What are your thoughts about the Charge 5?

[Walkinginafog]

I’m not sure if anyone else is having issues with the 5, but I’ve never been so disappointed.  My Bluetooth will not stay connected.  My charger is very sporadic, it will show charging and the next morning it’s barely increased- maybe 2% more than when I magnetized it.  ????
it seems to me if you want to keep a good name you should deliver a good product.  This is a waste of my money!

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[brandon05w]

It's a huge disappointment for me. I bought it for the built in GPS so I could exercise without my phone but the GPS never works right. I had used a Garmin prior to this which was awesome but always enjoyed the Fitbit App and Community so I went back to Fitbit. Now I'm suffering buyers remorse. I wouldn't recommend the Charge 5 to anyone. Period.

[Cynthia-Ferland]

This fit bit is awful! I liked versa better

[dperrin2]

I am charging my old one to go back to because this one isn't good for anything!

[SunsetRunner]

Overall the charge 5 has been a good experience for me and in-fact I chose it over my apple watch series 7.

For GPS: If I am hiking/exercising in area that has lots of overhead cover or tall structures - I will make sure my Charge 5 is on the default GPS setting "Dynamic" mode which leverages the smartphone's GPS chip (if it has one - most newer smartphones do). If you have a smartphone with a GPS chip, then the smartphone will mostly provide the GPS information (when in dynamic mode) for the exercise. One benefit is longer battery life will be observed on the Charge 5 (in dynamic mode vs. built-in only) and more than likely the smartphone will have a much larger receiving antenna for GPS signals resulting in a consistent GPS fix in challenging environments.

When I am on a open running track or a path like "rails-to-trails" I usually leave my phone behind and just use the Charge 5's built-in GPS. The time-to-fix (on to the GPS) usually takes 3-4 minutes, but seems to work well. 

Bluetooth: When I open the fitbit app sometimes initially the automatic sync fails. It seems that the fitbit app tries to sync before the bluetooth module on my iphone is ready to sync with my fitbit.  Instead of clicking fix pop-up notification, I perform a manual sync (outlined below) which works easily enough until the bug is addressed:

I have used a lot of devices Garmin, Apple, fitbit (of course) and a variety of off brands; I find all of them have bugs and can fall short of expectation on occassion. I like the fitbit because it delivers the trend information I'm looking for to improve my health, while not being the focal point.

With any of these fitness devices, keep them clean:

Particularly after an exercise session I take a microfiber cloth and wipe the device down and give my wrist a break for 30 or so min as preventative to skin irritation.  Also, sweat and dirt residue will quickly make a film that will impair the function of charging and sensor lenses. I also will give the device a wipe down at the end of the day prior to tracking my sleep.

While every use case is different - these are a few things that have work for me and allowed me to have a net positive experience using the Charge 5.

Have a good week everyone!

[Walkinginafog]

It's unfortunate that mine came straight out of the box - brand new with defects / bugs.  I don't think cleaning it was the issue!  No amount of advice or suggested solutions to my problems have corrected the issues.  

You can't fix defective equipment.  We live and learn from our mistakes - my loss.  I will try the "other" devices.

Good luck to you-

Make today awesome!