Poor battery life started last weekend

[Scott.G]

I purchased the Ionic on black friday and it has been working good for the most since then. Last weekend I noticed that the  battery life is losing about 40% or a little more per day, prior to that it was 15% per day and I could normally get 5 days compared to 2 days now.

I have not changed anything on my end, FW version 27.31.1.29 and I don't believe that has changed for awhile.  The only thing that I can see that changed is the fitbit app on my android phone and tablet. For some reason the fitbit app updated twice in a short time prior to that and I didn't pay much attention to it until the battery life tanked. After the app updates I noticed that some settings were changed like Always connected was maybe added and turned on, Keep-Alive widget was added and turned on, I have switched those to off and not sure if it made much of a difference. I have rebooted and want to know if I should do a factory reset at this point? I have never done this to my watch.

Thanks 

[Scott.G]

I should also add that I had been using  a non fitbit clock face prior to the problem, didn't think that was the problem but switched to a fitbit clock face to test with no change.

[SunsetRunner]

@Scott.G - You're not alone here. Thankfully I saw your post, I was already getting quite annoyed. In short:

I'm facing the same problem. I love my Ionic (purchased 9th of November) and the battery life was one of the major factors that made me purchase this particular watch - but 3 days ago it started to require daily charging and loses 10% battery in an hour of sitting at my office desk, NOT engaged in any workout (though the heartrate spikes occasionally ;)).  

It is extremely frustrating. I assume it is somewhat related to the pending rollout of Fitbit OS 2.0 and the update of the Fitbit App - since it would be too much of a coincidence that those happen in the same week. However, I'd appreciate a statement and improvement - otherwise I'll unfortunately drop the product eventually. 

The watch shows: Version 27.31.1.29 and I have played around with the same settings as the OP. I've also rebooted my watch and phone - and did not notice any change. 

EDIT: App/Sync is via an iPhone 7, iOS 11.2.6. 

Please help us.

Thanks!

[Scott.G]

Am now on 27.32.4.19, did a factory reset too so we will see.

[SunsetRunner]

I updated to Version 27.32.4.19 last night and took the watch off the charger this morning around 8:45 (100%). As of 7:45pm it has reached 54% battery. As before: No workouts so far, no Wifi, medium brightness, no music - regular daily use.

So unfortunately still no way near it's original battery life 😞 

[St3v3]

I’m having the exact same problem, started with an update in the first week of March, ionic bought in November having a four to five day battery life now has a 30 hour battery life with everything switched off

anyone having any luck with this?

[SunsetRunner]

So far none.

After an 80min swim and some idle time it has now reached 37% battery capacity (after 14 hours). So I guess I got two options now unless I want to take the charger with me tomorrow:

a) track my sleep

b) wear my Ionic tomorrow

[..or c) buy a second Ionic...]

Let's see if a moderator picks this up soonish, otherwise I'll get tempted to reference (@...) every user I can find that has the Fitbit logo after his name just to know that at least someone is looking into this issue.

[Scott.G]

At this point after doing a hard factory reset and the new FW update with no change I highly suspect it is hardware related and will be contacting customer service.

[Scott.G]

Chatted with CS for about 15 minutes and they are sending a new one. Let's hope for the best.

[St3v3]

Emailed customer service last night at 22.00, they replied today at 15.00, I replied at 18.10, New Fitbit on the way by 18.20

A+ for customer service 

[dacarter]

Check to see if your screen is staying on.  That's what's happening to me recently (27.31.1.29).  It can kill the battery in a day or less.  About to start a new thread on it.

[St3v3]

I had noticed my screen was coming on a lot when it wasn’t wanted, kinda like it was set to auto when it was set to manual

Sent from my iPhone

[Scott.G]

I also noticed the screen was coming on a lot more so I set it to manual 1 day and didn't see much of an improvement.

[SunsetRunner]

My screen wasn't on more frequently than before. Also I experimented with manual screen activation and did not notice a change. 

Update from my side: Contacted Fitbit on Facebook (since they offer this I thought it might be faster - it isn't). First advice was to charge my device correctly, to follow the charging instructions and to follow their tips for battery drain. (Wednesday)

When I replied that my behavior/way of charging hadn't changed at all, they created a case with the technical support and told me that they would reach out to me (Thursday morning). 

Haven't heard anything since then. 

However, the following Friday morning the Fitbit displayed a whole new feature: it simply turns the power off and does not turn on at all anymore. No matter if on the charger, if buttons are pressed - just a black screen. On the plus side: this conceals the battery issues pretty darn well. On the neg side: The only thing I'm tracking now is growing impatience and annoyance. Calling them now.

Stoked.

[SunsetRunner]

Customer support was nice and went on a tour of remote debugging with me.

Asked me whether I switched USB-Ports, cleaned the contacts, tried rebooting etc. (nothing I hadn't tried before) - long story short: they declared my device defect and asked me to send it their location in the Netherlands. Once the package arrives they'd offer me either a 50% discount on a new purchase in the online store or a replacement. 

Unfortunately I cannot opt for the replacement right away so I guess I'm not wearing a watch for about a week...

I just hope this resolves quickly...

[St3v3]

I simply emailed them through here explaining the issue, i.e how quickly the battery drains (72% in 23hrs) and that it wasn’t acceptable for a 3 month old item

next afternoon had response offering replacement once purchase was validated, this was done quick then had link to either replace or have 50% discount on new item

[St3v3]

Oops forgot the link for where I emailed through

https://help.fitbit.com/?l=en_US&cu=1&fs=ContactUs

[SunsetRunner]

I called them and emailed them ... did not receive the promised address yet. My Ionic is sitting on my desk, awaiting shipment and I cannot check the time (or my active minutes)  ...

If nothing changes by Monday I'll call them again. Slowly but surely growing impatient..

[SunsetRunner]

Finally got my replacement. It's doing updates now - super psyched 🙂 

The whole process took precisely 2 weeks, Fitbit support was nice and helpful - pleasant experience.  

... Just hoping this one doesn't have the same issue. 

[Scott.G]

I've had mine for 1 1/2 weeks and I got just about 6 days out of the first charge. Second charge is looking good also. Fitbit support was very easy to work with.