Fitbit Charge 5 battery problems since update

[DC..]

How many of you are experiencing battery problems since the update?

Could anyone who's experienced problems with the charge 5 battery please post once on this thread so it's easy to count and present to show it's not a warranty problem and is a result if the update.

I obviously have battery problems. Had to charge it twice yesterday and uninstalled the SpO2 app to try to make the battery last through the night. Managed to wake up to 50% battery instead of it being dead by morning, even though fully charged before bed.

Moderator Edit: Formatting and clarified subject

[TapTap54]

Same here as everyone else. I don’t use GPS nor the oxygen. I don’t swim or shower in it. 3 Days ago the battery suddenly started draining in 8 hours. Now it’s 4-6 hours. I’ve worn fitbits since the Charge 2. I’m One very unhappy granny!

[Franny1951]

Probably not. I don’t have premium and mine is dead.

Sent from my iPhone

[Lollielou]

Yes driving me nuts

[herriojr]

Same thing happened with my charge 4 after an update and now I'm having the same issues with my charge 5. This is pretty frustrating.

[Mike4305]

I've been having multiple issues since the updates.

Battery life has been seriously impacted. Where I was able to go away for a weekend and still come home with over 50%, now I can't go more than 2 days before it's completely discharged. At the worst it was less than 24 hours, but it has been steadily getting better.

I did have a % issue where it would read 30%, I would put it on to charge and it would immediately jump either to 80% or 13%, however this issue seems to have been fixed.

The new issue is the unit regularly turns itself off and needs a hard reset. When it does restart it's got plenty of charge, it's even happened while it was charging. This happens at least once per day - usually at night - but has occurred multiple times in a day.

[Donfay11]

My Charge 5 won’t hold a charge for more than a few minutes, and the screen will only light up a few seconds after I connect the charging cable. This is the second one to collapse on me, and they’re ignoring my requests for help. I’ve really had enough of Fitbit. 

[livinhealthy9]

I put my Charge 5 on the charger this morning because it was drained again and a blank screen after charging it last night before bed. It fully charged and  it's actually tracking steps, etc.  When I tap it, the screen comes up.  So we will see if it holds up.  It's still really frustrating that I didn't get credit for any exercise, etc. I did Sunday and Yesterday.  

I do really hope they have addressed the issue even if they haven't acknowledged it.  Crossing my fingers! (Now I am worried I will jinx it) 

[MonetGold]

I've also had problems with my battery life since the update. 

[Jana-unhappy]

Same here. My battery suddenly drains in few hours. The issue arose overnight. I'm so annoyed. Tried restarting the device, changing settings... I purchased my Fitbit 13 months ago! 

[Sean77024]

Charge5 is dead after 194.91 update.  Reset worked for a short time then quickly died.  I got it to work for a short time but then it was unresponsive.  It's almost like the battery was destroyed with the update.  Last firmware update has undoubtedly screwed it up.  This is called planned obsolescence.  I'll be upgrading to a watch style tracker from a different company.  I wish Fitbit hadn't sold out to Google.

[Gilo-UK]

Yep, the last firmware update killed the battery.  It loses it's charge within 24 hours even after disabling virtually everything.  I suspect fitbit know the last update caused it, but they cannot/will not fix it.

[cawrigh]

I wonder is this battery draining issue is related to the App change Fitbit made last year where they changed the battery percent charged to a High/Medium/Low charge indicator. After many customers complained about the change, Fitbit restored battery percent charged in the App.

Today I contacted support for the second time, and I told support the problem I had reported previously (battery not holding a charge for long) persists. As a result, support sent me the same 50% off coupon that expires in 30 days that everyone else received. I bought my Charge 5 new in June of 2022. So, it didn't even last two years.

I had a Charge 2 that fell apart after about 14 months. I replaced my Charge 2 with a Charge 3. The Charge 3's watch band had to be replaced while it was still in the one year warranty period. I replaced the watchband a second time after the warranty had expired. Eventfully, my Charge 3's display stopped working when it was about three years old, and I bought my Charge 5. My experience with fitbit is they don't last long. Now I have to decide if it's worth it to buy a Charge 6 at half off. At half off, it may not be good value if it lasts less than two years. Another consideration is that the battery can't be replaced. Fitbit needs to change the design of their trackers so that the battery can be replaced, even if it has to be done at the factory.

[reneeshawgo]

Thanks for your added
Information and details. I think you're right that these Fitbits aren't
made to last long. Which brings me to the point of the additional premium
of $89. for added extras. Those who paid this premium must really be mad
if their Fitbit shut down. Again, I did not add the premium yearly fee. I
was happy w all the regular features esp my Afib readings. It Appears that
a 50% off coupon is becoming more often their negotiating factor.

[AAbunny]

I began having issues with my Charge 5 going dead in hours. I would charge it, it would say 100% and then 89% and 45% and then 3% within less than a day. What is odd is that it charges much faster than before...  After charging, the time on the watch was sometimes wrong. Worst thing for me is that it won't sync with the app! And not having a functioning watch for simple things like telling the time is also very frustrating. The watch is basically useless. I truly hope there will be some sort of solution coming soon, although it sounds like holding my breath is not a good idea here 🙂

[Hamster2000]

My situation is pretty much identical but for me the problem started yesterday. Without warning the battery drained to zero yesterday. I put it into charge at 8pm last night, reset it manually, fully charged it and the battery has completely drained, it's 16:35 and the battery is at 7%. My charge5 used to last an entire 7 days on a single charge until yesterday.

[Bazzi]

I'm just hearing about this today. My Charge 5 battery behavior bottomed out, yes, after the update. First it wasn't working, so I charged it, then it stopped working again, and finally it wouldn't hold a charge and was dead. It was out of warranty and I just bought a Charge 6. I wanted a Samsung but the wife talked me out of it because of the price. Man I feel like an idiot, I rewarded Google for what they did.

[Bill08816]

Mine died on March 16. It had been holding a charge with no problem, going 7 days between charges. Then on Saturday it wouldn’t hold a charge for more than a half hour, going from 100% to 0%. Magically my Charge 5 found new life after taking the 50% off offer from customer service and purchasing a Charge 6. It’s a scam, with Google knocking off old trackers in waves to maintain a steady stream of new purchases to improve quarterly financial performance. Let’s not pretend this is some random glitch. 

[BBall2024]

Since the latest update my Charge 5 stopped recording data and will not charge. Tried using my husband’s charger with no luck. Plus the app is frozen. 

[Emeraldrein]

Mine won’t hold a charge either.

[Clifford2rocky]

My Fitbit charge 5 also died on March 16.  I called help line and had an unusual,  rather quick intervention that didn’t work.  I wasn’t happy as the device was only a little more than a year old,  my previous fitbits usually lasted two years.  I too accepted their half price cost for a new one.  After reading this post I got it out and just put it on to charge.  Yes,  it’s charging right now,  looks totally live.  I feel scammed.  Any ideas on how to get my money refunded?