Charge 5 blank screen

[Westcoastbiker]

The display on my charger 5 is completely black. I followed the directions to do a hard restart by pressing the button on the charging cable three times. The Fitbit does vibrate but the screen stays black - no logo appears. I tried doing this many times with the same result. 

Bluetooth says the Fitbit is still paired to my phone. However it doesn’t sync and the display remains completely black.

Is this a known issue? I’ve had Fitbits for years and never a problem like this.

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[MarreFitbit]

Hi there, @Westcoastbiker. Welcome to the Fitbit Community Forums. Thanks for trying to troubleshoot the issue with your Charge 5 before reaching out. 

To better assist you, please make sure you've restarted your Fitbit device as suggested here How do I restart my Fitbit device?. If the restart doesn't work try to change your clock face. If this fixes the issue, you can change your clock face back to the original clock face.

[Dbeachsmiley]

This is exactly what happened to me today . I can’t get mine to restart and it’s fully charged. It has vibrated once and then nothing. No logo no screen it’s like it died and it’s less than a year old 😞

[MarreFitbit]

Hi there, @Dbeachsmiley. Thanks for stopping by in the Fitbit Community Forums and trying to troubleshoot the issue with your Charge 5. I understand how you must be feeling. 

I've seen you contacted our Support Team after posting here and they've already assisted you. If you still need help or have any questions/concerns regarding the outcome of your case, please feel free to contact our team back for further assistance.

[Westcoastbiker]

Hi there, as mentioned in my post, the screen is completely black (no lights) and I have pressed the hard reset button many times over 2 days.

Oh no! I wonder if this is a widespread issue. Mine is a little bit older than a year ago so I wonder if i can still get mine repaired.

[Jemstone725]

Also having thus same issue and it started two days ago! Device vibrates and pairs but blank screen. Fitbit is not even 8 months old and I've tried the hard reset multiple times, changed the clock face repeatedly, cleaned it thoroughly, etc. 

[Snowman7]

How does one return for replacement 

[Linda181]

I have exactly the same problem. I did several restarts and changed the clock face several times. Sometimes that works for a few minutes but then again the display stays black. My Fitbit Charge 5 is 8 months old and this started suddenly 2 days ago.

Has there been some sort of software update that causes this? Because it seems a lot of people have the same problem.

[Westcoastbiker]

I think you're probably right - it's suspicious. It does sound like a software/firmware upgrade likely caused the issue given that different Fitbits developed the issue at the same time.

[dsanch]

Reading this thread made me feel better. The same thing happened to me this morning. The screen went black out of nowhere, it still syncs but is completely unresponsive. Hopefully this gets fixed soon!

[Justin1066]

It still tracks steps too.  So you can wear it fine, but don't rely on it for what time it is, or to do your workouts lol.  It's a track stepper that won't tell you anything unless you use the app lol

[dsanch]

Yes exactly!! At least it still “works” even if the screen doesn’t.

[Hcmunchwys]

The same thing happened to me today as well.

March 2022 I purchased my Fitbit charge. A year later, March 2023, the screen went completely dead. I went through the trouble shoot with customer service and they finally sent me a replacement face even though I was slightly out of warranty. Now 2 months later, the same thing happened. The screen is completely blank, I called customer service again to help troubleshoot.  This time I was told , because my watch is now completely out of warranty, there is nothing they can do. Now, I have 2 fitbit charge that doesn’t work. I wonder if it’s just this line of Fitbit or the replacement was a refurbished item and was going to die and this forces me to pay full price for another Fitbit device. Not sure I want to invest in fitbit products again. 

[Firpo1]

Get an Apple Watch! Much better product and much better customer service!

[Garah]

This happened to me last week. My screen is blank, but it stills. counts steps and sleep and syncs. Have to look on my app to see the data. Did the reset and change the clock face, that did not work. This is my third fit bit. This one (charge 5) is 18 months old. 

[BobPotter]

Mine started having same issue

got replacement about 6 months ago while in warranty 

help line today indicated I would get replacement options via email 

still waiting for response 

[Westcoastbiker]

Let me know if they are offering to replace it. They offered me 35% off a
new device. To have the display break after 18 months is unacceptable!

It sounds like a lot of us have the same issue.

[BobPotter]

Told me I would get an email in 30 minutes
1.5 hours later am still waiting

Sent from my iPhone

[dsanch]

I was within my warranty period, so I was offered a replacement or 40% off a new Fitbit. My replacement is currently in the mail.

I got an email about 5 minutes after I ended my chat with support. You might have to go through the process again. I hope you get the email soon though!

[BobPotter]

Called back on app
Was told email for replacement offer could not be delivered
Not sure what was problem
This time was told replacement device would be sent
And got email just now with shipping info
Device was replaced last December so about 5 months ago
Mentioned others in forums had issues also and perhaps was software update issues
Service person did not respond to that question
Cheers

Sent from my iPhone