Charge 5 black screen

[Skyrose]

We have a Charge 5 that's only a few months old. This morning it stopped synching. The screen is black. We have tried the reset and it only flashes the Fitbit logo and does nothing else. Not sure what else to do.

[Lutik]

@Mopet 

I did not update it to the 171.50 version even if it is prompting me to do this every time I open the app. People say it may be responsible for the battery damage. 

I have also read that in general it is not advised to shower with a fitness tracker, waterproof or not. In the shower you use soap, shampoo. Washing up liquid for your dishes. The fact that a device resists water does not necessarily mean it‘s seals will resist drying and shrinking from chemicals in the products you use on a regular basis. So I stopped wearing it in the shower or when I know it may get exposed to a chemical. Not even sure if it is true, but sounds sensible to me. 
It’s been about two weeks since my replacement arrived and 🤞 working fine. 

[CoffeePDX]

I never took any of my 5 failed devices in shower or swimming.  I think leaving GPS enabled has to kill battery - it does on my phone!  I babied my last 2 of 5 devices - and still died. 

[Blueacescanada]

Never swam or showered w any of my Fitbits… I am done with these and moving to apple.

Get Outlook for iOS<>

[Toadi]

I have been a loyal Fitbit user since the Charge 2, but I guess not anymore after my lousy experience with the Charge 5.

My wife and I upgraded from Charge 4 to the current Charge 5 about a year ago due to some poor battery performance and syncing issue with the Charge 4.

Unfortunately, our new Charge 5 failed one after another with a blank screen just barely after 6-9 months of use. I was glad then that Fitbit sent us a replacement for our failed Charge 5.

Low and behold, after about 5-months of use with my replaced Charge 5, the screen failed again. This time, Fitbit refused to replace it sighting reason that it was already replaced once before. What luck...:(

Guess I will be switching over to Garmin next.

[Mopet]

171.50 .... yes that's the current version of my damaged charge 5....

This is exactly what I am worried about.... Does any1 know if they sell extended warranty or some sort?

[emilyvang3]

I tried rebooting as suggested and disconnecting from my account. It is still not working. This is a bummer as my watch is not even a year old. I will not be purchasing a fit bit again especially if this is a not resolved with customer support. 

[DavideFitbit]

Hi everyone, I'm sorry to see that many of you are still having this problem with the display of the Charge 5. 

Keep in mind there are some general recommendations that have been useful for other users having this problem: 

1. Complete the 3 pulse restart procedure using the charging cable. 
2. Follow these steps in case you're having trouble to charge your device. 
3. Sync your device in the Fitbit app by tapping your profile picture > Charge 5 > Sync Now.
4. If you  can't sync, tap on your profile picture > Charge 5 > Tile to see if a firmware banner appears. 
5. If it's still unresponsive, please try changing the clock face as well and check if you're able to see anything on the display. 

In this case, if you already tried the steps mentioned previously and you continue to experience the same problem, please get in touch with the Customer Support so they can provide you with the next steps. The best way to get help for this problem is to chat with us online or give us a call. You can click here to get connected. 

See you around in the Community. 

[MLW64]

Different but kind-of related in that my Charge 5 has no display (not even the fit-bit logo).  I know my device is working, as I can see updates (steps etc.) in the app on my phone, but have no display on my Charge-5 what-so-ever.  This started when I went into a pool with my Charge 5 on my wrist.

Help!!!

[BrickPigeon]

This does not work for me but I did reach out to support and they were amazing and replaced by Charge 5.

[Benk150419]

within warranty mine has been replaced... BUT anyone has had one that lasted beyond 8-10mths? 

[Chancellor]

Yeah, chat with customer support.  Where they will say "Oh well......time to buy a new one.  Here's 35% off."  Even though it is Fitibit's fault that the update broke our device

Mine was just out of warranty.  Too bad so sad was customer support's reaction.

[DavideFitbit]

Hi everyone, thanks for sharing your personal experience with this issue. It's good to know that most of you have already contacted the Support team for further assistance. 

@MLW64  Thank you for confirming that you've been having the same inconvenience with your Charge 5. . 

I've been informed that you already contacted the Customer Support team for further assistance with this and it seems they've shared some instructions with you. In this case, they will let you know how to proceed. 

Have a good day. 

[Chancellor]

Like I said "too bad, so sad"  This is not customer service.

[Engrimrantahir]

I have never seen a more unreliable product than fitbits. I have had 3 and all 03 started having hardware faults within 5-6 months. And NO, this reset (which is an extremely poor engineering), doesn’t really work.

[Mopet]

Update: I received my replacement on early December 2022. It is working fine until now (January 18, 2023). Let's see how long it will last. I will update here... 

[Dallas_9]

Lol. Agree! I like their analytics but hate their unreliability! Maybe Google will help fix the production problems 🙄.

Sent from my iPhone

[Missbiss]

My Fitbit charger five is charged over 80%, but continually blacks out/shuts down, stopping my tracking until I find the charger and put it back on. This is happened daily and it’s very frustrating for someone that wants to keep track of steps and sleep. Any suggestions to stop this nonsense?

[chcho_baires]

Hi, I bought 2 fitbit charge 5 and the company replace both because malfunction. I have FOUR watches that don't work. Suggestion: ask for a replacement and, I am very sorry to say

Moderator Edit: Formatting / Word choice

[allysons]

This is exactly what’s happening to me. Did the issue ever get resolved?

[annoed123]

Update on my issue (black screen, but was still synching to the phone)

It appears (after reading other reviews - no help from FitBit support) that my screen went black after being in a pool.  It never went probably more than a few inches under the water, but alas I now realize that this watch is not water-proof in any way.  You could see moisture in the sensors on the back, so I decided (since my warranty was expired by a couple weeks, and FitBit only offered a coupon - no thanks) to open the watch, and dry it out to see if I could get it to work.  This eventually (a few days later) have the screen come back to life, but without any touch screen.  I was able to use it this way, since double tap (I'm assuming accelerometer, not touch screen) would wake the screen.

Now, though the battery only last about 4-5 hours after a full charge, so even in this mode it is not very useable.  I have switched to a Garmin, and have put FitBit to bed, as there quality is horrible, and I didn't want to waste any more money with their products.