Charge 3 smiley face

[flynnwt]

My Chargeless 3 'worked' for a week or so (bad sync'ing, etc.), but went away for good Dec. 18. 

Symptoms: no visibility to bluetooth devices, smiley face when on charger for a few secs, will vibrate on charger, blank face after a few seconds on charger or when removed, no battery charge indicator on screen.

I measured the current draw with a UM24 USB meter (using the charger) and a benchtop power supply, (direct to pins), and in both cases the current draw is very low (< 10mA, which is slightly more than charger itself).  It periodically goes to ~17mA, which might be the on-board charging circuit attempting to charge battery but quitting because of low voltage (bad battery), or some other circuit failure.  

So it's highly likely devices like this will never work.  No idea why Fitbit isn't immediately replacing these.

Moderator edit: updated subject for clarity

[Doballat]

It can’t be fixed - if it is still under warranty Fitbit will replace it .

Sent from my iPhone

[Ddunning86]

I had two do the same thing. Never had any luck think it’s the models defect. I switched to a different brand. Sorry

Moderator edit: personal info removed

[Ddunning86]

Yea and the other I replaced it with did the same thing.

Moderator edit: personal info removed

[Charge3Bricked]

My Charge 3 bricked a couple months after I bought it as well.  I've moved on.

I share my story with others, telling them not to get one.

My wife's other fitbit bricked but we had the Best Buy protection plan, so they replaced it but then Best Buy told me they don't sell the protection plans on fitbits anymore. . . . They wouldn't say why . . ..

Buyer beware. Or just stay away.  Sorry this happened to so many people.

I really like my Samsung Gear 3 though.

[psg_au]

Fresh out of the box and getting this behaviour...

So, What's the story Mr FitBit, No quality control on the production line either.

Shipping products that are Dead on arrival does no one any good....

[Blond1]

This has not worked for me.  I am really angry!  I just bought this fitbit the end of January!

[MaireJ]

I am having the same exact issue with mine, right now.

[Lthacker]

Fitbit Charge 3 - display won’t work.  followed Your instructions to plug it up,got the smiley face but can’t get it to turn on and work

Moderator edit: format

[Mistycat2]

I have the same I've just been on to chat and did the reset again it was continually switching from time to notifications but now only got smiley face and cannot get hold of chat now. It wont even bluetooth anymore

[GolferGirl47]

I ended up connecting it first to my iPhone; then to the iPad. Don’t know why it worked then.

Sent from my iPad

[Mistycat2]

Tried this but unfortunately I cannot get it to connect now to bluetooth.

[abocian]

mine is doing the same exact thing when i plugged it in last night and will do nothing once get the smiley face.....anyone have something from corporate?

[B_naughton7]

This worked for a second. After I did this it turned on and said that my batter was almost full and then 2 minutes later it died and did the same thing again where it would not vibrate and the screen stayed black and made a smiley face after I would plug it into my computer.

[Picolo]

Guys I had the same problem with a brand new Fitbit I bought from Kohl's. 

Tried charging a new Fitbit charge 3, only got a smiley face which doesn't bulge past that. 

No battery icon when plugged in to charge. 

Troubleshooted the Fitbit accordingly to forums, and only got back a blank screen in the end. 

Reached out to customer service, which just resulted in their solution of requesting me to ship the Fitbit to them to CHECK for WARRANTY.  What a joke! It's newly bought with a receipt to show, and yet they're still asking me to ship it to them for warranty check. 

First time getting a brand new item that doesn't work right from the go LOL! And their customer service is **ahem**. 

Fitbit's moto is to sell defective products and worm away from anything that costs them more money. 

This brand is GARBAGE. PLEASE PLEASE AVOID BUYING THIS. I SENT THE GARBAGE BACK FOR A REFUND AND GOT AN APPLE WATCH INSTEAD. 

[VerneIowa]

My Charge 3 that the VA gave me in January 2020 for a study has been difficult to charge for the last 2 months.  At first it wouldn't charge through the computer but would through a wall charger but now nothing works.  I cleaned all the prongs on every end and still nothing.  Then I got out a magnifying glass and could see that one of the prongs on the charger was flush with the plastic casing - it wasn't sticking out at all and no longer making a good connection.

I looked all over the fitbit manual and store and don't see a replacement charger.  I see that compatible chargers don't always work.  This is my second fitbit and I'm ready to give up.

In addition this model started counting random floors.  One day on mostly level ground I came back and saw over 100 floors!

[lauraang73]

I have the same issue...very frustrating