Charge 5 short battery life

[Amsam]

Fitbit Charge 5.

I get very spasmodic battery life, last night placed my Fitbit on dressing table and went to bed with over 80% charge, woke up this morning with screen on and 16% charge. This has happened several times.

Some days the device uses 15% to 20% charge, other days almost 100%.

This never happened on my previous Fitbit Charge HR or Fitbit Charge 3.

My daily routines are similar, I have Auto on, GPS set to phone, and have followed most threads to preserve battery life.

Any suggestions why it drains battery when  OT in use overnight?

Moderator edit: subject updated for clarity

[DavideFitbit]

Hello, welcome to the Fitbit Community forums, @Amsam. 

Thank you for sharing that you've been experiencing this inconvenience with your Charge 5 and that you already tried a few troubleshooting steps.  

From what you mentioned earlier, it seems that you already tried all the basic steps shared in the forums to improve battery life. In addition, I would also recommend that you try a three pulse restart: 

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.

Keep in mind that if you turn on always-on display, Charge 5 has a battery life of up to 3 days. If you already tried the restart procedure and 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. 

Have a great day. 

[Amsam]

David,

Thanks for the reply.

Not sure how to do a 3 pulse restart, the charger has no flat end or button?

Today the device battery  went from 84% to 13% in 7 hours.

Not sure what to do

Regards

[Wibby]

Hello @Amsam 

@DavideFitbit means the USB end of the charger.

Here’s a picture.

 I hope it helps a bit.

 

[Amsam]

Thanks, much appreciated 

Just tried it, hope it works.

[Nicotine_Enhanc]

Impressive button by the way... almost too impressive I had difficulty finding it too. But glad it is so hidden!

Could this be packet loss or trying to connect to bluetooth all the time? I have had this with my phone sending requests to connect to mobile masts in the desert where there are no masts.

The phone basically uses all of its battery up continuously sending requests where there is no network to connect to (searching for a network). Or in weak signal area, it sends a packet and loses it in the network (doesnt get confirmation that it was received by a mast) then it has to send another packet, and another, and another. The number of packets sent unsuccessfully can grow exponentially in this scenario and eat though a days worth of battery in just a few hours.

Worth fit bit looking into this before anyone else does maybe. An easy firmware fix nodoubt.

Regs 

Pete

[DavideFitbit]

Hi, thank you for your all your comments. 

@Amsam Thank you for your response. Many users have shared this feedback about the instructions for the restart, specifically the "flat end" part of the instructions. It's good to know that you were able to complete it after the information @Wibby provided earlier. Let me know if you continue to have any inconvenience.  

@Nicotine_Enhanc There are some general recommendations and troubleshooting steps listed here that have been useful for other users experiencing something similar. In addition, please make sure to check the compatibility requirements listed here and to keep the Fitbit app and the firmware updated to the latest version available. 

In the specific case of the device getting disconnected from Bluetooth constantly, the team is aware of it and they're working to identify a resolution as quickly as possible. Thank you for taking the time to share all your feedback about this. 

See you around. 

[Amsam]

David,

There have been a few responses to battery drainage on fitbit charge 5.

I did the 3 pulse reset, it improved initially for about 2 to 3 days.

Today, just normal use and 49% battery used.

Yesterday was 54% in one day.

This does not seem right.

Any suggestions?

Regards 

[NonnieG]

Hi

you need to plug your device in as if you are recharging and on the USB port there is a small black circle you press 3 times....I foud this out by calling Fitbit customer support and they directed me to a You Tube Site to see it...my charge 5 is also having the same problem so I will restart and see what happens I have only had mine for 6 days and this is my 3rd recharge

[Amsam]

Nonnie,

Thanks for reply, I have done the 3 time pulse reset twice as well as device restart several times. It does not appear to solve the battery drainage issues.

Regards

-------------

My fit bit 5 is using approx 50% battery life everyday, some days are more. Tuesday this week the charge fully depleted around 6pm.

I have done 3 pulse resets, restarts, don't use GPS, have followed Fitbit battery saving measures. I called fitbit help and have followed the recommendations emailed to me.

Not sure what else I can do.

I am finding the erratic battery depletion frustrating. I am of the opinion it us a fitbit issue rather than my use, I say this as My Original Fitbit HR would go several days and my Fitbit 3 would go  5 to 7 days. 

Any more suggestions?

[winevixen]

I've had my Charge 5 since late November and been loving it including the battery life. Two days ago I noticed that battery was draining at an alarming rate. I'd charge it, and it would be drained within hours. I followed advice here and restarted it with both the Settings option and once with the cable option. Neither has helped at all. The cable option no longer works to reset now. 

I chatted with support yesterday and today. Both times they simply ran me through what I already did based on online help here. Both times they told me that they would have to escalate and to expect email on next steps. The emails I received told me they are working on a firmware update and hope to have it out soon. The emails also provided tips to maximize battery which is totally redundant. Rather frustrating that their definition of "next steps with tech support" apparently means "you gotta wait it out".

I wonder if anyone has actually received support on this issue when all of the reset options fail to address the issue.    

[Amsam]

I agree, I think fitbit have a problem they don't know how to fix.

Unfortunately their device is draining battery life and I am assuming the device is hunting for syncing that doesn't exist.

Hopefully a firmware rectification is not to far away.

[NonnieG]

Yes l think they are having problems with blue tooth connection to cell phone. I turned off my notifications with fitbit and my battery stopped draining but l need phone and email  notifications and so l turned back on and battery drained in 2 daysThinking of returning but dont want a smart watch.Sent via the Samsung Galaxy S8, an AT&T 5G Evolution capable smartphone

[Khoffy]

I’ve had the same issue. Ive only had my charge 5 for less then 1 week and noticed a few issues. I originally sent a request for help re: device disconnecting from Bluetooth constantly (I’m still having the same issue). They are looking into it. 

I then noticed the past 2-3days that my battery life is not very good too. It goes down very quickly and had to charge 2-3 times in less then 1 week. I only use the device to track a workout for 1-2hours a day and then just regularly walking around to capture my steps for the day. Last night whilst I was sleeping, the battery died and device was off when I woke up. This obviously then affects my sleep data and readiness score as well.  Very disappointed! 

I’m assuming the battery issue may be linked to the connection issue as it’s probably draining the battery constantly trying to connect etc. 

Fitbit, you please advise what actions are currently being taken by Fitbit to fix it? What is the expected timeframe? 

[Nicotine_Enhanc]

No luck with those, no firmware update button so think already updated. Will try hard reset.

[DavideFitbit]

Hi everyone, thank you for all your feedback and comments that you've shared so far. 

In addition to the steps mentioned earlier to improve battery life, the team is aware of a battery drain issue affecting some Charge 5 devices in which the built-in GPS chip may remain active after ending a GPS-enabled exercise and they've working on an update to fix the issue. In the meantime, it is recommended to try a three pulse restart. Please note the following:

• If you use GPS to track your exercise, use the Phone GPS setting on your tracker to preserve battery life. For more information, see How do I use GPS on my Fitbit device?
• We’ll work to resolve it and hope to have a fix soon. Be sure to keep your Fitbit device and app up-to-date to ensure you receive the quickest resolution.

If you already tried all the steps shared in the forums and you're still having the same problem, I recommend that you continue the communication with the Customer Support team for further assistance with this, as not all battery short life problems are related to this specific issue with GPS, but some users do have this problem. 

Thanks again for all the feedback that you've provided about the product. 

See you around.