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

[singlespeed]

Replacement C5 arrived today after doing the online support chat dance on Saturday.

Paired and the app shows it running on 188.58. I don't think it tried to update to 194.61 but who knows. How long will it last?

#schrodingersfitbit 

[eecody]

Very unhappy with Fitbit again ! My charge 5 suddenly not working, couldn’t sync, battery draining in a matter of 1- 2 hrs and then not found in the app and cannot reconnect/pair via Bluetooth !!! I’ve tried all of the suggestions  So frustrating no update still shows as old 158 etc currently on holiday and now can’t track anything or do anything !! Fitbit you need to sort this or else we will all go elsewhere ! 

[Mogurt]

More news articles:
https://www.androidpolice.com/fitbit-first-feature-drop-bricking-some-charge-5-units/\
https://www.the-sun.com/tech/8572976/fitbit-owners-threaten-to-stop-using-after-update/

@DavideFitbit @LizzyFitbit Can you please pin/sticky this topic until we get an official resolution thread?

[Missiv12]

Someone lent my a charge 2 and after two days where sleep and HRV was recorded, those are now kaput and I can't do the update. 

[KKD25]

Didn’t work for me.  Since update watch has been blank/black. Twice I did clock face Change.worked for about an hour and went blank again. Now battery lasted less than 12 hours.  

Mine is 6 months old and having these issues. It’s the update 

Did not work. Fitbit is just 6 months old. I am going to call Costco about returning it since it seems Fitbit doesn’t have a solution to the problem it’s created 

[LonghillGus]

My Charge 5 stopped working today.  Screen is blank - tried all of the suggested steps, except new clock - it can't install a new clock-face.   Nothing has worked so far.  

[DW-Aus-1952]

It is fascinating that this problem is happening to so many users and suddenly, commencing about the end of June. In my case, I purchased the unit end of 2021 and had typical battery life of 6+ days, but this inexplicably dropped to less than a day. And this was without the latest firmware update. (Firmware was still 57.20001.188.58). Contacted customer support on 7th July and was offered a no charge replacement - no questions asked. This arrived today and the changeover process was seamless. Interestingly, the installation included a firmware update but still the old version as above.

I hope this unit lasts longer than previously and I wish you all luck getting prompt service from Fitbit, as I did.

[Dragon80]

My Fitbit is just 12 months old, was not updating to new firmware and went black. Tried all of your suggestions, nothing worked. Help

[SweeTea]

Thanks! I'm so disappointed with Fitbit. I've been a user for so long, and
purchased so many of their devices, as well as being a premium member. It
is obviously their issue and it would be better if they would at least keep
us updated.
Mine is working mostly correct. As of now. The only thing that has not come
back is the actual screen. It is recording and posting everything now when
it sinks. I just don't have a watch and didn't realize how much I relied on
that.

[Lblumchen]

this happened last year or the year before also.  Same issue, battery not holding charge after upgrade

[ennylhsub]

how can i change my clock face or access the settings on my device if its screen is black?

[ennylhsub]

Since the other thread on the firmware update does not seem to be accepting replies, let me share my extremely frustrating experience. I have been having problems off and on for about three weeks with the screen going black. Then the battery started draining inexplicably. I did all the usual fixes: turn Bluetooth on and off, uninstall and reinstall app, remove device and do a new set up. No joy. Last night after more frustration, I went on the forum and managed to get my device restarted for a little while. There was a message saying that the firmware update was available. Tried all night to get it to install, following Fitbit instructions. No joy. Trying again now with the charger attached to my computer. So far it thinks it is updating. Who knows.

The most frustrating thing to me is the lack of acknowledgment in any posts by Fitbit and their Google overlords that is is a massive screwup. Just say you're sorry. I really like my Fitbit and have been a customer for years. I am seriously considering an Apple Watch. Way to drive your customers into the arms of other other companies. 

[Elkaypea]

Hi Everyone, wanted to share this about my Charge 5. Mine bricked last Saturday, like everyone else has mentioned..black screen, totally unresponsive. My app said I still had the 188.58 version, & I hadn't received any notification of an update. I tried everything that has been mentioned, with no luck. Customer service offered the 35% discount. I decided to just leave it alone & left it charging. Tonite I checked it, still had a black screen. I decided to unpair it from my phone's bluetooth. Left it unpaired for an hour. Then checked the app on my phone & it said I had an update available. I turned my bluetooth back on & put my Fitbit back on the charger & told the phone app to proceed with the update. My Charge 5 woke up & showed the logo & the dowload progress screen. I left it alone, & checked it about 20 minutes later. The app said the download was complete. My Charge is now working as well as before and syncing, but the app says I still have version 188.58, so that's odd, but I'm crossing my fingers that it continues to work. I have 100% battery charge, so I'm not sure if the battery is having any issues or not at this point. 

[KHH]

Tried restart, doesn't work, battery  drains in a few hours, after recharge all "seems "normal" until the battery is depleted I am on version 20001.188.58 

[rjforster]

I see different symptoms. But the result is the same.
Up until yesterday my Charge 5 worked fine. Yesterday afternoon I noticed it was shutdown and unresponsive. I plugged it into the charging cable and it reported 1% which was obviously too low. I keep mine charged every morning and would have expected 90+% or so by late afternoon.
The Charge 5 seems to recharge its battery if I leave it connected but as soon as I disconnect it from the cable it goes blank and unresponsive again whereupon it then reports 1% when I next plug it in. I can wait until it is charged to 99%, disconnect and immediately reconnect and it is back at 1%.
Whilst connected and supposedly charging I can sync to the phone app and can change the clock etc.
Firmware version is 57.20001.188.58 so not the latest version that many people here are having problems with.

Update:
None of the button pressing tips helped, they all reset the device causing the logo to appear and it goes back to the 1% battery state (something I missed in my previous message).
However, I unclipped the strap halves and noticed that one part of the underside of the casing of the device had come away slightly. So the seal had failed and water had gotten into this waterproof device. Figuring I now had nothing to lose I carefully pried the underside cover off and there is clear signs of water damage to the circuit board. So this seems to be a different failure mechanism to the one that this thread concentrates on, apologies for that, but it did seem quite similar at first.

[Elkaypea]

Correction to my earlier post. Don't unpair it from bluetooth, just shut bluetooth off.  It did not track my sleep last night, but has correct time, tracks my steps, & notifications work. It is syncing with my phone. 

[JLord1]

This is happening to me too. I charge my Fitbit then within an hour or two it’s dead. I tried to troubleshoot, nothing worked. I contacted support, they did not help me.and instead my battery is just broken and said I’m out of warranty but here’s a discount on a new Fitbit. When I asked about the firmware update in the forum, they said oh that’s not a thing. Thanks, Fitbit for the response. Worked great until 3 days ago. 

Moderator edit: word choice 

[Jlclookalike]

I have the same problem as many of the others commenting here, black screen, wont charge, event the things the help desk recommend do not work, fitbit logo just flashes.

Also mine looks like the screen is pixelating with a line across it.

I thought it was due to me using it for swimming for the first time but not so.

I've owned mine for just over 12 months so probably out of warranty and the dam sting will end up in the bin.

It's put me off another fitbit and waiting for the one I purchased for my mother to go wrong now.

I cant see if this is a software update how they will fix it if we cant get the dam things to connect back up to the phone for it to receive the update.

[Lblumchen]

i agree with you. It’s called damage control and no one seems to be addressing the issue or the fact that this also happened in 2022. 

[ennylhsub]

did customer support ask you to send a video of you resetting your Fitbit as part of their “trouble shooting?”