Charge 5 not holding a charge

[Chris_tat]

The issue I'm having with my 2.5 year old charge 5 is that the battery no longer holds a charge. I'll have it charging and will leave it until it shows 100% charge, but as soon as I remove the charger the screen turns off and it dies. Then l, when i reattach the charge, the battery is back down to 1%.

I have already tried the 3 putting press to reset, and it didn't work. I've navigated to the settings and factory reset the device, and still did not fix the problem. 

Has anyone had this same issue happen? If so, how were you able to fix the issue (if it was fixable)? Am I just SOL, and out the money I paid? If that's the case, I doubt I'll ever buy a fit bit product again. I've seen far too many complaints about poor battery quality. 

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[DreaMuffin]

Mine just started doing the same yesterday. One day it's working great, the next it's no longer holding a charge. It died when I went swimming yesterday, it died overnight and dropped 40% while I went for a 20 min walk this morning. Mine's barely a year old and for it to go from working fine one day to a complete failure the next is beyond frustrating. $250 for a device that barely lasted a year. I'm also giving up on Fitbit.

[TheWeezee]

I also commented on another post, Mine also doesn't keep the charge since yesterday. I had to charged it last night 4 days earlier that i would normally do, this morning it was down to 2%, i just finished charging it to 100% 10 minutes ago and already down to 92%, it has to be a software issue, please FIX it asap.

[Bodydoctor12]

I’ve had exactly the same issue - it’s just over a year old and it SUDDENLY stopped holding a charge and ran out in 2-3 hrs. Then after a few sessions of that it seemed to normalise - lasted the usual 5 days and then I put it on to charge and NADA. It just won’t charge at all? WTAF is going on?? 

[TheWeezee]

A firmware update just showed up when I looked in Apple store, I downloaded it and now charging the Fitbit again. Hope this resolve the issue, I will provide an update later.

[richard316_o]

Same. Mine started to have problems on Jul1. Not sure when I updated the firmware though. Tried all the things I can find in forums. Contacted support as well. They are giving 50% off on a fitbit device. My charge is almost 18 months.

[Rainegill]

Mines 3 months out of warranty and doing the same. This is the 4th one I've had in 6 years, so I think their time is up. Didn't even get offered 50% voucher when I called customer service just now, but was sent a 35% off code - and to add insult to injury it was a code that can only be used in the US and I'm in the UK. Sloppy customer support, sloppy software development (I'm convinced it's a firmware issue) and I get the distinct impression they really don't even care.  

[RiekoC]

Hello @Rainegill 

Since you don't mention how you contacted Support, here's the Support phone number for the UK: call 0800 069 8505.

Although you were already offered a discount, it might be worth calling the UK number & letting them know that the discount you received was for use in the US and not UK.

[Chris_tat · Accepted solution]

To anyone wondering, here's what ended up happening. The battery was no longer taking a charge and would only operate on the electricity provided by the charger. Bases on what customer support said, it's definitely an issue of a faulty battery. I was given a 50% code for a new device.

From what I've gathered, a number of fit bit devices suffer from battery issues so just be weary.

[DarthWoo]

And what they said is a load, given that so many people who bought their devices at widely varying times have had the exact same issue at a very similar time following a particular update. While mine ultimately suffered from the logo of death issue, prior to that, I had begun to have some noticeable battery issues.

[Rainegill]

Thanks, but I'm done with Fitbit after the total disinterest of the Customer Service agent. I'd rather spend my hard earned money on a product that actually delivers what it says it will. 

[AlabamaCrash]

The other day (July 2024) my Fitbit Charge 5 screen started flashing the logo screen when I tapped the screen. When put it on the charger the same thing; just a flashing diamond logo.  I pressed the button 3 times on the charger cable and it finally reset but I guess it downloaded the dreaded update that I had been trying to avoid since I received the watch. I got this watch in July 2023 and it had been working flawlessly until now. The battery would last all week. Now after reset the battery dies in less than a day. In July 2023 the forum was full of reports of this behavior so I never updated the watch until now. This seems to be intentional by Google and there seems to be no answer to correct the problem except to buy another brand. Sad, I loved the watch.