Charge 5 number 3 - dead

[SimonClawson]

My charge 5, the third one following two replacements of my original, has now failed with a screen that flickers, goes full white or doesn’t come on at all. The tech help isn’t great and it’s clearly hardware again. I’ve closed down my Fitbit plus account and bought an Apple Watch. But can this device be recovered so one of the kids can use it if they want to? Or is it another piece of e-waste? Sadly, due to the poor reliability of this device, the offer of 10% off my next purchase didn’t convince me to buy another one (which I haven’t received by email anyway!).

[DavidFitbit]

Hi @SimonClawson, Welcome to the Fitbit community! It's great to have you here!

Let me help you with the issue with your Charge 5 whose screen flickers. Thank you for all the troubleshooting you have already tried.

Upon consulting with our support team, i have confirmed that you contacted them. They count with better resources to assist you, so it's possible that you have already exhausted trobleshooting with them. Just to make sure, i'm listing the standard troubleshooting for this type of issues:

First, restart your device by following the instructions below:

1. Connect your device to the charging cable. For instructions, refer to How do I charge my Fitbit device?
2. Press the button located on the flat end of the charger 3 times with one-second pause between each press. Then wait 10 seconds or until the Fitbit logo appears.

In addition, you can change the clockface of your device, usually this action resolves this kind of issues. See How do I change the clock face on my Fitbit device? for instructions.

[SimonClawson]

Sadly I did try those tasks. I am guessing that there is no way to replace these screens? 

[JDCIL]

My original self destructed and my replacement has just went through the same thing as yours. Unfortunately the warranty dates are only good for one year from the date of the purchase of the original one. When they replace it you do not get a new 1 year warrant on the replacement. In my case I only had 1 month of support on the replacement. Support is supposed to send me a code for 50% off but surprisingly their system is unable to create the discount codes. How convenient. Either these devices are set to expire at a certain time or their updates cause these things to happen and I would bet it is on purpose to get you buy a newer model. I ordered an Apple Watch since Fitbit is destroying these devices on purpose. Just look at the latest posts in these forums where most of the new posts are about this exact same thing that all miraculously occurred at the same time. I have had it with Fitbit.