob]

Looks good. I am going to check it out. I hope it works for you.

This is the response I received today from supervisor. Fitbit provides no timeframe or solution. Not a positive experience!

Your case was brought to our attention in your request to speak to a supervisor, I’m part of the Escalations team , we apologize there was no one available at the time, but we would like to provide you more assistance via email and check your concerns.

Thanks for letting us know about this issue. We always aim to deliver a positive experience with your Charge 5, and we’re working on a firmware update to fix the issue, once the update is launch any issue with battery should be resolve. We appreciate your patience for this matter.

Please let us know if you have further questions, we'll be more than happy to assist you.

Sincerely,
Alejandra and the Fitbit Team


Sent from my iPad

[Harshac]

I had similar experience... When I called the support a month ago they told me it should be resolved.... But no response from them post that

[alika930]

I was within my return policy and was told I couldn’t return it. My Fitbit drains the battery and it shuts down and the escalating supervisor basically told me to wait on their update and that will fix it.
Ticket closed.

Sent from my iPhone

[Jplains]

My charge 5 will not hold a charge for 30 minutes just sitting there.  All they tell me is it’s a firmware issue and to keep checking back for an update.  My unit is only 8 months old and worked perfectly until about a week ago.  I never use gps at all.  The response to this problem is ridiculous from the company.  My unit is under warranty and needs to be fixed but they say just keep checking back.  What a joke.  I will never buy or recommend a Fitbit device again if this is not resolved within the next week.

[tcat007]

Just happy I found this thread.  I was about to return my Charge 5 because of 1 day 100% drain, but did the suggested reboot from charger and it's been fine for 2 months now.  Drains 8-9% per day.  Now my wife's Luxe is draining 20% per day.  These both seem to use totally different software!  Mine's accurate at sleep, hers has her sleeping 4 or 5 times a day.  My step count is twice hers, we do similar stuff all day.  I would expect 2 watches from the same company would perform similarly.  I guess that's not the case with all the Charge 5 issues here!

[Sarahyogi]

It’s been going on for months for some people, it won’t be resolved in a week. It’s beyond a joke & I’ve never dealt with such an appalling business in my life. There’s not even a public apology or any statement with what’s going on. I’m totally amazed how they think they can treat people like this! 

[Micodude]

I have also contacted Fitbit support today as I have the same issue - just until yesterday afternoon my Charge 5 was just fine, didn't activate any battery affecting features and have my device since March 2022, however suddenly it started draining super fast - I still had 44% left and usually charge my device once a week, and here suddenly it started behaving like this. I charged it fully and then after only 6 hours it was depleted again and the same today. Was also informed that a firmware update is being worked on. Any chance this update would come out in the next few days already, as it seems that this issue is an ongoing one and now it hit even more customers? I literally use it every day. This is very inconvenient and disappointing.

[weeg1424]

Talked to Fitbit supervisor who said app fix is coming the end of July.  I asked if they were selling Charge 5s knowing this issue.  She said yes, and that there was transparency on their website about the issue.  

i looked, and besides this forum, there is no mention.  Very frustrating.

[drewski]

---

@shimsim wrote:

@DavideFitbit wanted to understand the connection between the news that Luxe is getting a firmware update and the long-awaited Charge 5 firmware update.

Is the Luxe having the same issue? Do they share the same firmware? Is the update of the Charge 5 firmware in any way reliant on the Luxe getting up update first?

---

They have only one person working on firmware and now that he's done with the Luxe he can move on to the Charge 5 . . . 🙄

[Sarahyogi]

It’s just unbelievable! 

[kimmicocopuff]

There's a tiny astrix at the bottom with some mumbo about battery life varies and with GPS lasts five hours. Which still does not address how many of us have never once used the GPS and our devices still won't work/pair or hold a charge, even in sleep mode. This is NOT at all being "transparent". And even if there was an actual, obvious statement on their website, how many people buy this product from other retailers? It's so wrong. 

[WaxhawWoman]

I have "chatted" with support people multiple times about the battery-drain issue on my Charge 5, which was only five months old when it started losing it's juice so quickly. The last person said she was going to escalate it and I would get an email with options or instructions. It's been a couple days now and I haven't gotten any email from Fitbit.. Not only is the battery draining quickly (I charged it to track, and it was 100% this morning at 9:51, 90% at 10:08, 50% at 12:50 and totally drained by the time I started this message just before 3) -- but I can't get any screen but the clock!  I can't swipe up, down, or sideways. I wish I'd kept my old Fitbit. It wasn't as "fancy," but it least it worked! I'm going to try to chat again and get some resolution. Never give up! 

[Sarahyogi]

I’m never giving up, I’m far too mad! 😳

[Jaypasz]

Don’t hold your breath. I have waited several weeks and nothing from
Fitbit. Luckily, I kept my Charge4, so I have been using it. This is a sign
that their team is inadequate and some internal problems. No more fitbits
in my future.--

Moderator Edit: Personal info removed

[BigDog54]

I have owned my Charge 5 for a little over 6 months.  I purchased it after returning a Versa 3 due to issues with battery life (basically less than 36 hours with most all the functions turned off).  In January 2022 I was about to return my Charge 5 for the same reason, when – lo and behold – the charge lasted for about a week.  Since then I have gone thru periods where the charge barely lasted 24 hours to others where it lasted for 4 – 6 days.  We now seem to be at another period, as indicated by posts within the last 2 – 4 weeks, where the charge will only last about 24 hours.  I have been reading this Forum for the entire time I have owned my Charge 5 looking for an answer to why the battery life on this product is so erratic. I have to say that I have NEVER seen any kind of meaningful or helpful response from Fitbit or any indication or admission from the company that they have the slightest idea what might be causing the problem.