Can't setup brand new Charge 2

[LindaDV]

Hello all,

Yesterday I bought a Charge 2 and since then I am trying to set it up. I've read most of the posts about this topic and tried everything but unfortunately nothing works.

- When I attach the power cable to charge the Fitbit, it vibrates but it doesn't show a battery icon. The only thing I see on the screen is the little phone icon and the text "www.fitbit.com/setup". Is this normal?

- I have tried to pair the Charge 2 to my phone (Sony Xperia Z3) using the Fitbit app on the phone and followed the setup steps. However, after typing in the 4 digit code and waiting for a while it shows the "Not working?" text with options to solve the problem. I tried those a number of times but it still does not work. Also I restarted my mobile a couple of times, turned oft and on Bluetooth many times, etc.

- Since setting up did not work with my phone I downloaded the Fitbit App to my Windows 10 computer but the same thing happenens, I can't setup!

- I tried to find a description how to factory reset the Charge 2 but it turns out, there's none :(.

I am very disappointed, irritated and desperate. I hope that someone can give me a solution. Please help!! Thanks in adavance.

Regards,

Linda

[MichelineG]

Hello Linda,

It makes 2 of us! I have experienced the exact same issues and have been unable to set up my Fitbit Charge 2 too. Would love any insights to a solution.

Micheline

[Brownwood4850]

Well, now there are three of us.  I turned in a brand new Charge HR that didn't work properly and got a new Charge 2.  I tried to set it up on the PC that I used for my original Fitbit as well as the Charge HR, but the Charge 2 won't setup.  The setup app keeps telling me to plug in the dongle!  There is no dongle. HELP!

[Rich_Laue]

@Brownwood4850 yes the Blaze codes not come with a dongle, but you say you already had a tracketv that since through the pc, This will mean your pc is already setup for the Blaze.. Just use the dongle from the previous tracker. 

@MichelineG may we have some insight on what device(s) you have tried to setup through, how far you get, and if there was any errors given. 

[MichelineG]

Hello Rich,

I have been tryigng to set up a brand new Fitbit Charge 2 on my Windows 10 laptop and on my mobile phone without success.

In each of my several attempts, my laptop bluetooth recognized the fitbit and paired it however the Fitbit app pairing was not successful and i got an error message telling me to either try a factory reset (never found one) or try again.

Happy to provide more details.

Thank you for your help,

Micheline

[LindaDV]

Hello Micheline,

Too bad that you have the exact same problem, as many people here before us. 😞

Hopefully a solution will be found soon. Any ideas Rich?

Thanks,

Linda

[Chfc414]

I'm also having the same problem and I'm using an iPhone and a Mac.  I have been in contact and they are working on the problem.

[smartalex]

I am having the same issue on a HP 15-BA079DX laptop. Hope someone replies. I previously had a HR. 

[DerrickS]

@LindaDV @MichelineG @Brownwood4850 @Chfc414 @smartalex The following steps should help with getting your Charge 2 set up to your Fitbit account:

1. Make sure that you are using a compatible device that is capable of syncing with Fitbit trackers. Note that Bluetooth 4.0 LE is required for syncing with Fitbit trackers. Click here to check device compatibility.

2. Restart your Charge 2.

3. Reboot your mobile device or computer that you are using to set up your Charge 2.

4. Use the replacement setup process mentioned here to pair your Charge 2 to your already-existing Fitbit account.

5. If you are still unable to set up your Charge 2, I'd then recommend trying to set it up using a different computer or mobile device. Regardless of which device you use for setup, you will still be able to sync to your mobile device or computer if it is compatible.

Hope this helps!

[Canyouhearme]

Just bought a new fitbit Charge 2, thinking that the unit would connect as easily as my previous Charge HR. and low and behold IT DOES NOT!!. I have tried all manner of trying to get the unit to setup but it does not.. not impressed. i will still use my CHARGE HR untill someone can give me hope that it will work ..

[Kmransom123]

@Canyouhearme  What device are you trying to set it up on?  What kind of errors are you seeing? (If any).

Let us know, and perhaps we can help.

[Canyouhearme]

<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />

Have tried using the app on windows 10 the app on my phone ( an alcatel 4.3 ) both apps work with my CHARGE HR no problem.

Firmware version of the CHARGE @ is 22.20.17

[Kmransom123]

@Canyouhearme  Your phone may not be compatible with it - i am not seeing it listed here: https://www.fitbit.com/devices which may be why you are having difficulties setting up.

[Pistashio]

Linda,

I have been experiencing a lot of issues with the Charge 2 myself but not this. Setup was easy for me so but I'm not familiar with your phone so lets however androids need to be restarted from time to time to make Bluetooth work, if not restart the phones Bluetooth and see what happens. Now being an IT tech windows 10 has major issues with Bluetooth so do not get your hopes up here. 

