Sudden Very Rapid Battery Drain Charge 5

[wbd]

After working well for a long time, starting two or three days ago my Charge 5 suddenly lost all of its charge.  I finally was able to get it to charge to 100%, then it lost it again.  And again.  For example, last night I was able to get it to charge.  It was at 100% at 6:10 am this morning.  By 6:30 it was down to 35%, and it was completely dead the next time that I checked it 20 minutes or so later.  

When it has been "alive," I tried restarting it, and I have tried the three-press-hard reset.  Neither has helped, and I am not sure that the hard reset even worked more than once as the watch did not vibrate as it usually does with each pulse.  I also tried a brand new charging cable.  

What should I do?  Help!

Moderator edit: subject updated for clarity

[DavideFitbit]

Hi, thank you for sharing all these details about the inconvenience you've been having with your Charge 5 and for confirming that you already tried a few troubleshooting steps, @wbd. 

I've been informed that you already contacted the Customer Support team for further assistance with this and it seems they've shared some instructions with you. In this case, they will let you know how to proceed. 

Have a good day. 

[Z22]

same here, charger 5 was new in 9/2022 & it refuses to hold a charge as of 1/4/2023.  Looking at the dates of issue posted this is a new & growing issue. 

[DavideFitbit]

Hi, welcome to the Fitbit Community forums, @Z22. 

Thank you for sharing that you've been having the same inconvenience with your Charge 4. 

It seems that you were able to get in touch with the Customer Support team as well and they've provided you with more information about this. In this case, I recommend that you continue the communication with them and they will let you know how to proceed. 

See you around in the Community. 

[SFMad]

Exactly the same problem here. Charge 5 has been fine for 2 years and in the last 2 days I've had to continually charge it. This morning I've had it charging for more than an hour and the battery is still -10%. I've done the three button press. Not going to bother with the patronising list of 'how to make your battery last longer' I've seen posted multiple times on other threads since that is clearly not the problem as it's been fine until now. 

It's disappointing to see Fitbit has not provided any solution to this problem when, judging by reports on here, it's been known for more than a year. So I wonder, does Fitbit have a sustainability policy? How long are your devices designed to work for? 

[SFMad]

Left my Fitbit charging all morning. At 12.27 it's at 99%. Put it on my wrist and LESS THAN ONE HOUR later it's less than 7%. @DavideFitbit please help. It's been doing this for a couple of days now - and is a complete change from last week.

Is there a resolution? And if not, what will Fitbit do about it? If your devices only last 2 years I'll shop elsewhere for my next one. It's not sustainable and it's certainly not affordable. 

-------------------

Update: Device is actually less than 1 year old (checked my receipt). I've contacted support and they're sending a replacement, no questions, its still in warranty. Which is good re customer service but... 

1, clearly this is a known issue with the charge 5 and there's no solution 

2, which means the lifetime of devices that develop this issue is short and creates waste. Which is disappointing. Would be interested to know what / how returned devices are recycled and how Fitbit is ensuring this doesn't happen to new devices in future. 

[DavideFitbit]

@SFMad Thank you for your reply and for confirming that you were able to get in touch with the Customer Support team. 

It seems they were able to provide you with some instructions. In this case, they will let you know how to proceed. 

Thanks again for taking the time to share your feedback and comments about the product. The team is always working to improve the quality and your feedback is an important part of that process.