Ionic battery short life

[Pa1a]

Hi,

My Ionic has suddenly started draining the battery extremely fast (empties a full charge within 12-14hours, estimated).

I have had my Ionic for slightly more than a year. No additional app had been installed on it, and I have not been using the notification/GPS functions or any of the installed apps (including music). Since I started using it, my battery drain has been about 16% daily, needing a charge only every 4-5 days.

Last Monday however, after having charged my Ionic to 100% in the evening, I woke up to it being totally discharged (within 12hours). Initially, I had thought that I might have misread the display and had removed the cable before it was charged. However, over the next couple of days, I confirmed that the battery does not last for even a day when fully charged. 

I have tried the solutions suggested in these forums, including doing factory reset and re-linking it back to my app, but to no avail. I reconfirmed my settings and confirmed that notifications and GPS are not switched on. The Ionic just seems to have suddenly lost it's ability to hold a charge. Is there something else that I should be trying? Other than the very short battery life (which makes it almost impossible to use anymore), the Ionic is functioning as usual.

For assistance and advice pls. Thank you.

Rgds,

Pa1a

Moderator edit:  updated subject for clarity

[RicardoFitbit]

Hey @Pa1a let me give you a warm welcome to our Community Forums and help you out with your Ionic battery.

First, I appreciate your effort and time troubleshooting this situation prior posting, seems odd that the battery of your device is not lasting 4 - 5 days as the way it was designed. Take in consideration that the battery life also depends on how frequently you use it’s features. If you haven't already done so, I recommend you to charge your Ionic with a USB port from a computer or a UL-certified outlet into the wall and then turn off all the features that you don’t use. Please check this help article for more tips and recommendations too. You can check: How do I clean my Fitbit device? for you to clean the charging contacts on the back of your device to ensure they stay bronze or gold in color. Also, to clean the pins on your charging cable

I recommend you to try restarting your device to refresh it’s performance, this procedure is different than the factory reset that was already done.

Keep me posted, I’ll be right here if you need anything else.

[SunsetRunner]

This just started happening to me today, precipitous drop in battery level and a little light bulb appeared on face to right of battery symbol on watch. Charging connection has been hit or miss too. Must attach several times before a decent connection. Also get app notification as others have noted about keeping app open. Issue started right after a charge this morning. Went from 73% down to 12% in an hour or two with virtually no actual activity being tracked. Notifications on my device don’t work 90%+ of the time since inception. I have a Iphone. So frustrating. 

[RicardoFitbit]

Hello! Thank you for bringing this to my attention @SunsetRunner. I'm happy to see you again participating in our Community and assist you with your difficulties.

I'm sorry to see that you're frustrated with your device. First, can you please confirm if the steps from my post above were took in consideration? Your charging difficulties seems odd to me, your Ionic should charge immediately after putting the charging cable on it, therefore, have you tried charging it with a different charging cable to discard that you're having difficulties with the charging cable as itself? 

If your Ionic isn't receiving notifications from your iOS mobile device, I recommend you to check: My Fitbit device isn't receiving notifications from my phone and take in consideration all the information and details specified there.  

Let me know how it goes!

[SunsetRunner]

Ricardo:

After resetting my tracker I seem to be back on track concerning the battery life. This was the first time I had this issue but know of others that have experienced unexplained rapid battery drain.

In terms of charging, I only have one cable which I can ultimately charge but often I am required to attach multiple times for a good contact so I don’t get the not enough power error message.

On the notifications, I’ve tried everything multiple times and given up. If I get them I get them but the vast majority of the time nothing comes through. Notifications and calls have been unreliable since I got the product but I believe the problem intensified when we updated to 2.0 or 3.0, can’t recall exact software update. Lastly, my SpaceX watchface background picture won’t load/stay on. I reloaded face and it solved the issue temporarily but it dropped out again.

I am loyal Fitbit user since inception, have beta tested a number of times and am a sizable long term investor in the company since 10/2015, quality has definitely improved but bugs/issues still exist and I wish we had a more consistent product cycle with new tech. Reliability and consistent operation of the device is key to attracting and retaining a loyal customer base.

Thanks for your assistance, Jim

[RicardoFitbit]

Hi again @SunsetRunner thanks for your reply and updates, thanks for all the information that was shared, let me help you out with your concern.

First, let me appreciate your loyalty with us, it's always nice to see that we are part of your fitness journey since 2015, I'm happy to see that after restarting your device the battery uncommon behavior was resolved. Regarding your charging cable, if you haven't already done so, please check: How do I charge my Fitbit device? for detailed instructions on how to properly charge your device. This will prevent any charging concern in the future. 

About the difficulties with the notifications and the clock face, I would like to first gather more information to give you better assistance. Can you please let me know the specific mobile device you're currently using to sync your Ionic? Also, you're not receiving text but call notifications and vice versa?; For the clock face, are you experiencing this situation only with the SpaceX background picture of with any background picture?; I'll be looking to your reply. 

Your feedback is appreciated Jim, let me know if you have any additional questions. 

[SunsetRunner]

Ricardo:

Thank you.

I have an IPhone 6 running IOS 12.2. My Ionic has 33.1.30. All text and call notifications are unreliable. Sometimes they work but the vast majority of the time they don’t. Even when they do messages in the chain could be sporadic, so I don’t receive them all. It’s hit or miss. I haven’t been able to determine what the problem(s) are.

On my SpaceX watch face, the only problem is when I try to add a picture background. It loaded, then went back to the default face. I reloaded the clock face and was able to load the picture again but that disappeared too. A bug of some sort as even though I add a photo background in the settings it no longer actually updates the tracker with it. The app does shows the picture as my background but the tracker does not.

Thanks, Jim

[RicardoFitbit]

Hello @SunsetRunner you're more than welcome, I'm glad to assist you with your update.

 I appreciate the details that were provided on your post. Seems completely odd that all the notifications on your Ionic device work in a sporadic way. Therefore, can you please confirm if "Show In History" option is toggled on? To do so, please go to your iOS system Settings > Notifications > Messages > 'Show In History'.

In regards your Space X clock face, I'd like to determine if these difficulties are occurring only with this specific clock face. That being said, can you please change this third-party clock face to one developed by Fitbit and let me know if this persist?

Looking forward to your reply. Please keep me posted.

[SunsetRunner]

Default Background

[RicardoFitbit]

Hi @SunsetRunner, your reply is appreciated.

Are you experiencing display difficulties with your Ionic default background? I'll appreciate more details. Thanks for your patience with these uncommon behaviors. 

I'll be here looking to your reply.