Disappointed with Fitbit Charge 6 Battery Life

[Mesocarb]

I would like to bring to everyone's attention the disappointing battery life of the Fitbit 6 tracker. As a user, I feel compelled to share my negative experience and warn others about this issue. Despite the manufacturer's claims, the battery life falls significantly short of expectations.

Within just a couple of days, even with minimal usage of features like GPS, I consistently receive low battery notifications. This short battery life greatly diminishes the overall experience and leaves me feeling frustrated and unsatisfied.

I believe it is important for potential users to be aware of this drawback before investing in the Fitbit 6. It is disheartening to encounter such a significant flaw in a product that promises so much.

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject.

[N8teGee]

Hi @Mesocarb.

Are you using always on display (AOD)? As this drains the battery life significantly. The advertised battery claims are with AOD disabled. 

[Mesocarb]

No, I do not use that feature. The display is turned on manually. I also have the message receiving function disabled. Only phone calls are allowed . All previous charge tracker models lasted me about a week, at least five days. With Charge 6, I have to charge it every day, every other day. 

[Z-Nine]

My Charge 6 lasts me about 5-6 days on a full charge with full brightness and while utilizing some of its GPS function during my runs. Though I use the pairing GPS option between the watch and my phone. I know the standalone function on the watch drains it very quickly.

[N8teGee]

@Mesocarb

This doesn't sound normal as you should be getting around 5 or so days if you are not using any battery intensive features. Perhaps you've got a faulty watch. 

Have you tried speaking with customer support (here)? 

[Scolinaomi]

Hi, 

Similarly the the other comments, I get about a week on mine, my AOD is off and I have notifications on!

[Mesocarb]

I am very grateful to everyone who has written reviews. It seems like I will have to contact customer support. My  tracker drains about 25 percent of its battery in six hours of sleep  night. 😏

[Mcav75]

My Charge 6 gets through 7 days from 100% to we 20%. All sensors running, GPS set to dynamic, screen to dim and AOD set to off. I have notifications coming through from a lot of apps as well. I could easily squeeze 2 more days out of it, but I don't want the battery to drop under 20%.

My partner also has a charge 6 which runs to exactly the same battery life. 

[Mesocarb]

Thank you for the information. I have contacted customer support, and I hope they will find a solution for me.

[Mcav75]

I do hope so. It's a bit of a concern that there are regular issues in these devices.

[Mesocarb]

Unfortunately, I have to agree with you.. I have developed a biased attitude towards Fitbit, as I have been using it since the very first model, and I had to replace/repair all the trackers within a year , year and half, of use, for various reasons. They broke down without any valid justification. Let's hope for the best. 🙂

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I would like to inform you about the issue with the fast discharge of the tracker. After performing all the necessary actions with the tracker (rebooting, full charging, changing the watch face), the support team was unable to offer any solution other than refunding the money spent on the purchase. In addition, they will disable my tracker. I can see now that the tracker is no longer updating information in the application, but the refund has not been processed yet. It's a very unpleasant situation. I did request a replacement for a reliably working tracker, but my request was denied. It's surprising that a giant like Fitbit is making each Charge model worse and less reliable.

[N8teGee]

Yes that's quite strange. I can't understand why they didn't just send you a replacement device. Instead refunding and potentially losing a customer if they happen to decide on using that refund money to by a different brand of device. 

[Mesocarb]

So, I summarize my experience with Fitbit. 

In 2015, I purchased the first tracker , Fitbit Charge. It worked successfully for about two years, after which it fell apart into pieces. In the second year of its life, I had to glue it together to wear it. The strap of the first model was solid, and there was no option to replace it. If the strap deteriorated and detached from the module, you would lose the entire tracker.

Therefore, I had to buy the new Fitbit Charge 3 model. After six months of use, I placed it on the charging device, and the screen started flashing rapidly. It became impossible to read the information or use the buttons. The damaged tracker was replaced under warranty. After a more than year  of using the new Charge 3, one day the tracker simply stopped synchronizing with my mobile phone and started lagging significantly behind real-time. The warranty period is only a year, and I was informed at the lab that it couldn't be fixed.

So, I had to buy the Fitbit 4. And you know what? After half year of use, the watch started freezing at the most inconvenient times, like when I needed to make a purchase or start a workout. They would freeze for a couple of minutes and then return to normal. I had to contact support again, record videos of the tracker freezing, and so on...  Support sent me a replacement, only the module, without the original packaging, just in a plastic bag. Now I understand that it was a refurbished module. You know why? That's right! After approximately a year of use, I started noticing that it was becoming difficult to see the information on the screen. It was as if the screen brightness was fading. Once again, I reached out to support, and after about three weeks, the screen slowly but surely went completely black. The tracker still functioned, but the screen was completely black, turned off. Support informed me that since they had already replaced this model for me, they couldn't offer me anything else.

After such a negative experience and going around in circles, I decided not to buy Fitbit anymore. But knowing how much I love tracking statistics and workouts, I received a gift from my wife, and was given the Fitbit 6! However, it work only lasts a maximum of one and a half days, and as a result, the Fitbit  support has already been disable the my tracker. They said the refund will arrive within 3-6 weeks...

I'm sorry to hear that Fitbit's charge products have been getting worse year after year. It's disappointing when a good idea and promising statements don't translate into reliable products. It's important for everyone to think carefully before making a purchase.

Good luck to all!!!

And farewell Fitbit.

[Mcav75]

Thanks for your lengthy post. I charge my Fitbit Charge 6 once a week, by which time it has stopped to between 21% and 23%.

I hope you find a watch that suits your needs. 

[Mesocarb]

Thank you!

I'm very glad that you got a working model, I hope it will serve you for a long time.

Yes, I switched to another tracker, a new stage, hoping there won't be such disappointments.

But it's still unpleasant that Fitbit disabled my Charge 6 tracker last week and they said I have to wait six weeks for a refund. It also makes me nervous.

Still, they worked for me, although I had to charge them every day, but in the end, they left me without a tracker and didn't refund the money now. It's not very pleasant.

[Doodle55]

I got mine 2 months ago. I turned off most of the battery draining features. I got 5 to 5 days of life. After about a month I started getting low battery every other day. Super disappointing. This is my second Fitbit and I will not buy another one.

[WaltM2018]

This thread leaves me very uneasy. I too have used fitbits for many years. Currently using a charge 4. Did buy a charge 5 and immediately had battery issues. Fortunately returned in money back window. Sounds like the charge 6 is a crap shoot too. Not sure what I'll do when my charge 4 dies.

[erbes]

I have the same issues with my charge 6. Minimal use of features doesn’t make a difference in battery like. I’m lucky to get 4 days charge w/o low battery warning. For a new product generation to have such a flaw is highly disappointing. Will contact customer support for this problem. 

[lizmarie]

I am dealing with the same thing. Already had one Charge 6 replaced under warranty in february, after contacting support and following all the instructions. The replacement device lasted until now (May 2024) with 6-7 day battery life. I have every battery draining function turned off and it now needs to be charged every two days. Absolutely affecting my satisfaction since the Fitbit claims are 7 day battery life. So, I'm reaching out to tech support again while I shop for new devices, other brands, other models.....

[Mckechnie4 · Accepted solution]

I have the same issue. How do you contact customer support? I was given my Charge 6 as a Christmas gift and just this week the battery life has plummeted. I’ve tried all the suggestions on community boards with no luck. I’ve been a loyal Fitbit user since they came out! Very disappointed in this.