Charge 5 battery issues

[MrRandall]

My device does not come back on when i restart it - it goes completely dead. It needs charging frequently and the battery seems to drain to around 85% very quickly before dying despite having it constantly on sleep mode as i don't want constant reminders, etc. I've had it two years - surely it's not completely dead already??

Also, I can't seem to find where to update to the latest firmware.

Grateful for any help.

Thanks.

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[MarreFitbit]

Hi there, @MrRandall. Welcome to the Fitbit Community Forums. Thanks for bringing this to my attention and for the troubleshooting steps you've tried. I'm sorry to hear that your Charge 5 is having battery issues. I understand your concern, I will do my best to help you with this!

As a first approach, please bear in mind that as all rechargeable batteries age, they deteriorate to some extent and an older device will need to be charged more often than a new one. The best way of minimizing this effect is to avoid deep discharges of the battery. To maximize the overall life of your Fitbit device's battery, ideally keep it between 20-80%.  Many people find that a daily battery boost works best ( e.g. giving it a 15 minutes charge while you are showering in the morning). For more tips and recommendations, see Can I extend my Fitbit device's battery life?

Regarding your Charge 5 not charging properly, please note that there are some issues that affect this, being which power source is used and how clean the contacts are and how well the charger is seated. If you are charging your Charge 5 on the wall socket, try using another CE certified USB adapter for low energy devices.

If you haven't done so yet, I'd recommend following the tips and recommendations provided here Why isn't my Fitbit device's battery charging?

[MrRandall]

Hi Maria.

Thanks for your reply, however, surely the battery should last longer than two years? I just gave it a quick charge before going to the gym and it said 100%. By the time i got to the gym 10 minutes later it was dead. Not impressed. Please can you point me towards updating the firmware as i haven't found anywhere with clear instructions for this for a Charge 5?

Thanks,

[EllieB1989]

Hey there MrRandall-

I don't work for Fitbit, just another consumer like you, I'm just curious if your device battery issue developed slowly over the 2yrs you've had the charge5 or if it happened suddenly? I've had mine since Xmas 2023 so after seeing your post I'm worried I'll have to replace it every year. I mean so far I have no issues with battery at all, still lasts me 5+ days, but since I use it as more than just a fitness tracker- I would hate to have to calibrate a new one because it became unreliable, if I could even afford it.. Thanks a bunch to google for buying Fitbit (that's sarcasm, we loyal few are gonna end up paywalled I'm sure), having the HR monitor has been a total game-changer in managing insomnia, anxiety & panic attacks. Anyway I'd love to hear more about the battery issue you've got, and I hope they manage to fix yours. 

Thanks for reading my rant haha,

Ellie.

[aliciaheart]

Over the last couple of weeks, my charge 5 will not hold a battery charge for more then 2 hours.

I have cleared the charging ports and done a device restart. Nothing has improved the battery.

I've had the device for more than 2.5 years and expect to last longer based on my previous Fitbit devices.

[MrRandall]

Hi Ellie.

Thanks for your reply. It seemed to happen very quickly to be honest. I can't remember the last time the battery lasted more than a day or two. I have mine on sleep mode constantly as i don't like the constant buzzing reminders, and i would have thought this would help the battery. I've been charging it more often, i would say a couple of times a day over the last 4 or 5 months, but its really gone downhill over the past month. It was fully charged before i went to bed last night and dead by the time i woke this morning. I use it mainly for logging my sleep as i suffer from insomnia too, so this is now pretty useless. Unless i get any other advice it will soon be heading for bin. I won't be buying another one, unless someone comes up with a brilliant fix that i haven't tried!

Thanks,

Kieran.

[RiekoC]

Hello @MrRandall 

When my Charge 5 started having rapid battery loss, I restarted and recharged my device multiple times over several days. As soon as I saw a rapid drop in battery, I restarted my Charge 5 and put it on the charger until it was back to 100%, often doing this multiple times in a day. Eventually, this process got my device "unstuck" and the battery went back to lasting 6-7 days. Although there's no guarantee that this will work for you, it might be worth a try before you bin the Charge 5.

[MrRandall]

Hi RiekoC.

Thanks for this. It does sound strange that a battery can come back to life in this way but it seems that I’m already at this stage now, having to charge it two or three times a day. I’m not expecting the same results as yourself but I’ll continue doing it over the coming week and will see what happens. 

Thanks,

[CDNUser]

It's not just you - it seems this is a 'global' issue with the Charge 5 that FitBit does not want to acknowledge or deal with. It's happening to me as well.  I contacted Customer Support and they said I just have to buy a new one.  Literally.  No explanation.  No apology for the issue.  Just that it's out of warranty (by a few days) so replacement is not a possibility. 

If you look through all the Charge 5 threads and also Google "Charge 5 sudden battery drain" you will see countless customers all reporting the same issue within the last 2 weeks.  Sudden battery drain.  Not gradual over time.  Nothing to do with the settings.  Sudden and unexplainable.  Something happened.  An update, a glitch, something that FitBit or Google or whoever did.  We all had great battery life (avg. 5 days) and then all of a sudden al of our devices can't hold a charge for more than a few hours?  This is not a coincidence. 

[MrRandall]

Sorry to hear. I did reply but had my message deleted by admins as I mentioned a rival company. It’s very poor service. 

---

I also can’t find where to update the firmware. Perhaps admins can point us towards this? 

[MrRandall]

Hi Rieko.

I've been charging the Fitbit more often than not since your message and i can see something of what you mentioned. The battery 'seems' to last a little longer but it's only for display purposes as if i go to choose 'bike ride' from the menu it shuts off immediately. Same as, when it's 'fully charged', if I select the 30 second ECG it shuts off immediately. So it's basically giving me a false reading, or the battery just doesn't have enough power to carry out an action or even restart itself.... i've been doing this now for 20 days since your reply but iI doubt it will get any better. I will plow ahead though....

[RiekoC]

Hello @MrRandall 

Sorry to see that your Charge 5 is still experiencing battery issues.

There's one more unconventional process I've seen that you might try to get your battery to last like it did before. One user, who was experiencing the flashing Fitbit logo, exposed their Charge 5 to freezer temps. That got his device back to working properly. Although there's no guarantee that this will work for the rapidly depleting battery that you're experiencing, it might be worth a try. Here's the thread (<-- click link) where the user describes the process.

[MrRandall]

Thanks Rieko.

I read your comment yesterday in a rush and have literally just taken my device out of the freezer. It's still working so we shall see. I'll let you know on here how long the battery lasts. It's got to be worth a try on its way to the bin 😉

[SunsetRunner]

Original Charge lasted 5 years.  Charge 2 lasted 3 years.  First Charge 5 lasted 14 months and second lasted 6.  My daughters Charge 6 lasted 13 months.  Expect to get 1 to 1.5 years before replacement.  

[MrRandall]

Well, i tried freezing the Charge 5. I fully charged it then stuck it in the freezer for 4 hours and it was working when i took it out. It got to battery level 89 and then gave up the ghost so i put it back on charge. It's back to how it was before really - rubbish.... thanks for the suggestion though 😉

[RasTaffari]

Same here, surely it some sort of global issue they wont acknowledge, my device is not even 7 months old and this happens. Warranty time up so they offered me a 35 % discount on a new one. The product is a joke.