Unresponsive display Charge 5

[SwannyJake]

Hi, there has been a few weird things going on with my fitbit so i’ll start from the beginning. The first thing I noticed was that it was dying rather quickly and not displaying battery messages before getting low on battery. next It just became black and unresponsive, until i restarted it. once i restarted it, it seemed fine, until this like white screen of death plagued my fitbit. I could tell it was trying to work. displaying different lines and tones of white and it has only worked for a few seconds in the past day or so, it still synced just couldn’t use any features on the watch. now it is just unresponsive again. I know this is a lot but please help!! 

Moderator edit: subject updated for clarity

[DavideFitbit]

Welcome to the Community forums, @SwannyJake.  

Thank you for sharing that you've having this inconvenience with your Charge 5 device and that you already tried a few troubleshooting steps. 

If you already tried to complete the 3 pulse restart procedure and you continue to experience the same problem, please try these additional steps that have been useful for other users:  

1. Please follow these steps in case you're having trouble to charge your device. 
2. Please sync your device in the Fitbit app by tapping your profile picture > Charge 5 > Sync Now.
3. If you  can't sync, tap on your profile picture > Charge 5 > Tile to see if a firmware banner appears. 
4. If it's still unresponsive, please try changing the clock face as well and check if you're able to see anything on the display. 

Let me know if you continue to have the same problem afterwards. 

I'll be around. 

[RiekoC]

Did you recently install the latest firmware update on your Charge 5? Apparently, the update has bricked the Charge 5 for many of us.

If your Charge 5 is still under warranty, I recommend that you contact Fitbit support via chat. They will have you run a couple of procedures to see if that will "revive" your device.

None of the procedures worked in my case. My replacement pebble will be arriving later this week. 

[ThomasRedstone]

It doesn't really matter if you're in warranty or not, if the manufacturer messes up your device it's on them to put things right!

[Wolf2008]

I am having the same issues with my charge 5 being unresponsive. I have tried everything you have suggested with no luck. Do you have anymore ideas? 

[FitterPhilE]

My Charge5 became unresponsive a few days ago as well. Have tried a number of different chargers, cleaned the terminals as recommended, tried the 3 press reset countless times. It vibrates with each press than again a few seconds later but doesn't turn on the display. Tried charging again. It would show sometimes red led on back, sometimes red/green, Now it is showing green LED on back continuously. I have tried sync now, looking for firmware banner, and changing clock face as in your post, but nothing has worked.

Last sync was on Sunday.

Where to from here?

[FitterPhilE]

My Charge 5 was less than a month out of warranty when it became 'unresponsive' to any of the fixes mentioned. Contacted Fitbit, which was quick and helpful, but end result, still a bricked Charge 5 and no replacement offered. A discount on a new one though, if i buy within the next month.

Do you know when that update became available?

[ThomasRedstone]

Where are you based?

This, in most countries, is likely to be a violation of your consumer
rights!

Though it's often the place you bought the item which has the
responsibility to sort things out, rather than the manufacturer.

I've been offered a replacement or 50%, it doesn't look like there is
anything better than the Charge 5 yet, so I'll probably get the replacement.

[DavideFitbit]

Hi everyone, thank you for all the updates and feedback provided so far. 

It seems that you already tried all the recommendations mentioned earlier or that you already contacted the Customer Support team. In this case, I do recommend that you continue the communication with them so they can let you know about the options available for you. 

If you're new to this thread, please make sure to try all the steps mentioned here earlier before contacting the Support team. You can get in touch with them here. 

[Slim747]

I have exactly the same problem! Screen unresponsive but fit it still vibrates when connected to the charger. Also had the battery problem mine would get to about 40% then screen goes blank until you charge it again! Stupidly I removed the Fitbit from the app in hope of resetting and reconnecting it but now I can’t do a thing!😥

[FitterPhilE]

I got in touch with customer support team and nothing they suggested fixed a dead screen following the 188 update. As I was one year and five days since purchasing I was told it was out of warranty so no replacement, but I was offered a discount to buy a replacement. I wasn't keen on throwing good money after bad if there were still going to be problems. No budging on the offer from the support team. A week later I thought to call the retailer I bought from. Two year warranty they said. Have I tried all the fixes recommended? Yes, and nothing worked. Fine, bring it in and we will swap for a replacement on the spot. Did and done. All updates applied. Working fine except for recording sleep somehow.



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[DavideFitbit]

Welcome to the Fitbit Community forums, @Slim747. 

Thanks for confirming that you've been having the same problem with your Charge 5. 

If the device is not paired, it will not allow you to change the clock face option. However, before considering other options, could you please also confirm if you already tried the steps listed here below? 

1. Complete the 3 pulse restart procedure using the charging cable. 
2. Follow these steps in case you're having trouble to charge your device. 

@FitterPhilE I'm sorry to see the device was out of warranty with Fitbit, but it's good to know the device was replaced by the retailer. Thanks for taking the time to share your experience with this.