Charge 5 totally blank

[Nussgal]

Yesterday my charge 5 just died. Won’t charge. Won’t turn on. Lost connection with my phone. Multiple attempts at a reset hasn’t worked. I’ve cleaned it and am at a loss. It isn’t that old and should not be having this issue. I’m at a loss as to what else to try. 

[Khoffy]

Same thing happened to me. Tried everything and couldn’t reconnect to app cause the screen remains blacked out. Contacted Fitbit and went through some troubleshooting (which if had already done) and resulted in getting a free replacement. However they never told me what the cause was.  Seems a coincidence it happened after firmware update on the device. 

[Nussgal]

Ok thanks! Yes, it’s very weird. My son has a 4 and it also died. 🤷‍:female_sign: Same week? Two devices with no issues? What are the odds….

[Alpacamom]

Same here! I’ve tried the 3-button pressing on the charger cable, but nothing. I’ve kept it plugged into the charger overnight, tried resetting many times today, but nothing. Totally black. What’s going on, I wonder!

[ManuFitbit]

Welcome to the Community forums @Nussgal @Alpacamom 

Thanks for the details regarding the inconvenience with your Charge 5. Thanks for the steps performed @Alpacamom

If you haven't done so already, please complete a three pulse restart following these steps: 

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 within 8 seconds, holding each press for about 1 second.
3. Wait 10 seconds or until the Fitbit logo appears.
4. If the device doesn’t restart, wait 15 seconds to try again.

If you're still having the same issue, please try these additional steps that have been useful for other users:  

1. Follow these steps in case you're having trouble to charge your device. 
2. Please sync your device in the Fitbit app by tapping your profile picture > Charge 5 > Sync Now.
3. If you  can't sync, tap on your profile picture > Charge 5 > Tap to see if a firmware banner appears. 
4. If it's still unresponsive, please try changing the clock face as well and check if you're able to see anything on the display. 

Thanks for getting back and participate in the community @Khoffy 

[Khoffy]

Restarting the device using the charging cable didn’t help at all. Logo would appear but then screen would remain blacked out. I then tried disconnecting the device from the app, phone and Bluetooth (complete reset) however I then couldn’t reconnect to the app cause I couldn’t enter the 4 digit code (as the device screen was blacked out). Device now completely useless. Really disappointed in the charge 5, should last much longer than 1-2 years. Have Fitbit confirmed what the source of this issue is? 

[Kayveekay · Accepted solution]

Same this just happened to me. 1 year and 3 months, screen is fully dead and can’t be repaired. Customer service is telling me that I can great a discount on a new Fitbit - as though I want to pay another $100 for a watch that lasts just until the warranty expires?? It’s so disappointing, I loved my Fitbit, I had no idea it would become trash in under 1.5 years.

[Nussgal]

I realize y’all probably have to post these, but I have literally done ALL of the things, even disconnecting it from my phone, which seems to be a big mistake. Nothing works. At some points a white x in a red circle pops up. Then it acts like it will restart with the blue logo. Then goes back to all black. It is useless now. As is my son’s. His 4 won’t do anything. I have not had ANY issues with Fitbit until last week and I am not usually a person to point to external things, but having two devices which worked perfectly fine both dead in a couple days- that’s quite a coincidence. And not a good one. We will not buy Fitbit any more. I’ve lost faith that y’all can fix issues that shouldn’t be issues. 

[Tennman]

Same thing happpened to mine. Only 9 months old and completely dead. Bought it off Amazon but they won't honor the warranty because the seller is unauthorized. Who knew Amazon was unauthorized.No more fitbit devices for me.

[beachgeek]

Me too. The device started choosing screens to display (!) yesterday and then went blank. Now it may show a screen but it has stopped tracking all together. This Fitbit is less than 7 months old. It's my 5th Fitbit but I'm thinking it is my last.

[Alpacamom]

I tried all of the suggestions, to no avail. Interesting that my Charge5 died just a month after warranty. Sounds like a lot of them have. What’s going on??? I loved my Charge5, but I won’t buy another Fitbit if they’re only lasting a year now. Come on, Fitbit!

[Kayveekay]

Right?? I don’t understand why Fitbit doesn’t stand behind their own products - there is nothing I buy that costs $100 and is meant to only last 1 year. If that happened to a small kitchen appliance or a set of Bluetooth headphones, I would be equally upset. It feels like they assume we will just automatically replace the product and not consider the fact that it will cost us $10 a month just to own a Fitbit. 😕

[Mejenkins]

Just happened to me too.   What's going on?!  I've had mine less than a year so I'm assuming they'll replace.  If not, I won't be buying another one.

[Dbeachsmiley]

That really sucks I thought higher of Fitbit . I’m surprised they won’t replace it. Or at least find a fix. Mine did the same thing less than a year old . I’m so bummed. It literally just stopped working and I can’t even turn it on. So bizarre that so many people are having the same problem at the same time 

@ManuFitbit  What if you do all of these things and the fit bit still doesn’t come on and can’t be located by the app? 

[SunsetRunner]

Is Fitbit doing this in order to force sales of new devices? Wasn't the company recenlty bought by Google? Good way to force sales, brick customers' devices by way of forced software updates. There are so many reports of people whose devices have just all of a sudden bricked recently.

[Waymooreerin]

The same thing happened to my charge 5 this week! I’m really disappointed and not sure if I should get a new one or try another brand of trackers as this seems to be an issue for many of us. 

[Khoffy]

That doesn’t seem right at all. Are you based in Australia by any chance? 

[beachgeek]

I am wondering if Google/Fitbit is having issues they aren't admitting to. It's pretty widespread to be a coincidence. (And other Google devices seem to be having some issues too.)

[Mejenkins]

An update to my post yesterday...

I called Fitbit to submit a warranty claim as my Fitbit Chage 5 was only 10 months old.  They were able to walk me through a few recovery steps that fixed the issue.    I would call them if you haven't done so yet.  Maybe they can help fix yours too.

[Alpacamom]

Tried all these steps over the past few days. Nothing. It is now unplugged and sitting in the closet, waiting to be tossed. What a shame that this is happening to so many. It’s not the way I would run a business…that’s for sure.