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

[LisaT122]

My fitbit was working fine until last night.  All of a sudden it was black face and unresponsive.    I have tried every suggested solution and nothing works.   Did the steps of uninstalling Charge 5 from the FitBit app, but now can't reconnect because the watch can not be found.     It had a full battery yesterday and has been on the charger for over an hour today.   The fitbit is not even a year old. Buying a new one at a discounted price is not an option.  I will go somewhere else. 

[nicole3110]

Same. 

Now the screen won't work and won't sync to the phone. 

[saera.jackson]

This update has broken my Charge. It charges very slowly, even up to 99%, then upon removing from charger, it restarts then drops down to 1%. Lovely. 

Update: spoke to tier one support. No help. Talking about "available options form warranty support". Um, no sir. Your company broke my expensive watch, your company fixes or replaces it"

We will see. Perhaps its time to go with another company and leave an honest and bad review on this one.

Update: Yep as I suspected they won't replace or fix it. They broke it and now say I have to buy a new one. Nope, sorry, lost a customer, and guaranteed many more.

Isn't it fishy to have so many ppl whose watches are out of warranty and now are not working by an update which broke them all?

[Glitteryy]

having the exact same issues, went through the support chat and all they're offering me is a 35% off coupon on  anew device because no troubleshooting is working and it's out of warranty. 

[HenriqueVale]

My charge 5 went black and when I reset it was showing the update available. It supposed went through the update by app still shows release 188.58 and now it seems the sensors aren't working (not counting steps, not providing hearth rate, ....) and battery drain very fast.

Tried all the suggestions written here without success ...... what a mess Fitbit/Google is making. Hope this doesn't mean my Charge 5 is now garbage ....

[Porridge51]

Hello Lizzy,

I cant understand why no one from Fitbit/Google isn't commenting on the feedback being provided? regarding the large number of similar fails?

Kind regards

Pete

[Chiguy50]

Mine is doing the same. Charges fully, pull it off the charger and it glitches and goes black. Put it back on the charger and it’s at 1%.

Bought it in October 2022…& paid for the annual plan, which I figure is wasted money as well.

[123987123]

Thank you!

[Missiv12]

Well, that's nice, but now my fitbit drains the battery constantly. I've done everything suggested and still doing it. Charged it completely before bed last night and now less than 15 hours later it's at 20 percent. My husband bought this as a gift in May 2022 so of course it's out of warranty. I'm also a premium member so I guess that money will go to waste too. 

[katabella]

my fitbit is dead.  It won't restart, no display and won't sync.  Now what?

[katabella]

I started over and over and over.  It made no difference.  The thing is dead.  I can't even get it to restart now.  

I chatted with support, they are supposed to check my warranty and get back to me since they couldn't fix it either.  No doubt it is out of warranty and I'll have to buy another tracker which doesn't seem right since their firmware update is likely the culprit.  

[123987123]

Mine says 188.58. last sync was June 26. The Fitbit won't even connect/isn't recognized by my phone. 

[Missiv12]

Yep, mine is now too after draining rapidly for the last week or so.  Now it's dead and not charging at all.  I was sweating ever so lightly and am seeing a little bit of condensation on the sensors so I guess it has to "dry" out again. But once it "dries" out the battery is just going to keep draining.  I am so disappointed in this. I had a prior Charge (maybe a 3) that worked for years although the display was awful in the daylight. I should have never switched. 

Mine shows version 20001.188.58 but the battery is draining and now not working at all. I did a app store update the other day. 

[katabella]

Well, unfortunately, I removed the tracker from the app thinking that I could add it again.  So now I don't have the information about the firmware version.  

[Missiv12]

Don't even sweat a little!

[M_W-L]

Since the recent update a week ago my Charge 5 immediately started unusual draining of battery, it’s drained in less than 12 hours, it was out of sync with time,  screen has went to a grey static. 
i have tried all above suggestions except cable reboot. Had restarted using settings. i now have cable button restart and is charging, hoping it resolves issues. 
The app says my fitbit is up to date when i check. 
issue is not resolved by any of the recommendations. 
also chatted with tech and was told to delete user data.  My screen was going black before i could get to the setting. Finally managed to get to it. That didn’t work either. My devise was purchased in august , 2022. 

[SunsetRunner]

My Charge 5 was dead and I managed to charge it and update the firmware. I even changed my clock face. I actually gave advice to people in the community and now I feel like its not a user issue but a Fitbit development issue. Today my battery drained twice. The app is up-to-date, it's syncing, but the battery is draining rapidly. 

Fitbit should have communicated by email to all the users affected by this update BEFORE they rolled out the new Firmware. Was this firmware tested before rollout? How often do I have to rechange my battery or should I just wait a week for Fitbit to fix their bugs.

Frustrated,

Margaret

Jul 7, 2023 at 10:44 PM

battery level  Empty

Firmware version: 57.20001.188.58

[mchili]

How long before the latest update reaches everyone?? I can’t believe it doesn’t roll out to all users at the same time like with my Apple Watch. I prefer my AW but do wear my charge 5 for certain occasions. Anybody know the time line? 

[Chiguy50]

Version 188.58 here. I can sync it with the app, but obviously there isn’t anything to sync as I can’t take it off the charger. Every time I take it off the charger, I see a line run thru the screen horizontally for a split second and it goes to a black screen.

[Mogurt]

It's been over a week since the issue with the malfunctioning Charge 5 devices from this update was first reported, and unfortunately, none of the suggested solutions have been successful so far. I kindly request that the moderators prioritize this matter and escalate it to higher authorities. It's crucial that you expedite the process of resolving this widespread issue immediately before it gets worse.

Additionally, I would like to propose creating a new sticky topic on the forum specifically addressing this problem from the update. Many users are currently posting about their broken or dead Charge 5 devices, and having a dedicated thread will help consolidate information and provide updates more efficiently.