Charge 5 battery short life and syncing

[Doulton]

I've been using this Fitbit Charge 5 since February 8 of 2023--almost two full months.

First complaint: The battery needs to be recharged each and every day.

Second complaint: getting stats and synching is a lengthy project. Here is the fastest way to do it: Turn off the Blue Tooth on your phone. Wait 15 seconds. Return to "settings" on your phone and disconnect the charge 5. State that you are unpairing it. Wait a bit and then go to the fitbit app where you will be asked if you want to connect your Charge 5 with the application. Say yes, then wait. Stare at the long slow line which says "App is taking a while to sync; hang tight". Wait some more. If you don't stare at the phone the app will disappear. Reopen the app. It will ask you if you want to link your Charge 5. Say yes.
Then read your results. Getting them takes a full 10 to 15 minutes from start to finish.

Yesterday--24 hours ago-- my Charge 5 had a 19% battery charge; so I recharged it as I do every day. This morning after going through the hassle of getting my readings, the battery was down to 12%. It was as close as possible to 99% before I went to bed.

I am watching my oxygen saturation or I would have returned this within a week.
It's like being in a terrible marriage to a partner who does not show up for you without a long struggle.

Moderator edit: Clarified subject

[charleskn]

@Doulton I am sorry to hear you're having these difficulties. My Charge 5 has always worked quite well. I suggest you contact customer service.

[Partyrose]

I am really disappointed as I opted for Charge 5 for its battery life over Apple Watch as a gift for my birthday. My Charge 3 was lasting 5 days!! I think I’m going to return it and ask for a refund.

[charleskn]

@Partyrose Just checking, are you a heavy user of the Charge 5's internal GPS? This would affect your battery life quite a bit. Otherwise, three days is too short a time for the Charge 5. 

Have you verified the firmware version is up-to-date, or tried restarting the tracker?

[GillianEvans]

I thought the charge 5 was supposed to have longer between charges & that's not the case.  It was also supposed to have free premium for so long...that also didn't happen.  Not impressed so far.  Today it won't sync.  

[charleskn]

@GillianEvans I would say that my Charge 5 has been a fairly consistent 7-ish days between charges, for the 9 months I have used it. There have been a number of users reporting fast draining of the battery, and for that I would reach out to customer support.

For the premium, I assume you recently purchased your tracker and there was an offer of free premium with the device. You do have to sign up for premium, with a credit card, after you create your account, or register your tracker. Did you sign up for premium? If you did so, and are still having issues, I would reach out to customer support.

Note that there have been recent changes to premium, with some things no longer requiring premium (such as more than 7 days of metrics history). There are some details on premium available here:
https://www.fitbit.com/global/us/products/services/premium

[Partyrose]

I have done all the suggested solutions. I’m particularly interested in my sleep cycle and this becomes unusable if I charge my charge 5 on a nightly basis. I’ve reached out to customer support. Friends are suggesting Garmin….

Sent from my iPhone