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

[DoxieGran]

I am still on the old version, and still have the same problem. So I am wondering how it could be the update causing all the problems.

[sporkster]

It likely tries to update, fails (partially) and then you're left with a broken-ish device...

[chilehead]

Mine hasn't updated yet, thankfully. Has anybody actually successfully updated to the new firmware?  Is this problem happening to everybody, or a small subset?

[DoxieGran]

The update has not rolled out to me. This seemed to happen after I went swimming in the pool with it for the first time ever, with water lock on.

[Heathermwycoff]

Same version for me but because the Fitbit is dead, I don’t know what actually updated.

Get Outlook for iOS<>

[NJ-Brad]

Not from Google News, but I have seen a few articles. (They point back to this channel)
https://gadgetsandwearables.com/2023/07/08/fitbit-charge-5-bricked-device-firmware-update/
https://www.sammyfans.com/2023/07/08/fitbit-firmware-broke-charge-5-no-support-buyers-feel-robbed/

[sporkster]

Spoke too soon, it's back to being stuck on the logo after 3 hours or so. 😞

Next step is to see if I can recover it again and if so, see how long it keeps working if I don't re-add it to the app. I still suspect the app is trying to auto-update it. Would be nice if the process were documented somewhere.

[JohnSmit]

My battery started draining a lot after the latest firmware update.

[Kt.416]

Mine bricked too. I just bought 4 for the whole family and theyre all bricked too. Nothing like corporate greed getting in the way of healthy living. 35% discount what joke. Beyond upset.

[SunsetRunner]

There's posts here from 28th June and getting more frequent each day. Yet they are persistent rolling out the update which is obviously failing to complete. 

[sporkster]

This is really interesting - if I keep bluetooth off on my phone the fitbit eventually rights itself. Link it up again and bad things happen eventually. Really weird stuff. I'm leaning so far from this being a hardware issue.

[BSinME]

I followed all of the advice of the tech support folks, including, unfortunately, deleting the charge off my app. Because of that, or because of who knows what excuse they come up with, my Charge is completely bricked. Once in a while I can get the fitbit logo to pop up, but that's it. Because I bought my fitbit from an 'unauthorized seller,' even though it was new in its sealed package in January when I got it, no warranty, no 35% off coupon, no device. Ah well. This was the fifth and last fitbit I'll ever buy. 10ish years of usage and I'm off to Apple Watch land. Good luck folks!

[PhilS23]

Mine is bricked too, updated, talked to customer service via chat, did all of the steps, even tried the dreaded hard reset, still nothing. Come on fitbit!

[chilehead]

It would be nice if Fitbit acknowledged there is an issue. 

[Jamie32182]

It seems pretty obvious that a firmware update broke all of our fitbits.  I am not buying another one with a discount and am cancelling premier.  

It's insane to me that with a 100+ comments in a week that Fitbit has to yet to say a word.  It's 2023....you don't get to just screw your customers over and ignore it.  What an absolute waste of money. 

[Stephen_Macca]

I'm having the same experience others are reporting here and customer support are just sending me round in circles, wasting my time entirely. Unbelievable that there is no acknowledgement of a widespread problem. Time to try a more reliable device from a more trustworthy company by the look of it.

Pretty shocking stuff.

[Chiguy50]

I just got the “unauthorized seller email” reply from Fitbit. I bought it on Amazon and didn’t look who it was coming from.

No 35% discount (not that I’d buy another of their products again with this kid of support). No assistance to fix it. Tough luck, kid.

So I’ll fix this my way and spread the word to everyone I know of the worst customer service I’ve received to date.

Honestly, I had considered a purchasing a Google phone in the next year, but I see their business model is working great for them and they don’t need my money.

[sporkster]

10 hours on with the fitbit still disconnected from the phone and it hasn't acted up yet (although it also can't seem to figure out the time on its own either). Something weird is going on here.

[DoxieGran]

Did any of you notice the new pink banner at the top of the community page. Gee I wonder what is up? What a gong show this is becoming!

[Ignomo]

I'm also having issues with battery draining out for no reason since last week.