How long do Charge 5 batteries live for?

[Pete8316]

Until a couple of days ago my Charge 5 battery life was fine. Then, I charged the battery to 100%. Two hours later it was down to 4%. I charged it again to 100%. Two hours later it was down to 5%. I've had the device for around 3 years now. Wondering if the battery is on its last legs or if there is a quick fix?

[Julia_G]

Hi, @Pete8316 , as I am sure that you are aware, all rechargeable batteries have a limited lifespan.  (Blame the laws of physics…). It sounds like your Charge 5 might be coming towards the end of its limited lifespan.  I would say that if it went well for 3 years, it did pretty well, though users’ experiences do vary.  The battery (and the Fitbit as a whole) is guaranteed in most parts of the world for just 1 year, and in a few jurisdictions (notable the EU) for 2 years.  After that, in all jurisdictions the general acceptance is that failure can involve many factors, and not predominantly likely manufacturing errors.

The short answer is that no, there is no quick fix.  If you can get your Charge 5 to last for a full day (for me that would be the minimum acceptable ) charging it every morning or evening (perhaps in the morning while you are showering and getting ready for work, or in the evening while you are reading or watching television) may keep it going even for another year or two.  (My own Charge 5 is still hanging in there.)

I would also like to recommend having a look at this help article which gives tips on how to extend the battery life of your Fitbit.

I hope this helps.  Welcome to the Community Forums!

[pennycentury]

I have exactly the same problem as Pete8316. It would be ok as long as the problem has appeared gradually. But at least for me it appeared over night. Going from 5 days battery time after charging to suddenly not be able to last 12 h is suspicious. 

[Pete8316]

Hi,
Mine seems to have fixed itself. I restarted it three times using the
button on the charger cable and it went back to normal. No idea why but it
worked.

[RiekoC]

Hello @pennycentury 

When my Charge 5 started having rapid battery loss, I restarted and recharged my device multiple times over several days. As soon as I saw a rapid drop in battery, I restarted my Charge 5 and put it on the charger until it was back to 100%, often doing this multiple times in a day. Eventually, this process got my device "unstuck" and the battery went back to lasting 6-7 days. Although there's no guarantee that this will work for you, it might be worth a try. 

[Pete8316]

Thanks. That's kind of what I did and it worked.

[pennycentury]

Thanks!

tried this yesterday, then went out for a run without the device dying on me. I did not charge before going to sleep and it did not die during the night either. There is hope! 

[pennycentury]

An update from me, the charge held 27 h before it went black. An improvement, but far from before this entire ordeal started. It went black at 69% battery, when starting charging it showed 90, then 78 followed by 67% charge. 

[pennycentury]

And today it lasted 7 h before it went black.

edit: just realized - normally I get a mail when my Fitbit goes under 20% in charge! I have not recovered such a mail since all of this started. It goes dead without draining. So it really is not about an old battery, but rather another crappy update. And with the summers lasting story when no training data was recorded (of which some is still lost), I would be surprised if this is fixed anytime soon.