Charge 5 display goes on while device is laying around

[cszoli]

I don't constantly wear my Charge 5 so in idle times it is laying around on my desk. I realized that sometimes the screen was constantly on (slightly dimmed). Of course always on is disabled.

First I thought the side sensors would pick up something from the desk, so I started experimenting with placement, for no avail. I also thought when the device is laying with the backside down, its automatism might keep trying to identify the underlying surface as my arm and this might wake it up, but so far I could not find out anything definite. Usually in the morning I find the device with display on. When I move it, nothing happens, I have to tap it (then  display goes to full light) and then it goes out normally.

Any idea? What is the recommended way of storing the Charge 5 if not in use???

Battery is not a problem though.

[DavideFitbit]

Welcome to the Community forums, @cszoli. 

Thank you for sharing this information about what you've been experiencing with your Charge 5. 

I usually just leave it laying on the side and I just tried this with my Charge 5, placing with different positions to see if the screen would light up, but I didn't experience this behavior. Do you know if there's anything specific that's showing up on the screen when you see it's lighting up? 

In the meantime, make sure to complete a three pulse restart as well:  

1. Connect your device to the charging cable. For instructions, see How do I charge my Fitbit device?
2. Press the button located on the flat end of the charger 3 times, pausing for 1 second between presses. Then wait 10 seconds or until the Fitbit logo appears.

I'll be around. 

[cszoli]

Hi Davide,

Thanks for reacting.

I cannot intentionally reproduce it either. It just happens, usually overnight, that I wake up and see the screen is on although the device has been on the table for hours.

As I experienced it, the display always shows the normal clockface, but with dimmed backlighting (which I didn't know exists at all. It is clear you can regulate backlight level but not that it would change). I wrote earlier I had to tap it to make any changes, but last time I flipped it back and forth and that was also enough. From that on the display would go out after the display timeout and remain so. 

As I have been sick for some days now, I haven't used the device, it was on my desk and remained dark in the morning. (However, from what I experienced it consumes while not in use, it may have been on for some time, just from the battery level.).

Will it lose any data when I reset it?

Btw. it started this behaviour right from the first installation, which starts with a reset and a FW update....

-------

Yesterday I used the Charge 5 and put it down back on my desk, display was off. I was working next to it for hours, so I could see it.

Then this morning when I woke up, I again saw the clock face, half dimmed. When I moved the device, the backlight went on full, and after the display timeout it went off.

I will restart now the device as you suggested.

-------

So new day, new report. 

I have reset the device as per first answer, and - after using it  during the day - I left it on the table, on its side, as per first answer.

This morning the screen was again on, dimmed, same as yesterday.

Maybe someone from Fitbit should comment....

[DavideFitbit]

@cszoli I appreciate all the information that you've shared about the problem you've been experiencing. 

From what you mentioned earlier, it seems that you already tried all the basic steps, since Always On feature is disabled and you already tried the restart. In this case, if you continue to experience the same problem, I recommend that you get in touch with the Customer Support team for further assistance with this. They will let you know how to proceed. 

The best way to get help for this problem is to chat with us online or give us a call. Click here to get connected. 

Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback and experience with the product as well. 

Have a great day.

[cszoli]

Hello,

some new information, maybe it helps. My charge 5 was again kind of awaken in the morning. I am attaching a picture montage with two clock faces: the left one is that was on in the morning. Watch did not respond to swipe, move or anything apart from double tap. After that the right clock face appeared and the watch continued to be working normally. It looks as if it was some kind of sleep mode (automatically initiated), but when I manually set sleep mode, the display becomes completely dark. Normally I never see the left side clock face (with hollow numbers), after screen timeout the screen goes completely off.
Maybe this helps identify the situation in which the mentioned clock face is used by the watch's firmware.....

[DavideFitbit]

@cszoli Thank you for sharing this update about the Charge 5. 

The screen of the device should become dark when you turn on the Sleep Mode or the Do Not Disturb Mode. However, the screen should respond to swipes or when you touch the screen. In this case, if you already tried the basic troubleshooting steps like the three pulse restart mentioned earlier, I recommend that you continue the communication with the Customer Support team. You can click here to get connected. 

Regarding the problem with the hollow numbers, keep in mind that this is the intended design of this specific clock face. To see the complete numbers, you can change to a different clock face. 

See you around. 

[cszoli]

Absolutely not. Look at the available clockfaces on the Fitbit pages, there is a single clock face named 'Split' with hollow numbers, all others are with full ones, exactly like mine 'Slashed'. It is also visible on the pic montage I attached previously. But let's switch the case then: how do you expect the full numbers if the intended clock face has hollow ones? See?

Look, I don't care whether my numbers are hollow or not, I just realized that I normally NEVER see hollow numbers EXCEPT in this state, which I don't explicitly set in the menu, it just gets activated while the clock is not worn during the night. This all does not affect the usability or the battery life I just thought I could help a bit find the bug (or feature?) in the SW.