Charge 3 too dim

[Vette4ever]

I find the Charge 2 had a darker screen, the 3 I can barely read it, in fact never try, just grab my phone to read the time and steps 

Moderator edit: updated subject for clarity

[Vickrsnickr]

Thanks to everyone who replied to my posting about the Fitbit Charge 3 growing dim after time. I am currently using my husband’s Fitbit Charge 3, which I bought shortly after I bought my own, which is working well and has not faded to dim or invisible . . . Yet! Here are answers to some of the questions posed in recent replies to my posting. No, my Fitbit is no longer under warranty. Yes, I have changed all the settings that can be changed and nothing improves the dim face. Yes, this problem started before the recent update, not after the Agenda feature was added. No, I would not recommend buying a Charge 4 as I have heard negative reviews of that as well. I have read good things about Garmin and we have had several Garmin GPS devices over the years, which we stopped using only because our cars had navigation systems and we bought smartphones, which also have good GPS devices. Good luck to all you Charge 3 owners. When the one I’m using now poops out, which I have no doubt it will based on the experience of many others, I’ll be in the market for a new product. Thanks again.

[LNNG]

Hi

I suggest you do a review of Charge 4.

I suspected the sudden dim is a hardware fault as many people have posted the same issue with no resolution since 2nd half of 2019. I also read the same issue happened to Charge 4 users.

I am switching over the Vera 2, just to play safe now.

May i know where do you reach out to them for the replacement? I dont find fitbit responsive.

I did a search on Charge 4 and saw some people reported same issue too. Suggest you check out before buying. I am considering versa 2.

Moderator edit: merged reply

[Vette4ever]

Thank you 

I bought extended insurance so returned to store.

Sent from my iPhone

Moderator edit: merged reply

[Kedzierski]

Thank you as spent at least an hour trying to fix. I did it with the watch on my wrist. Swiped till the end they tapped on it and it’s bright again 🤗🥳

[Punkarooni]

I used the chat

Sent from my iPhone
Michele

[MyBeagles]

Well THAT was easy and took care of the problem right away.  Didn't remember the swipe option settings.  Thanks SO much!

I had the same problem but found an answer in the 2019 responses and it worked.  On the device itself, tap and swipe to the left.  (I didn't realize this was in there either)  The last icon is a settings icon.  Tap on that and the dimness option appears "Dim, Normal and Auto) Tap the Normal or Auto (I chose normal) and my screen came back.  I had an update recently and wonder if that caused it but none-the-less, my Fit Bit is back to normal.

Moderator edit: merged reply

[JVdb]

My screen dimmed a couple of weeks ago, to the point where I could only see it in perfect darkness.

Tried hard reset etc, nothing worked. I opened the Fit bit app on my phone and in account settings (top left corner of the screen) and tap on  Charge 3. Wait until the app links with the Charge 3 and go to clock faces.I had always used the standard analog clock face, so I just tried a few different ones. Ended up with Retro Double Stat and now it's much better. Not as bright as when new, but I can definitely see it, even outside. Don't know if this will work for others but it's worth a try.

[JVdb]

My screen dimmed a couple of weeks ago, to the point where I could only see it in perfect darkness.

Tried hard reset etc, nothing worked. I opened the Fit bit app on my phone and in account settings (top left corner of the screen) and tap on  Charge 3. Wait until the app links with the Charge 3 and go to clock faces.I had always used the standard analog clock face, so I just tried a few different ones. Ended up with Retro Double Stat and now it's much better. Not as bright as when new, but I can definitely see it, even outside. Don't know if this will work for others but it's worth a try.

[ronaldmacnab]

Here is what worked for me.

On the Charge 3, swipe to the left until you see the "Settings". Tap on "Settings" and "Brightness Settings", should be your first option. Tap on "Brightness" to cycle through the options.

You only have three options for brightness: Dim, Auto, and Normal. I keep mine on Normal, as I like a bright screen.

If your tracker brightness is still too dim after switching from the options, you can restart it by following the instructions provided in the help article: How do I restart my Fitbit device?

Give this a go and let me know the outcome. Man Very Happy

Maria | Community Moderator, Fitbit

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[Irma81]

My Charge 3 won't display the clock face until I use the button on the side.  It used to respond to a tap in the screen.  Does anyone know why it changed?

[harinana7]

Yes!! I am so disappointed. Miss my charge 2

[LNNG]

I did everything stated by different users here. Didn't work for me. Finally my charge3 is too dim to read even indoor! I switched back to my charge2 and it worked perfect!

[billstewart]

The iOS 14 update seems to have kicked the Brightness setting to dim.  Unfortunately, that makes it really hard to see the Settings menus to be able to find Brightness and set it to something else.  I had to go into a dark room and use my reading glasses. It would be really helpful if Fitbit did one or more of three things:

1. Use Brightness = high for the Settings menu even if that's not how you have the rest of the watch set
2. Let you use the phone app to set all the different Fitbit Device settings, instead of requiring you to do it from the device.
3. At the very least, document the exact menu settings, so we know that Settings is the right-most item, and Brightness is the first one, and what all the others are too; half of mine are dimmed out and I'm going to have to go back into a dark room to see what they are and whether I need to change any of them.

[Twishamerry]

Thank you.

Sent from Twishamerry's iPhone 😘

[Popgloss00]

Mine is completely dark. Tried several times to hard reset. Spoke with customer service and they basically said “too bad, so sad” and offered a 35% off replacement discount. I’ve only had it a little over a year! I never damaged it in any way! So disappointed ☹️ 

[4Rosie]

screen has gone completely blank

[Lespi]

Same as mine, even when it’s full charge.  I think there is no solution to this but to get a new one, but not Fitbit.  It seems they don’t have any answers for this issue. 

[bs1112]

Swiped to left but cant read it because its very dim

[AirWalker]

Mine has been too bright at night - it needs a dimness setting for evenings - and occasionally during the day, like right now, it's so dim I can't read it at all. I am right now walking my dog and I have no idea what the screen says. I can read a couple of much larger numbers and that's it. Cannot read the screen to see what the settings even are. I can't reset it while I'm walking unless I magically accidentally happened to tap on the correct things.  This stinks.  Company needs to redo the brightness as noted so that you can read what the heck the settings page says when you're trying to reset it because it's too darn dim.

[STrav]

I am glad you were able to get a replacement.  I tried to get a replacement when my Charge 2 was only 2 months old.  Now my screen is completely dark, and I find it a pain to have to check my phone for the time.  Fitbit is producing high priced junk, and I won't  be buying any more of their products.  Their customer service is the poorest of any company I've dealt with. 

[bs1112]

They replaced mine. Works again much brighter then the first one i got

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