Fitbit One Not Working While Unplugged from Charging Cable

[jrm27]

Hello all, my one is all of the sudden having issues. It is fully charged, and when I go through the reset process I can get it to respond while it is in the charger. When I pull it from the charger I cant get it to respond, light up, sync, etc... are there other alternatives to reset this thing?

Moderator Edit: Updated Subject for Clarity

[Ennabird]

Read from my past posts.  Fitbit made our One  trackers  stop working on purpose to try and force us to buy one of their horrendous wrist trackers.  There are other companies out there with this technology.  Don't give greedy money hungry Fitbit another dime!

[Williger]

@Ennabird there are no more updates for the one tracker because there's nothing to update. The most recent one improved battery life and syncing and works fine. Fitbit isn't forcing these old trackers to die, they're old trackers with only an expected maximum of 3-4 years of life. They'll let us keep using them, your choice to install an upgraded battery, which violates the warranty on a product already well out of warranty, so you've got nothing to lose 🙂 

[Williger]

@SunsetRunner the problem is your battery is dead. The fix is replacing the battery! 🙂 #EASY

[Williger]

@JamieJBooth these trackers have old batteries as they've not been manufactured in several years. If you're lucky enough to be within warranty, they'll replace it for free. If it's expired, you can either replace the battery on your own or buy a newer tracker.

I wouldn't expect any company to support electronic battery-based products indefinitely.

[Ennabird]

Jamie,

The batteries are not the problem why these units are not working.

Fitbit decided to stop software updates, which in turn stopped these trackers from working.

It's called G R E E D.

[Ennabird]

Again...

The battery is NOT the issue.

Fitbit stopped the software updates on purpose in order for us to go spend another $100 something dollars for a new god awful wrist design tracker.

Many many people have written to say their Fitbit One's just stopped working instantly!

[Ennabird]

Funny...that is not what the Fitbit Customer Service Rep told me.

That person was honest and decided to "let the cat  out of the bag" in order to inform the One's users.

Can't make this stuff up...

[Maura-CA]

I am having the same problem.  Is there a solution?

Thank you

[Williger]

@Maura-CA yes, you can simply replace the battery. They only last 3-4 years at best and are only $11 including shipping from eBay. You can find step-by-step installation instructions in this forum. I'm very happy with my refreshed One 🙂 Cheers!

[Ennabird]

New battery is not the answer.

Glad yours works but the majority of the One users trackers all stopped at the same time.

[Williger]

@Ennabird a new battery is the only answer if your question is how to get a dead One tracker working.

Alternatively, you can purchase a new tracker or use Mobilesync.

Yes, it makes sense many people had theirs die around the same time, the batteries only get a certain amount of use out of them so likely everyone with a dead battery had from the same batch. There's no need for conspiracy theories, Fitbit isn't releasing some magic data code that makes the trackers die, simply they're powered by batteries with a limited life.

[JamieJBooth]

@Williger This is a super long thread so it's easy for a lot of the missing details to get lost. For a lot of us, the tracker was working just fine UNTIL we updated to the latest release of firmware. For me, everything was working as normal, until I did the update. Maybe that will clear it up a little. 

For everyone else -- I ended up just purchasing a new device because the battle back and forth just wasn't worth my time. I hope you all have had better luck!! 

[Ennabird]

Unfortunately, no.

I was told by Fitbit they cut the cord so speak on the One.

New battery isn't the solution.

They want us to spend another $100+ for a new one like we can right now.  Yeah right...

Im betting the CEO still has his multi million job!

[Ennabird]

Kiss your mother with that mouth?

Mind your own business. 

[PureEvil]

@JamieJBooth,

I can understand that you're frustrated, but I agree with @Williger here.  It's just the battery needing to be replaced.  I updated to the latest firmware 6.64 and it was running fine, months later it stopped lasting as long as I'd like, so I replaced the battery.  I posted my battery replacement walkthrough.

