Can you read your Charge 3 in direct sunlight?

[Jaseph]

One of my big questions is how easy can you read your Charge 3 in direct sunlight. I don’t need a watch/tracker that I need to cup my hands over to read.

Moderator edit: subject for clarity

[Art78]

Yeah right. Reported in 2018. 2020 - nothing. Way to go fitbit.

[Dlg68]

Then maybe the only way is for consumers to not purchase the product.
That's what I will do and take business elsewhere in the future. Report to
consumer direct they will open a case and compile evidemce and contact them
directly as a product not fit for purpose.

[SunsetRunner]

I have the very same problem snd I am very frustrated that my Charge 3 cannot be read outside in any daylight. 

[SEFR5626]

Apparently charge 4 has same issue not good form on behalf of fitbit 

[Jelley2]

Loved my Charge 3 except that I could not see the display at all on a sunny day, and I use it frequently for walking.  I finally gave in and bit the bullet and purchased another brand smart watch that is awesome outdoors, and use my Fitbit Charge 3 for sleep tracking only (I like it’s sleep tracker much better).

[MLK4647]

Do you mind telling me what brand you replaced the Fitbit with? I'd love to
have one that works outside! Thanks.

[Sas005]

Just curious, what device did you select to replace Fitbit  Charge 3?   I find this inability to read even the time on this device to be extremely frustrating (and it is bad considering what the function is)   thanks  Sarah 

Moderator edit: word choice

[Wearher]

Never could

[Rik181]

"(...) it’s easy to see the tracker’s display in direct sunlight (...)"

No it's not. Not mine.

I purchased a FitBit Charge 3 in October 2018, noticed a year later in December 2019 that the display was (or became?) useless in direct sunlight. I checked and registered to the FitBit community forum to learn that I was not the only person (thank you Jaseph for posting the question).

In February 2020, I learned about a replacement program, I applied for it, and I received a replacement unit; I noticed the replacement unit display was slightly brighter, still hard to read in direct sunlight.

Now, June 2021, I’m here with a one-year-old FitBit 3 Charge device that I cannot use as a clock to read the time, in a non-dark environment. Today, for instance outside during day time in the shadow.

Hereafter two pictures I took this morning. One inside my home, where you can read the clock. The second picture I took is outside the house in the shadow of a tree, it shows a device that lacks contrast and adds too much reflection for me to be able to properly read the clock. If I were walking, I would have to stop, cover the device to add shade and work around reflection to be able to read the time.

Which makes the watch useless.

inside - OKoutside - useless

[MichaelV66]

Seems to be a design problem, not a device problem. 

[brolightyear]

More than a year later, I have this problem with my Charge 3, as well. As far as I know it just started ~5-6 months ago but with the pandemic it's possible my reduced time outdoors just made the issue less noticeable. My charge 3 experience has always been a bit disappointing but it used to have enough pro's to outweigh the cons. The screen being unreadable during the day sealed the deal for me that this will be my last fitbit. Aside from this problem, the fitbit has always been slow to update- usually taking 5 minutes even with my phone parked right next to the tracker. The silent alarm used to not be reliable at all. That was fixed somewhat with a firmware update (only after a year of not being able to use the alarm reliably). But the update broke other things, such as the dim screen. I've also been incredibly frustrated by how easy it is to accidently pause tracking on a run when I was simply trying to reflexively lock my screen after checking on my status. Going on a run only to find out that half of it didn't track is super frustrating. Lastly, the phone app moves incredibly slow. It has always been difficult to start the run with GPS sync tracking using the tracker- I've almost always had to do it through the slowwww app. On top of that, if I click on a data set, like sleep, it will take forever to load the page. Then it freezes. I have to wait over ten minutes for the app to start responding again. I do not understand how a company as large as fitbit can have so many things wrong with their trackers. I wish I could say better things about it, but it's one of the most disappointing tech products I have ever owned. 

[WilsonFitbit]

Hello everyone. Thank you very much for your participation in the community forums. 

I'm very sorry for the inconveniences experienced and I truly appreciate the time you've taken to provide your feedback. Please note that any feedback posted in the forums is always welcome as it helps to improve our products, services and overall environment.

At this time, if you haven't contacted our Support Team, I recommend reaching out to them for further assistance. Please make sure to explain the inconveniences and mention the troubleshooting steps you've followed, this way they can assist you from there. 

Note that you can contact them through chat or over the phone, but phone wait times have been longer than normal, so I recommend initiating a chat. Click here to get connected. 

Lastly, please note that this thread is now closed and if you have any other questions or inquiries, please post them in a new thread. 

See you around.