Fitbit One -how long do they last?

[MicheleLee]

Hi, I'm new here, but have had a Fitbit One for just over 4 yrs.

In the last couple of months I've had to start charging my One every other day or so.  It used to be 2+ wks, then a week and now a couple of days.  Is my Fitbit at the end of it's life?  Can you replace the battery?  It's getting to the point where I charge it before I work out because it has often gone dead during my work out. I'm also not getting notification that my battery is low. It almost always shows as 'medium' on my app.

I have it set so that it doesn't sync unless I go in and manually sync it (all day sync and always connected are turned off).

I was thinking of getting the Alta, then I read the Alta forum here and decided it wasn't for me since I want my steps to count if I have my hand on the treadmill, shopping cart, etc.

I would appreciate any insight.  Thanks.

[Jazzerjan]

Thanks Doug,

I appreciate your response.  I will wait patiently for a bug fix.  I love my Fitbit One and don't plan to ditch it any time soon, just was wondering whether it was nearing the end of it's useful life.  It's nice to know it wasn't anything I did!

[Doug]

I love mine too -- been using it for 4.5 years now, though I did lose my first and bought another 2.5 years ago.  Just so you know, other threads have confirmed Fitbit is discontinuing the One and you won't find it anywhere within a few months.  (Except eBay, etc.)    So if you like yours as much as I do, you may want to consider buying a spare to store for when your unit eventually wares out.

All rechargeable batteries have a limited number of charge cycles, so eventually it won't hold a charge as long.  But the current problem is with a bug introduced in the iOS app.

[Jazzerjan]

Thanks for the info Doug.  I too am on my second One.  I  also "lost" my first One - flushed it actually! And immediately went out and bought another.  

[JenMN]

Thanks Doug.  I was wondering if they might discontinue the One at some point. I might go with the Blaze when my One dies. I just didn't think I wanted to wear it on my wrist all the time. The One is convenient.

It sounds like by all of the comments that it is a combination of software updates and the age of my One. It has stayed charged for a couple of days now but does not always seem accurate. I feel lost without it and it does motivate me to take more steps. The Blaze has more features so might be worth it.

Some of my friends have an android phone and are having some of the charging problems so it must not only be with the ios software with the iPhone and iPad. I don't think I want to spend the money for the Apple Watch.

[Doug]

For confirmation it is discontinued refer to this post

If it does not seem accurate, I would suggest you try to restart it.  Some people say up to 3 times in a row.  (It is fast, so there is no harm in doing it thrice.)

One reason I like the One is how accurate it is, since it is NOT on your wrist.  Any wrist based motion detection is inherently at a disadvantage to torso based motion detection.  There are plenty of activities where your wrist may be busy while not walking.  And conversely, you may be carrying something or pushing something and your wrist be more stationary.  Depending on your combination of activities, they may not even out.

I don't understand why they are keeping the Zip instead of the One.  The Zip does not have an altimeter so does not track elevation changes, and is older yet than the One.  And they are keeping the Flex which is their oldest wrist based model.  I suppose it means those sell better than the One, though I don't get why.

As far as the Apple Watch goes, I have had one of those too for 656 days now -- I can tell because I have never yet not "closed my rings" so my "longest move streak" is currently at 656 days and counting.  But I like it more for the smartwatch functions than the pedometer tracking.  I'm actually somewhat impressed with its pedometer count *while walking*.  If I compare the count with my One if I am going for a walk or power walk, they actually come pretty close.  But across a full day of various activity, it can be a  higher or lower step count by 10-20% fairly easily.  And I figure the count based on my torso moving is much more accurate than the count based on my wrist movements.

IMHO.

[edsaunders]

Updated all software... same problem. Read elsewhere that latest FitBit version did not solve the battery drain problem!

So, since all batteries have a limited number of re-charge cycles, this situation is rapidly reducing the expected lifetime of my One. 

How wull FitBit remedy that situation?

[Doug]

How wull FitBit remedy that situation?

I'm just a user too, so don't read anything official into my reply.  But I still believe they will remedy the situation by a future software and/or firmware update.  I suspect only a software app update is needed since it appears to be a software update that spiked the battery drain.  Just because it has not been fixed yet does not indicate they won't.

