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?

[foreversoul]

So far I've only seen one post where the firmware fixed there battery drain problems. Everyone else has reported that it did not fix the issue or made things worse. Not very confidence inspiring. I guess we can wait a few more months for another firmware update. 

[kimmicocopuff]

Except for those of us who can't wait. I use mine for medical reasons. My doctors use the information to monitor and adjust my medications and my cardiologist uses it to watch my heart and breathing patterns. Not having this data for weeks or for some of us, months now. This means I'm back to having to advocate hard bc I have no data to back up that I haven't slept in weeks or my heart rate is erratic etc. I get that these are fitness trackers for most people, and are not actually meant for medical purposes, but this has moved far beyond the inconvenience of my watch doesn't work.  I finally got them to offer a new device bc my screen is defective. I'm pretty much banking that it will do the exact same thing with the battery. At this point I'm just going to have to cut into savings to buy a competitors device, if this new one continues to malfunction. 

[Gitpho]

Update: I’ve decided to return mine before the window closes. I haven’t put it back on since my last post, because what use are the metrics from a wearable that needs to be charging ~17% of the day? I will keep updates on for this thread in case it seems like the issue gets resolved, but I’m not wealthy enough to own a fancy paperweight. Best of luck to everyone here!

[Linds85]

I was offered the update yesterday. I updated and charged it to 100% and my battery is on 93% right now! It looks like the update worked for me.

[Busy3]

I think the best fix for this Charge 5 or NO Charge 5 would be more appropriate is to contact your states attorneys office and file complaint about consumer fraud! This has been going on since March!!! Fed up with Fitbit!!!

[themezman]

@foreversoul Well, I am only going to wait until tomorrow. Last night, I Posted to @SunsetRunner and told that person that there is no way that the Post on June 1, by a C5 customer  having the rapid battery drain problem, which the support person marked as "Answered" (using the same, lame "recent firmware update" will fix your issue story")  has been answered.

 Until now, I have not done the recent firmware update because numerous C5 owners have posted that it did nothing for the battery drain problem but it did introduce new, different problems.

   Instead, I removed the tracker from the Fitbit Android app, uninstalled the app completely from my phone, reinstalled the current version of the app (which was the version that had been installed & removed), added my tracker back into the app, did not install any of the optional Fitbit apps, set any of the basic settings necessary, turned off all of the Fitbit settings known to cause high battery usage, recharged the tracker, restarted it both of the ways that have been described by Fitbit, and I still have complete battery drain from 100% to zero percent in about 3 hours.

  I am out of options now. After sending this post, I am going to try one more thing. With a full charge, I will do the update. If the battery drain issue is not resolved by the firmware update, I will, as I told the support person, tomorrow go back to my Shopping Cart at an online retailer where I have a Garmin tracker picked out & in my cart now, and punch the Checkout button.

[kimmicocopuff]

Yep. I was told to turn off every feature that I'd bought it for and it still died in a couple hours. The same features I've been using for.onths without any problems.  Garmin seems to be the consensus. 

[Busy3]

But isn’t it insane that you have to go through all of this and this
company keeps selling Charge 5’s!!!! Fraud!

[Clemens13]

Just installed the new update. Now to see if it fixes anything!

Sent from my iPhone

[Sarahyogi]

I have updated it and it’s managed to be at 65% after 4 hours, so it’s not going to do 24 hours at a guess!! What are the options to make it last longer while they bring out another 5 updates to actually fix it? Is it turn the GPS off? 

[tcat007]

I finally got mine 2 days ago.  Has dropped 10% per day, same it's been doing for past 2 months. So at least they didn't break anything, but time will tell.  I did have 1 week of of 100% drain in 24 hours once, fixed with charger reboot.

[GonzoBurger]

Well, mine's been fine on the second charge after only last 9hours on my first day.
I did turn GPS off in the webpage section but then I found the settings part on the watch itself (swiping down) where it said GPS was on Dynamic, I changed this to phone. It's now been on 25 hours and is on 90% battery so hopefully it's fine now.

[kimmicocopuff]

They told me to turn all extra features off. All the heart monitoring etc. Literally to turn off every feature I bought it for. That's their suggestion. 

[Busy3]

Well I really tried again… I synced my Fitbit 3hrs ago with a full charge…
I just now received a message that my battery is low! Wow a whole 3 hrs it
worked! What a joke…

[msmouser]

I never had a drainage problem until I installed the update.  Now my tracker wont hold a charge and when I take it off the charger it does not record my steps, the screen continues to show the charge icon.

[Busy3]

So what are you going to do? Buy another and if so which one?

[themezman]

I now have the same issues as as @msmouser and others. After working on the rapid battery drain issue, which began in early summer and were still presentt currently, including removing the C5 tracker from the Android v12 Fitbit App, then Uninstaling the App, reinstalling the App, then letting the App detect and Add the C5 again, and restarting the C5 ad- nauseum using both methods, I still could get at most 3 hr on a full charge.

  So, I had no other option except installing yesterday the Firmware Update recently available. After the update, no LEDs on the tracker will turn on,  and it will not measure heart rate and thus it is no more useful to me than a cheap digital watch.

W. T. F. is going on with this product and the Clown Car supposedly supporting it? I am going to get a Garmin.

[Cathiedb]

I want my money back.  I bought a charge 5 feb 2022 ( this year). It quits after using a day.  I tried to update it. No change. Still same problem. I have called for help three times today.  Their solution is for me to use my phones gps. Rediculous!!! 

[kimmicocopuff]

Got mine January. They do not care. IF you're lucky they'll send you a replacement that will do the exact same thing. Good luck. 

[weishein]

the best way is to put all these faulty issues out on the web. complaining in their community is not going to do much. it is still within their control. in fact, they can even edit your postings without informing you. so, the best way to be heard, get this out on the web, on all the social media platforms.

I started complaining at the end of last year. nothing has been done. basically asked me to wait for firmware updates. after more than 6 months, all warranties expired, from a battery draining issue, and now it's literally no display on the screen.

Garmin is laughing all the way to the bank now. Hahaha.....