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?

[sean44]

I agree with the GPS probably being the issue. When I use apple CarPlay and a navigation app I’ve noticed a quick drain on my C5 once in a while, have it on phone GPS setting. Restarting always has worked.

Sent from my iPhone

[cherylbryk]

I did the new update and now my Charge 5 battery quickly drains.  Cannot last one day.  Before the update it would last 6 or 7.  I have not changed anything.

[jenny05]

Well now on top of the battery issues the touch screen/swipe is unresponsive.  Just started today.  So frustrating. 

[Katenz]

My Charge 5 was great- battery lasted a week. I’ve done the update and now it is stuffed. I spent ages on chat with someone at the help desk to get the clock face back. I then charged it to 100% last night, put it on my wrist before I went to sleep, and woke up this morning to a flat battery warning. I now can’t wear it today as it’s back on charge with the same issue I had (no display) before my call to the help desk. Come on Fitbit. This is really poor. Don’t tell me to update my software and then completely ruin my device. Very not happy. 

[cherylbryk]

Do I need to chat at the help desk?????  Will it even help?

[SunsetRunner]

Trust me I feel your pain

[dovsucar]

I have updated my Charge 5 with the latest firmware update and it still dies as soon as I take it off of the charger. I don’t know what else to do. I would like a refund or a replacement. This is ridiculous! I will never buy a Fitbit again!

I have same issue

[shimsim]

@dovsucar Contact support, they should issue a replacement not questions asked, its clearly faulty if its not holding a charge.

@fitbit ..... any moderating following this thread ..... can you please update the 'best answer' so that customers that have issues where the battery does not hold a charge at all such as the one above, that the device should not behave this way and to contact support. With the length of this thread and the ambiguity around the C5 battery issues, I keep reading post from customers that have units that are clearly defective but seem to think the firmware update will be the fix and are lost when this does not turn out to solve it.

[dovsucar]

Thank you. I contacted Support and I’m eligible for a replacement.  They will send me replacement and i will send my current one to them.

[ChrisB1966]

@jenny05 If screen/swipe is not working after reset, go to help desk But start conversation with that and not battery problem. You should get a replacement and hopefully that will fix battery problem too. 

[Andrewrawson]

Bought mine for hiking and scrambling, battery lasts 5 hours max whilst in excercise walking mode, when your out on the hills for 12 hours, there’s not much point in owning one, can’t even record a quarter of a day with it 

[linda66f]

So had the update rolled out??? It's August 28th and I can't use device, and I can't be the only one.

Many thanks!

[SunsetRunner]

I have that question myself mines been dying very fast since the last update however I have found that it’s improving from when I first posted about my battery. It still only last about a day but I just get up and charge it and takes less than a half an hour in the morning to go right back up to 99% and I just do that every morning now before I go to work. But the sad thing is that used to last me a full 78 days I have never use the GPS on it though, nor by kept messages on or anything else. I don’t think anybody on this thread  has had any suggestions that worked and I am not eligible for a refund or a replacement since my Fitbit is older I got it when the charge five first rolled out., 🤷🏻‍:female_sign:

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Lol I meant to write 7-8 not 78 LOL 

[cherylbryk]

Same issues for me  😞

[SunsetRunner]

It really stinks because I absolutely love this Fitbit. It has all the features that I love. 😢

[ypevie]

Same for me. I'm awaiting my replacement now. Gosh, I'm missing my device a lot!

[linda66f]

Did they offer you a replacement?  If so, how do I make that happen?  I'm so sad without it.  And so mad that I spent so much money on it and it just suddenly stopped working!!

[ypevie]

I contacted them and told them it was a dud from the beginning but I didn't
know that. The charge lasted 2 days. Then, the charge was only lasting 2-3
hours. The fitbit was a gift so I had no receipt but luckily I had
registered it for the warranty. So, after following all the suggested
troubleshooting tips online and specifically sent to me, and nothing
working, they sent me a return label for a replacement. I printed the
label, arranged for a fedex pick up and now I'm tracking it to the
warehouse. Once they receive it, they will send me a replacement. I am
really hopeful that the next one is working properly since I really love
this watch and I had intended to buy them as gifts for others.

[linda66f]

Thank you so much for this reply.  I'm a Health Coach and totally fell in love with this Fitbit from the moment I put it on and I was also going to start recommending it to clients and give as a gift to a few people.  Mine has been fine since I bought it and then last week it just started acting up and now the charge basically lasts for about 20 minutes and then goes dead.  I'm so frustrated. 

I don't think I filled out a warranty so basically I"m probably out the $150 dollars, which is very sad.  But I'll try, and really appreciate your response.

[ypevie]

Best of luck - I feel the frustration❤