The dumb questions to help me help you:
Do you have Bluetooth on your computer? 
If so do you have the blue tooth Icon in the lower right "hidden Icon tray"?

Do you use a Bluetooth dongle or is Bluetooth built in?
Do you have Bluetooth software or just genetic drivers (can find out by going "start" type device manager,  double clicking on Bluetooth Icon to expand the tree)

One of the Dumbest things that I did when I got the Charge 2 was that I connected the charger wrong. I am going to assume this could be part of the problem. When I found an image of how to connect the charger it was much clearer, you might google that just to be sure.

You can try to turn the tracker off and restart it. the link below tells you how. make sure you click on Charge 2  to get the correct instructions. (note to fitbit web designer, your work is confusing! Learn how to design web pages correctly for your audiences.)

https://help.fitbit.com/articles/en_US/Help_article/1186

Let me know Linda

[bluedove]

I am having the same problem. I am trying to sync with a notebook PC with Win 10 and bluetooth. Spent some time on chat with customer service and the only theory is that my bluetooth signal may be too weak, but I confirmed that I have 4.0 LE. Seems like the bluetooth is finding the device just fine, but it won't sync with the app. Everything works great until I enter the 4 digit code. 

Very frustrated. I don't want to have wasted the money on this Fitbit Charge 2.

[Pikesmom]

- When I attach the power cable to charge the Fitbit, it vibrates but it doesn't show a battery icon. The only thing I see on the screen is the little phone icon and the text "www.fitbit.com/setup". Is this normal?

This is the problem I am having, just as Linda described it.  Everything was working perectly until I was told that the battery was too low to complete the setup.  I have checked & double-checked the charging arrangement as well as I am able, but I still do NOT see a battery icon, just the phone icon with the fitbit.com/setup scrolling across the screen.  I do not think the device I am pairing with (a laptop) is relevant here, as the problem is trying to get it to charge.  I tried plugging the charging cable into several USB ports: on my computer, on a hub I use, even on a more powerful transformer that I use with my phone, which plugs directly into an electrical outlet.  I get a vibration when I plug in, which encourages me to believe that it is indeed charging, despite no battery icon. 

The directions that specify seeing a battery icon should be re-written if the battery fails to display while in the middle of the setup phase! 

P.S.: After waiting for a while -- during which the screen went completely *dark* which is a little scary -- the update indeed completed successfully!

[Dcardoz]

I have a brand new charge 2 and I cannot even get anything on the screen. My iPhone 6 says it's connected and I charged it over night but I can't even get any message on the screen.  Please help.

[Mark_H.]

Hi, I was having some setup difficulties as well with my Charge 2 a few days ago. For myself, I was having trouble using the Fitbit App on my Windows 10 laptop. My setup would always progress until after I typed in the 4-digit code into the four boxes; then it would stall and say there was an "Issue" with setup. I ended up calling someone from customer support; here's what I learned:

• There have been some difficulties with the setup process with Windows 10 which haven't all been ironed out yet. 
• My options to fix it were to either request a dongle or try setting up the tracker on another (non-Windows 10) device. Now, I was told that if I could set up my tracker on another device first, it would sort of kick-start it into working for Windows 10. Here's how that happened: I decided to try to set it up on another device - an iPad. I made it past the 4-digit code and got the update/download for my tracker; I now had an account for the iPad. Following the advice from customer support, I unpaired my tracker from the iPad's Bluetooth and deleted that account. I then switched back to my Windows 10 laptop, went through the setup process, got to the 4-digit code part and entered it, but this time since I already had made the download to my Charge 2 from the iPad, I was able to get through the setup process. (Note: I had downloaded Fitbit Connect - Fitbit's software for the dongle - earlier and this had to be removed before any of this could work.) My account is now up and working.
• For the first few hours, my Charge 2 wouldn't sync via Bluetooth. However, I noticed that by connecting my Charge 2 to my laptop via my charger, all of my data would sync to my account. Doable but inconvenient. However, by the next day my tracker was able to sync by Bluetooth.

I know not everyone is probably having this exact same problem and this post is kind of long, but hopefully this helps someone. 

[Pistashio]

Mark nice post but I think it is more Windows 10 that has a problem with Bluetooth. This has been a problem since Windows 10 came out. I have been through this Bluetooth problem many times already and I really do not recommend using drivers that come with dongles. I recommend using MS or genetic drivers (drivers that are auto-detected). I will not say Fitbit has issues with Bluetooth too I am saying the major fault is with MS.

[Pikesmom]

@Dcardoz, are you saying the *Charge 2* screen is dark, nothing showing?

Does not respond when you press the button? 

Did your Fitbit vibrate when you plugged in the cable to charge it?

If your iPhone says it's "connected" does that mean your phone "found" the Charge 2?