Charge 3 stopped going to full brightness

[EdP46]

About six months ago my Charge 3 stopped going to full brightness when I was trying to use it outdoors in daylight. If the weather is anything but overcast, it is useless as a fitness tracker. You cannot see anything that's on the screen. My heart rate is very important to me because I have heart disease. It used to work just fine but then it stopped. If FitBit doesn't care about its existing customers, then they will not have worry about them because they will go away. FitBit may not be a democracy, but I can still vote with my feet. 

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[CindyMFitbit]

Hi there @EdP46. 

Thanks for taking the time to share what you've experienced with your Fitbit Charge 3 and for the feedback provided, I understand how you are feeling about this situation. Our team is always working on improving our devices and user experiences, and your comments are always welcome. 

I recommend making sure that the Sleep Mode option is disabled on your Fitbit Charge 3. When the sleep mode setting is on:

• Notifications don't cause the tracker to vibrate or the screen to turn on.
• The screen's brightness is set to dim.
• Turning your wrist won't cause the tracker's screen to turn on and you need to press the button. 

To turn off Sleep mode: Press and hold the button, and swipe left to access the quick settings screen. Tap Sleep to turn it on or off. When you turn off the setting, the icon appears dim with a line through it.

On a side note, I've moved your post to this board to keep our forums organized.

Hope this helps. 

[EdP46]

Hi Cindy, my charge 3 was set to sleep mode on and schedule on. When I turned both of these settings off and returned to the main settings menu, the display became bright for a fraction of a second and then went back to dim. I be gone outside in the sun and the screen is barely legible when I shade it.the fact that the display can go bright for a fraction of it second tells me that I don’t have a hardware problem. I’ve tried resetting the device by putting it in the charging cradle and then pressing both side of the device until I get a smiley face, but problem remains. Is there a way to do a factory reset on this. It worked fine for a year. Now it’s unusable outdoors. 

[CindyMFitbit]

Thanks for your response @EdP46. 

I appreciate for providing me more details about this issue and for trying to turn off the sleep mode. If the restart didn't help, you can also try a long restart, by doing the following: 

1. Connect the device to the charging cable. 
2. While the device is plugged into the charging cable, press and hold the button down for 15 seconds. 
3. The device turns on and shows a battery icon. Two vibrations occur: first a short vibration, then a medium vibration. 
4. The device turns off.
5. The device turns on and shows a progress bar and short vibrations occur. The progress bar completes. Note: A total of 7 short vibrations occur. 
6. Remove the device from the charging cable. The device shuts down.
7. Important: Plug the device into the charging cable again.

See you around.