Charge 5: screen turned black yet sensors work and it syncs

[worst_products]

This just happened to me about a week after I contacted support about the dying battery: My Fitbit Charge 5's screen is completely black, yet the device seems to work normally: sensors are flashing, the device charges, syncs to my phone.

Did a reset via cable, changed the clock image, synced, etc... nothing fixt it.

This happened one week after I contacted support due to issues with a dying battery (a few hours of battery life to two days at best). Fitbit offered a 35% discount on their official store than that is 30% more expensive that any retailer in Germany.

I am switching to a competitor the very first thing after I finish watching the reviews. Never again, Fitbit. Not for me or my family.

Firmware version: 57.20001.194.91

Update: I left my faulty Fitbit Charge 5 to charge for a day and the screen turned back on, however, the battery life is still terrible. I've completely switched off to the Garmin Venu 3 which is a world's difference.

Update 2: The Fitbit Charge 5's screen was dead again after it shut down due to the battery becoming suddenly empty. The device turns on again but without the screen. All other functionalities seem to work.

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[MarreFitbit]

Hi there, @worst_products. Welcome to the Fitbit Community Forums. Thanks for bringing this to my attention and for the troubleshooting steps you've tried. I'm sorry to hear that the screen of your Charge 5 is still blank. We‘re taking your comments and sentiments in regards to our products and services into consideration.

Thanks for your question about why we offered a discount towards a new Fitbit product instead of a replacement of your existing Fitbit product. Our limited warranty provides repair or replacement of products that have a defect while still in the warranty period. Your device is out of the warranty period, and therefore is not eligible for repair or replacement, but we want to offer you a discount to thank you for your loyalty to Fitbit. For more information about our warranty, see fitbit.com/legal/returns-and-warranty.

Even though I truly appreciate you took the time to come here and express your feelings towards your experience with your Charge 5 and also want to find a resolution to your issue, my best advice is to keep the conversation with our Support Team. Note for this kind of inquiries/cases/process, there's not so much we here in the forums can do for you as this is something that our team handles based on our policies.

Thanks in advance! 

[bas_rodriguez]

Here's how Fitbit takes criticism.

[MisterMarcoo]

This is because of the update to 194.41. they ignore it and even state is not true, but my charge5 had the exact same issue, so i contacted customer support and the dude acknowledged by phone it was the update. They have sent me a complete new device and this one is on the old 188.58 and is not receiving any update.

What does this mean: the update is frozen, meaning Fitbit KNOWS the update is bad, but they are just pretending that you are the one that is wrong here. 

[Cacrusn]

This same exact thing just happened to mine. Completely bricked. Can do nothing. Same update. I will never buy a Fitbit product again. They did this on purpose to people with older products. 

[RangerElite18]

Hello,

Charge 5 same issues, tracking/syncing etc all seem fine in the app and it's still collecting data the screen just stopped responding and went black. Charging doesn't affect it, the USB cable reset doesn't work just vibrates then nadda, and changing the clock face does nothing except show that's it's been changed successfully in the app...

Beyond frustrated, own everything Google please help

[Caramira]

Same thing happed to me yesterday, 7/2/24. My charge 5 is about 2 years old with no issues and all of the sudden it bricked up, the screen is non responsive and nothing working. When I would plug it in the logo would appear and then nothing happened. I tried resetting via the button on the charger several times and still nothing. Then I get an firmware update 57.20001.194.91 about 24 hours later and the screen is responsive but it's not detecting heart rate, steps, or zone minutes, also the battery is only lasting 2-3 hours. Probably due to the constant red and green lights on the back even though I turned the sensor off.