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

[LuganoG]

Same issue here...since this morning My Charge5 has black screen and cannot be reactivated in any way...it is very disappointing that no fix is available, no serious customer support, no interruption of charging of the premium service that is paid for no service at all! If no solution is provided in the following days, after 3 years of Fitbit loyalty (and 3 devices purchased) I will say bye bye. 

[Cobbycobb]

I talked with them again a couple hours ago and they sent me a link for either 50% discount off a Fitbit device OR a FREE replacement device for the exact same device. 
Hopefully, I can get them to do the same on my 2nd device that my daughter who is away to college uses also. 

[sporkster]

@Cobbycobb - this is out of warranty?

Mine was sort of "fixed" for about 4-5 days and then started doing the "stuck on the logo" thing again today.

[Cobbycobb]

I had called with this issue in June like a week before 1 year. It worked for a few days then nothing since despite doing all the requested steps. I called today and they sent me a link with the options. I got confirmation of a replacement being sent no later than 7/28. 

[Missiv12]

Was yours still under warranty?

Will Fitbit do anything for those of us who were just a month or two out of warranty? Mine was purchased directly from Fitbit at the end of April 2022.  It was completely dead by last weekend and I removed it from the app so I could use a borrowed Charge 2. But I don't want to waste my time to be told that it's out of warranty and nothing will be done. 

[DW-Aus-1952]

I replied earlier that I shared this problem with a Charge 5 that was 18 months old (purchased from Google store Australia). I had an online chat with customer support who asked the usual questions about various fixes which didn't work. The response was that they could "see" that my unit was discharging rapidly and they immediately offered to replace it at no charge. (My assumption was that they could check this in real time. Maybe others should ask support if this is possible and to confirm status.) Anyway, I received this promptly and since charging 3 days ago, battery is still 75% full. 

I don't know why I've had a positive outcome but I'm in Australia and possibly there was more back up stock, or the consumer laws here are different. Good luck to all. 

[Kdor]

Glad to hear your replacement is working! How long ago did you request the replacement? Mine was processed a week ago and I was told it’s out of stock until early August. Hoping it doesn’t take that long. I definitely won’t be purchasing another FitBit in the future. 

[DW-Aus-1952]

I noticed the problem was major about 3rd July. I reported it on 7th July and a replacement was offered immediately. It was dispatched on 10th and I received on 14th. As I said, maybe Australian stock is better.

[Flutteronby]

I have the old firmware version. I’ve only had this charge 5 for a few months. Battery is draining in less than a day. Started sometime this past week. Will not charge to 100%. Only gets to 99% even when left on the Fitbit supplied charger all day. Tried all the steps on the links in your post. Nothing has changed how fast the battery drains. I lose about 1-2% of battery life per minute. 
Hoping the firmware update would change this so just waiting for the banner to show up in my app. 

[JeniferC]

As mentioned above, screen is back but battery is fully drained within 2 hours - and that’s if I’m not wearing it. 

Tried the following this AM - it didn’t help (I’m still on v…188.58 according to App) 

- disconnected device from Bluetooth

- removed device from App

- went through process of adding back to Bluetooth and connecting to App.

Battery continued to drain completely within a few hours. 

[Jlrieff]

This just happened to me. It’s July 16, 2023 and I purchased the Charge 5  on May 1, 2022. I did all the recommendations and none worked. Called customer service and they offered a 50% off on another Fitbit or replacement of the same device even though it’s past warranty. 

[SweeTea]

No. 2 months out. Fortunately, for me, my daughter's charge 5 had not tried
to update yet so hers is still working. Unfortunately for Fitbit, they just
lost her as a customer because she switched to a smart watch and gave me
her pebble. I will use this until I find something else to switch to. When
a company ruins their own device and doesn't own up or take responsibility,
I don't believe they should profit from those ethics. Hopefully, Fitbit
(Google) will fix their faulty programming or take responsibility before I
find another solution.

[TheFlyingCrate]

My spouse's charge 5 having same issue for past several weeks! Battery lasts less than an hour and while the clock screen will show, nothing else will, cant swipe to anything, just stuck on that screen. Tried all of the troubleshooting advice offered from this thread and.. nothing. I contact support, ask me to do the same stuff, but nothing works.

They use the Fitbit for health reasons (have to monitor heart rate because they have a bad heart) and it's broke because of a stupid update that Fitbit themselves put out? This is beyond ridiculous, and it's messing with our lives. We don't have the money to spare on a new one, discounted or not.

Not cool, Fitbit. 

[Cobbycobb]

I assume the warranty is 1 year so it was past that. However since I’d opened the original ticket prior to it going out of coverage I assume is why I get a replacement. I’m not sure though. 

[Midintheville]

Didn’t help mine. Contacted support-they basically said “you’re out of warranty-see you” 

[ennylhsub]

no it wasn’t. 

[Kmf017]

Chatted with support. Went through all the steps nothing. They offered a replacement free or 50% off different product.

[beckah111]

MIne is weird. I have the charge 5 and after the fitbit app update everytime I put my watch on the logo appears I take it off and after some time it goes away until I put my watch back on. I have the logo now I will try the 1 with holding the restart button for 15 seconds etc etc and see if it works. I do not have the new version on watch yet I have the 188.58 version. I have tried the restart method several times and change the clock face method also to no avail. So I will try the last option  if that don't work then I guess I am calling. 

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

soooo from what i am reading this problem/s have to do with the app update to that google stuff now and there is supposed to be a firmware update to the watch 194.61 the new firmware update( not released to everyone yet) but most are running the old firmware 188.58 so with the new app update to google and no firmware update to watch we as customers are having issues. some with warranties either ran out or running out and fitbit offers only a % off a new watch...really from what obviously is the mistake by fitbit/google. if you knew that the app update would require a firmware update why not release both at same time instead of separately????? we as customers should not have to pay for what is a obvious mistake by fitbit/google. either go back to the previous version of the app before the current issues began and rerun your launch with both app update and firmware update together or find another solution. it's not fair for us as customers to "pay" for what is obviously fitbit/google mistake.

[JeniferC]

Just something to note - I had not updated the app when the device first bricked and then, when it "restored" (randomly, not through any specific set of actions on my part), had rapid battery drain - something that was not a problem 1.5 weeks ago. I only updated the app yesterday to see if it would remedy the issue. On the bright side, it didn't re-brick the device, but the battery drain is still very present.  

[3marmots]

David,

I noticed a discrepancy between the reported battery level in the Fitbit App and on the Fitbit main screen. After being on charger all day, both show 100% full. However, I received an alert on the Fitbit screen stating "Critical Battery" Level and 0% Battery before screen turns black.

I am running 188.58 Firmware and experience Black Screen this morning. 
I went through the 3-pulse restart procedure you outlined, which did variably to 1) pulsing fitbit logo 2) occasional fitbit logo 3) active "normal" screen that then blacked out after 5 seconds.

I also tried, while fitbit was on charger, to change faces, which did work, when I could get screen to show up ever so briefly.

I also tried holding down the restart button on the charger cord, which generated a red "X" in a circle.

Charge 5 does sporadically sync with application. My current status is "Last synced 27 min ago" and "Battery full"  10 minutes ago, I received the "Critical Battery Level alert.

Could there be something wrong with the battery level sensor that is shutting down the face?