I highly suggest you turn off All-Day Syncing if you have not already done so.  Anecdotal reports vary, but many people say it has returned their One to lasting about the same as before version drop in version 2.39 of the software.  It has in my case.

So while I liked All-Day Sync, I'm willing to accept this as a compromise until the problem is resolved.  I still get plenty of time between recharges.  And I don't use up extra "recharge cycles".  I don't know of any specifics on the battery in the One, but a general rule of thumb for rechargeable batteries is around 1000 cycles. 

When I first got a One in 2013, the battery lasted under a week.  And the firmware would not give real-time updates to the iOS app.  You could only see new counts in the app by doing a Sync.  At some point, the firmware was upgraded and actually improved the battery life to where I would usually get 10-14 days from that same device.  Plus it started being able to give real-time updates within the app as I walked.

I had to replace my original One about 2.5 years ago after losing my first One, and by that point the firmware already was improved to have the better battery life.  So with 10-14 days between charges, in 2.5 years I had probably only recharged somewhere around  75 times before the version 2.39 problem.  That may be under 10% of the cycles I'd think probable.  So I really can't complain about having too many cycles used up.

Personally I am much more concerned with the One being discontinued with no new similar model announced.  I do not want a wrist based model.  And I don't like the Zip.

[edsaunders]

Auto sync has been off.

My One must have been listening.  It is now completely dead.  I tried recharging via the wall outlet as usual, never saw the discharged battery icon, completely blank display.  Just tried charging via the USB on my laptop, same result. iPhone app shows a red outline of the battery with an exclamation point inside it. Website dashboard says "your One battery is low." Laptop app can't find the One.

Did a restart and the display came back on.  I guess I'm pretty jumpy about the reliability of things at the moment.

Moderator edit: merged reply

[Caro1165]

Same here.....last two weeks have to charge my One every other day. It is 13 months old. I have the 2.40 version of the app. 

[LarryDJ]

Yeah, same thing happened to me after 3 yrs 11 mos.  Just got a new FitBit One, ordered directly.

[towanda79]

I'm also experiencing this. Mine will be 3 years old in December. 

[Jazzerjan]

I charge my Fitbit One almost every morning now.  I'm concerned that if I purchase a new One and it's a software issue, it will burn up the battery much earlier than usual.

[edsaunders]

Yes, my wife and I have both installed all upgrades, and still have this issue.

It was clearly used by a software change. I don't know why this is taking FitBit so long to resolve.

[saltfever]

I've had mine for about 3 yrs.   Lost the first one.  Replaced it and lost it, or so I thought.  But it was replaced and then I found the 2nd one.  I've been using the 3rd one.  It seemed like I started having to charge it more often a few months ago.  Went to charge it today and it won't charge.  It flashed Fitbit 6.60 a few times.  My iPhone Fitbit app says "the battery is empty."  It's not the dongle because it's charging my 2nd one.  I hate it that the One has been discontinued.  My husband is not using his so maybe I'll be good to go for a few years with my Fitbit #2 and his....if this one's shot. 

[bminnillo]

Thanks for the suggestion to reset 3 times-worked for me!!

[joshhuntnm]

Fitbit seems to have resolved this issue. Thank you fitbit. 

I wish you would keep the ONE in your line up. I lost mine recently and was happy to replace it finding the last one at a Target. I'd replace it again if they kept making the. 

[LarryDJ]

You might also want to check your stride default setting to see if it’s accurate for you.  I found that the default stride length based on my height was off from my normal stride length that I measured.

[Caro1165]

Is it true that the fitbit One isn't for sale anymore? I hate it to have something around my wrist and the Zip is so big....

Me too! I don't want anything around my wrist! Hope they are inventing a One-version 2! 

Moderator edit: merged reply

[LarryDJ]

Try holding down the button while it’s plugged into your PC via USB until 6.60 firmware shows on the One screen.  In my experience, that turned my One back on and subsequent button presses showed it was charging.  And iOS Fitbit app could find it again.

[DesertSong]

This happened to me too and when I chatted with a Fitbit representative they told me the software update on my android phone was causing trouble. The newest software update on my Samsung Galaxy has fixed the problems. I no longer have to restart to get it to sync. It now syncs on my phone as well as my computer and previous to the latest software update it was not syncing on any of my devices without restarting my fitbit one.