Fitbit stopped making the Fitbit One about three years ago, which means that any Fitbit One will be at least three years old.  Mine was seven years old.  They have rechargable batteries.

Think about it, how well does your phone keep a charge after 3 years of constant use?

Yes, I understand that your problems started to occur when you updated the firmware; I'm not going to debate that.  That's most likely simply a coincidence.  There's a difference between correlation and causation.  Did you know that it is a statistical fact that as ice cream sales increase, so do murders?  Should we stop selling ice cream?

@Ennabird,

Yes, they stopped manufacturing the Fitbit One, but it still continues to sync and work just fine.  It's an older model and they have many new models.  The Fitbit One happens to be my favorite model; hence the reason why I replaced the battery on mine.

Or to put it another way, the Fitbit One was released on 2012.  Do you know what else was release on 2012?  The iPhone 5 (not the 5C or 5S, the iPhone 5).  Do you know anyone who is still using the iPhone 5?

At least consider the idea of tracking down a friend with some electrical know-how, buy a battery from ebay for $12 (the price of 3 lattes from Starbucks) and do the upgrade.

If your Fitbit works when plugged in, but stops when unplugged, and you truly believe that it has something to do with Fitbit not supporting it anymore or it was rendered useless by a firmware upgrade, then I'll consider taking it off your hands.

I have many friends who prefer this tracker and I know that I can replace the battery myself (I've done it twice already) and this will get it working again.

I hope this helps.

[JamieJBooth]

@PureEvil In any other situation I would probably agree with you. If someone tried to stop selling ice cream, I would probably murder them. Lol

I should have mentioned that I was using the tracker that same day without issues, down to the moment I went to plug it up to my computer and downloaded the update. Immediately after, the tracker stopped working off the charger. It wasn’t that the tracker began to not perform as well after, it was an immediate change. So In this case I do believe something was corrupt or went wrong. Additionally, a massive amount of people (including a friend of mine, who did replace their battery based on finding a similar thread instructing him to do so, had the same issue once upgrading) on this thread mention the same issue(s) happening right after downloading the latest firmware. (All downloaded at different times)  I fully understand that standard battery life could be one of the issues people are experiencing. 

Regardless, as mentioned previously, I purchased another Fitbit to replace mine, so it’s really not needed to “plead my case”, but I do think there are more issues than just “replacing a battery” and that some users on here are valid in their reasons for being upset. I also believe some people purchased their Fitbit (yes from a third party vendor) recently, who probably didn’t realize the One has been around for such a long time, and whether battery life or Firmware issues, got screwed. 🙁 

The One was definitely the best tracker IMO. I miss it dearly lol 

[Williger]

@Ennabird James Park? I'd read he earned 150 million from Google's acquisition. Good for him, but what's this have to do with battery replacements on the One tracker?

I'm running the 6.64 firmware update. There haven't been any since. That one helped address syncing and battery life, I now get nearly two weeks out of a single charge! 🙂

Follow @PureEvil's step-by-step instructions to easily replace yours, or if you've completely given up on it, I'd be glad to send you a prepaid shipping label to send it my way.

[tkwal]

Same problem with a brand new one I had in the box for a year after thy discontinued the One.  I bought two knowing I would not be able to get another,

They could not fix and they offered me a replacement via RMA.  I completed the replacement request for a One, and then they said my CHARGE was on its way.  This company has become very poor at customer service.  If they simply stuck to scales and clip on devices only, maybe they would service.  The wrist based devices will never compete with Apple so they should stop trying.

[MachoManRndySvg]

I know I am late to this party, but just wanted to add some outside opinion. Pulled out my fitbit from storage where it was been sitting for a WHILE (5+ years?) Having the same exact problem. I am running 6.60 firmware, never updated higher. On the charged it looks FULL, the second I pull it off it turns off. That is a battery problem, it thinks it's full but only because of the power it is currently getting. While I can't comment on 6.64 firmware, I know it happens without that firmware too. Maybe I will try the battery replacement because I really don't need much from a fitbit, and paying under $20 is my goal.