Unable to change the Charge 5 and sleep not tracked

[Lutece]

I have two issues, one major and one minor. First for the major issue, the ability to monitor my sleep and arrive at a rating and report is currently not working. The response is that the Fitbit Charge 5 was unable to maintain a consistent heart rate. I have restarted the device, restarted my Android phone with the app, increased the heart rate sensor sensitivity to sensitive, all of which have failed to correct the problem. This is a major failing of the device and was a major reason I purchased it.

The second item is minor but an annoyance. I am unable to manually change the time on the Fitbit unless I am connected to the internet. I have a situation where I will be traveling across multiple time zones for a number of days, but will not be connected to the internet. I want to have the same time I have on my phone shown on my Fitbit. This appears not to be possible, I find this system architecture to be confining when it should not be.  I can manually set the time on my mobile phone, but am unable to do the same on my Fitbit Charge 5, despite it being paired with my Samsung Galaxy mobile phone.  Poor architecture for a very advanced product.

Update 17 Feb 2024:  I followed the various suggestions, including cleaning the back of the Charge 5.  I still had trouble recording sleep patterns when I wore it on my left wrist (non-dominant).  I had also loosed the strap slightly to one stop further open.  Still no luck with my left wrist.  Strangely enough, I have now tried wearing the Charge 5 at night on the right wrist and it has successfully recorded the last two nights.  I'm not sure what is going on but if this continues, I'm fine with it.  Thanks for your help.

Moderator edit: edited title to clarity

[Lutece]

My Charge 5 is not tracking my sleep, saying that it did not have consistent heart rate information.  I have restarted the Fitbit, ensured it is charged, changed the sensor sensitivity to sensitive rather than normal, none of which seem to have made a difference.  I tried to reboot the Fitbit using the restart button on the charging cable, but was not sure that this actually rebooted.

I am quite dissatisfied with the performance of the Fitbit.  Any further recommendations or suggestions please?

[Rich_Laue]

When it comes to the heart rate, make sure the band is not too tight. You want to easily for 1-2 fingers behind the band.

Without Internet, you won't get a sleep report. When it comes to the time, fitbit uses your location during a sync 

[CrisVillaFitbit]

Hello, @Rich_Laue, thank you so much for the insight, you're always helpful.

And welcome to the community, @Lutece, thanks for explaining this situation in regards to the timezone and sleep tracking using your Charge 5.

I recommend you to check the article 'What factors can affect heart rate?' since they will help you improve your Fitbit usage, and also, as @Rich_Laue mentioned, you can double check you're wearing your Charge 5 correctly, please.

[Lutece]

Rich, I will respond regarding the sleep monitoring in another few days, I am trying it with a looser fit.  We shall see.

Regarding the time on the Fitbit, from what you said, first, I must be connected to the internet to synch my Fitbit with my phone, and second, during the synch the Fitbit sets the time based on location.  Do I understand this correctly?  

Is there any way to manually set the Fitbit time, independent of the internet location?  Or is that not an option for a user?  

Sorry to be slow on this, I am trying to understand this.  As an editorial comment, if this isn't a user option, that's the way it is, but I don't understand why the system was architected this way.  

Thanks for your patience and help.

[DPinOz]

Sleep tracking requires a regular heart beat. Have you checked you do not have an irregular heart rhythm? You can turn on Irregular Heart Notification in "Health Assessments" on the "You" tab of the Fitbit app.

Lack of sleep tracking was the first way I was notified that my heart was not regular during sleep. It was also my only symptom, I was and still am very fit,  just "irregular".

You can also do a quick ECG with the watch, but you may be normal if you miss the irregular episodes (such as with paroxysmal AF). 

[Rich_Laue]

For advanced sleep, a consistent heart rate is required

@Lutece I dont know the thought behind it, but yes time is based on the location 

[RiekoC]

Hello @Lutece 

By any chance, do you have tattoos around your wrist where you wear your Charge 5? If so, that could be causing the issue with getting a consistent heart rate.

If you don't have tattoos around your wrist and the looser fit doesn't result in getting your sleep tracking, you might try wearing your device on the inside of your wrist at night. I've read user posts where they were able to get sleep tracking after they moved their device to the inside of their wrist at night.

[Lutece]

I checked back to when I first had the Charge 5, which was the end of June, 2023.  Until late in 2023, it did a very good job of recording my sleep information.  Since then, the opposite, only occasionally does it record.  I have read all of the references you all have provided and am going to again clean the sensors on the device.  Beyond that, I don't know what to do, it certainly seems the device is not capturing the sleep data as it did when first used.  I have done nothing different to be honest, and yet the device is much less useful in monitoring my sleep pattern.  Thanks for all your help.  I'll report back in a few days if anything changes.