Bought this as a birthday present to my girlfriend and was struggling with it this weekend to no avail.
Brief list of issues:
1) Intermittent bluetooth connection initially, but finally got it connected, showed digits to connect on the screen. Had to do a couple of resets (3 presses on cable button) and also select restart on the device a couple of times. (Plus bluetooth on/off, etc) But finally it succeeded in connecting the Charge 5.
Next on that and a repeat of the problems on initial connection only worse. Progress bar initially got to ca 40% then froze completely after some hours. After multiple restarts due to progress bar stopping at 5-10% and using another phone and also trying an iPad 7th Gen (all had issues with BT disconnecting/found/disconnecting/found again/disconnected/found so I think we have eliminated other suspects to conclude with the Charge 5 as the culprit here) we finally and amazingly got it updated after spending many hours. Seemed to work mostly fine, even if not reacting to "firm double tap" but rather swipes and wrist movement.
3) First night of use - display turns black... while the fitbit itself is obviously alive judging from regular green led blinks on the wrist side. No response tapping on the display lightly or firmly or whatever. So we again reset it and then sometimes will show a display, but does not respond reliably to presses or swipes. So got the idea of trying to install a watch face from the selection to see if that could freshen it up (should take 30 sec according to youtube video) - but no 10% progress or less it disconnects and this time the display stays black. Only thing shown briefly is the logo after doing the the 3x presses on the cable button (reset) indicating restart but after that it is now totally unresponsive to any presses or swipes.
At this point my girflriend is totally done with Fitbit products, she does not want a new one even if I say I can probably get it swapped for a new one at the shop on Monday.
-It's like having had a bad fish dinner, then you don't want to eat fish ever again.
4) So I take the Charge 5 back home thinking I can do a final try. Install the app on an iPad Air 2, Charge 5 found, please enter the four digits in the display. NO NUMBERS SHOWN BECAUSE THE DISPLAY IS ALL BLACK !!!
Reset via 3x presses on cable button, logo briefly shown but then all black. No response to swiping or pressing. BT off/on / Charge 5 reset => found => still black display...
To whomever it concerns at Fitbit (Developers and Quality Assurance teams)
A) When you make a RESET-option then please make it a 100% HARD reset back to a minimum working core, not this type of wimpy reset that obviously does not work !!!
B) When you make a product that relies 100% on Bluetooth then make sure to test that it works before shipping from the factory. ALSO make sure to include some self-diagnosis software in the App that tells the consumer if the Bluetooth signal from the watch is crappy/defective to avoid lots of frustration and possibly retain customers.
