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

[NoddyPilot]

I have been on the latest firmware update for quite a while without problems. However, I recently activated Google Wallet on my Charge 5 and now the battery issues are here in full force.

To my eye, there is no actual issue with the battery - it looks to me like a battery power level reporting issue. Once the software thinks the battery is drained it shuts down, but the recharge time is so rapid that I don't think the battery has actually run down to start with?

[carebear123]

You know that you mention google I hadn’t switched over right away to link to google and had just recently done that and it is around same time as issued. I wonder is that is the problem. Either way for now I am done with Fitbit found myself another device and yeah cheaper but I am ok with that for now

[NoddyPilot]

So - I've been lucky again I think. Previously after the Google Wallet update my battery went from 100% to flat in about 30 hours. This morning I reinstalled my clock face and restarted the fitbit and I seem to be back to normal - losing about 5% battery in the last 7-8 hours - which is more or less what I was seeing previously.

Fingers crossed for me - but I really do think this is a battery level sensing issue - when you manage to do something that resets the logic of the software and "wakes it up again" so to speak - then you might be lucky.

[Lovedbythepotat]

Same here. No GPS, no AOD or other battery intensive features active but full charge drains within 12 hours. Tried hard reset, app cache clearing etc. but nothing helped. 
PS: Funny thing is this happened in the same month my Pixel Pro 7 showed network reception issues after its firmware update (which is still not globally fixed).
Moral of the story for me: Gonna stay away from Google hardware in the future.         

[ChrissyC27]

I’ve survived without battery issues until this week with my charge 5,  however I was foolish to buy another Fitbit as I experienced problems and received very poor customer service from Fitbit for previous versions.

Well the battery problems are with me now so Fitbit has lost yet another customer as I cannot be bothered to try and ring customer services again. It is such a poor product and poor customer service- at this rate you will have no customers left.

Business studies teaches that one poor review reaches 99 other people while a good review only reaches 4 people- Fitbit (Google) wake up, respond to poor reviews, improve your service or you will not have a business that survives.

[Clueitj]

I guess Fitbit is not interested in our (their) problem with the Charge
5.With all the comments on this thread it is obvious they have a serious
software issue.
I think any prospective new buyers googling Fitbit will now no longer be
interested
Better they look elsewhere.

[Martic]

I am having battery  problems.  I finally was able to select reset on my watch but nothing changed. I couldn't get it to reset with charging cable either.  

[clwhitt]

So this message led me to Googling Fitbit sales performance since Google's 2021 purchase, and Fitbit saw a 2023 decline (the latest stats) of 10% in sales and 28% in units sold (from businessofapps.com, but consistent with other sites). The software faux pas of late December 2023 probably isn't even reflected in those numbers, so it's a good bet 2024's number are going to be significantly worse.
I have liked my Fitbit watches since first getting one many years ago, I'm saddened to see the brand being destroyed. If this is due to the business model Google employs, they certainly can't expect me to buy from them in the future, either Fitbit or Pixel.

And, FWIW, putting the watch in "Do not disturb" has seemed to help with the frequent black screen of death. I'm getting my steps counted throughout the day now, maybe going two days without recharging. But doing so has meant losing notifications from inactivity, text messages, goal achievements, etc., it means I've had to reduce the functionality of my watch to keep it minimally functionable. It does still die, particularly if I get active and get the "zone" vibrations. Attesting to the software issue, it then shows 94% charge when plugging it in. So in the end, to keep my watch working, it's necessary for it to become an anti-fitness device. 😉

[NoddyPilot]

Well my luck didn't last - Charge 5 running about 2 days at a time before recharge now.

Despite some of the poor experiences with CS above, I conctaced Fitbit by web chat and overall was impressed with the responses and guidance. However it all ultimately led to the same path with an offer of a discount on a new device - which given my device is out of warranty is not unreasonable in itself.

However, this is a firmware problem, as everyone has identified, and there seems to be no appetite to acknowledge or resolve it. Under those circumstances I don't see how I can commit to another device that could suffer the same outcome - and so after many happy years as a Fitbit user I have gone with another offering.

Best of luck to you all and I hope you get some resolution!

[jwilliamsr9]

Woo hoo , I just got my 50% discount for a new fitbit. Really , do they really think they are going to get anyone to by another much less the charge 6 , the way they handled the crash of the charge 5 . Wow !!

[olidesy]

Lucky! They gave me only 30%... It's really a joke. I don't know what is the goal here... I really like Fitbit, but it's a lack of consideration towards us.

[bbaydiver]

Having the same issue.  Started 3 days ago out of the blue.  Battery was lasting me about a week, then all of a sudden it was draining in 4 hours, now down to under 1 hour and barely able to charge enough to power it on.  Device is just over 1yr old (13 months).  Support's solution:  Get you off the phone/chat as fast as possible and email you a 50% discount to go buy a new device.

Not sure when the firmware update happened, but it is on 194.91 as others have mentioned.

C'mon Fitbit, step up and provide a proper solution for a problem you caused.

[TAADSurvivor]

Got into problem 2 days ago.  Everything was fine for about a year! Charge 5 is a gift from kids so I can monitor my HR after TAAD OHS.  The charge 5  always holds for more than a week.  2 days ago it was fully charged; I put it on and went to 24hr.  But next morning it was fully drained.  I had it fully charged and it drained again this morning.  I had it reset by the button on the charging cable.  This morning it was 92% around 9am, 62% around 130pm.  3 hours later after exercise it's down to 45%.  I designed smartphones and worked closely with top world ODMs.  This is either a failure of the hardware, or something changed in the firmware update (the screen display of the app in my pixel phone changed very recently).  Since Charge 5 consumes so little power compared to a mobile phone, a part failure is also much less likely.  I also cleaned the electrode area so no residue of sweat causing leak among electrodes.  No luck.

[Clueitj]

Judging by the number of complaints this is definitely a software problem
that Fitbit is not interested in taking responsibility for.

No longer a reputable brand.

Look elsewhere

[cabfit99]

Yep, Fitbit don’t want to know about it. They think it’s totally acceptable for the device to die because of a firmware update weeks after warranty runs out.

i used to praise Fitbit having found them really useful.

now I wouldn’t recommend to anyone. It’s disgraceful that any company deliberately bricks their devices.

[PratibhaA]

I started having problem after updating the software. My version of the SW is 194.91. Battery lasts less than 24 hours.

[femjesse]

Add me to the list. Battery was nearly a full week... and now it's not even a full day. Went from amazing to unusable. Waiting for a response from FitBit but if it's just a discount on a replacement, I think I'm done with the brand.

[MairiST]

In the last 2 weeks my Charge 5 battery all of a sudden started to drain very quickly, I used to get a full week easily, I had to start charging it every other day I'm now charging it twice a day which is no use to man or beast! I liked to monitor my sleep but the battery will no longer see me through till morning! Really disappointing, like everyone else noticed the change in my battery since the update, I haven't changed my settings so what else could it be?  Unfortunately have lost confidence in fitbit so am moving to another brand.

[christekm1]

Likewise. Until a few weeks ago always got 6-7 days of battery usage, Now 3 days or less. Seems like Google just makes updates without any proper testing or communications to customers . Certainly don’t do user testing as evidenced by the latest sleep update.  

[7Jon0]

Yes have issue with charging and holding a charge.