Display and battery issues with Charge 5

[kathleenjames]

Suddenly many people are dealing with sudden loss of battery and black screen with no possible way to fix it. Could this have anything to do with the update? It seems not so coincidental it's all happening at the same time.

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[sporkster]

I don't have a pink banner, what does it say?

[SunsetRunner]

 this banner

[Jamie32182]

I tried to click the contact support button on their site earlier today and it errored out 😐

I cancelled premium today since my watch is broken for no reason & so is everyone elses. Started looking at the Google Pixel watch and the Apple Watch. Amazon will probably have some good deals this week. 

[Aïchaaa]

It happened to me today. All of a sudden my watch went black and when I try to reset it. I only see the logo, and then it turns black again. I am desperate!

[klassylass]

Someone else posted this link:  https://gadgetsandwearables.com/2023/07/08/fitbit-charge-5-bricked-device-firmware-update/#comment-2...

Mine is completely bricked and all support says is the same scripted response, none of which worked.  I'd say they've completely hung us all out to dry.  Mine is out of warranty, so I'm f*cked.  Thanks FitBit, great way to treat your customer since 2013.  

[sporkster]

Weird, I get no banner here or on the main site, but if I go to the support site, there's a gray banner that's got similar wording, but it links to this really old thread:

https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Charge-5/Charge-5-won-t-sync/m-p/5216924

Hopefully when management is in tomorrow someone will perhaps notice that they're just bricking watches left and right? Maybe some news coverage will pop up tomorrow too.

LOL, also my screenshot was rejected because it contains a series of numbers representing today's date. Can't even do a message board right...

[Brewer257]

It’s July 9th and still don’t have the update. Is it STILL rolling out or has it stopped due to the MASSIVE ISSUES? 

[bbunge]

Maybe not getting the upgrade is a good thing in this case. There is no way to roll back the firmware. At least no published way. Might be a good idea for Google to lower its shields and surrender.

[Brewer257]

I’m astounded by Google’s catastrophic handling of Fitbit. Their goal is to move Fitbit customers to the Google Pixel.  Don’t they realize how they’re alienating and angering millions who would now rather wear a sun dial than anything Google makes?  The mishandling and poor judgment shown by Google will be studied by Marketing and Public Relations students for decades. They’ll be bankrupt by the time this is over. 

[SunsetRunner]

My Fitbit is one of the ones affected by this firmware update. Completely bricked. How are they going to fix this?

[Jamie32182]

I never even thought about the correlation between the latest firmware rollout and the introduction of integrating your google account.  I'm not normally into conspiracy theories but maybe Google is trying to completely ditch the FitBit brand and move people to Google Pixel devices. 

Either way, it's ridiculous and i'm never buying a fitbit or google device.  So I guess Apple it is. 

[Irbricksceo]

Another member of the "this firmware update bricked my device", and support is saying they won't cover it under warranty (and thus that I have to buy a new device). That is not happening, and so I guess I gotta look at what options exist outside the fitbit ecosystem for the family.

[Umarharbi]

My device, Fitbit, its battery is draining quickly, and after researching, I discovered that the error was caused by the update. You are not losing customers to Fitbit, but rather to the Android Wear system.

[WilhelmFit]

My Charge HR 5 was bricked by the update.  The screen is blank and it only keeps a battery charge for one day.  It still keeps count of steps and zone but it is close to useless due to the update.

What is Fitbit doing about this?

[Mogurt]

The word is spreading now: 

https://www.androidauthority.com/fitbit-charge-5-update-brick-3343825/

[Stephen_Macca]

Fitbit appears to be just pretending it isn't happening.

[SunsetRunner]

Just another brick in the (fitbit) wall ...

[chilehead]

Hey @LizzyFitbit is there any official word from Fitbit on this issue?  It appears there are many many many people having trouble after the firmware update, and I haven't seen fitbit acknowledge there is an issue.  Worse, they are telling customers they won't do anything if the product is out of warranty, even though this was caused by Fitbit.  This is sad.

[Umarharbi]

How do you want me to trust Fitbit and Google products!

[Missiv12]

And apparently they are only offering that if the charge is still under warranty. My now dead one was 14 months old.