Charge 4 won't connect to GPS

[Kcoston]

why won't my charge 4 connect to GPS? It just keeps on showing "connecting" but never does. Had no trouble with the Ionic GPS connecting...

[Pesky]

Well it seems to be working with the settings that everyone suggested , see how it goes tomorrow for my fun run 

thanks for everyone’s support and input 

[PF77]

Try the work around @Boycey475. Works for me in West Berkshire.

[Monster_Lou]

The only way that I found that works is setting my GPS to "Phone GPS" and I left the "GLONASS" on. I do have to turn on my location and Bluetooth on my phone and I have been getting faster connections and no issues connecting the GPS. I have never had to do this before the firmware update happened. When they updated the GPS with the Dynamic settings I noticed it started taking longer to connect. I am going to try and find a way to roll back the firmware. I feel that the firmware update did screw things up. I would like to avoid burning to batteries on both devices when I for walk/runs.

[SunsetRunner]

I agree with everything said in this thread. I've had mine since June 01 and I e spent more time scrolling through forums and re-installing the app and standing outside my house for 10 minutes waiting for the Charge 4 to connect than I have using it for it's its intended purpose. It's great at giving you dumb uninteresting notifications about how many friggin lighthouses you've climbed (who cares???) But the built-in GPS is so inconsistent, it's frustrating. The battery life is crap, and it won't sync even if you've got the FitBit on top of your phone. 

ANYWAY even though I'm out of warranty, customer support have agreed to give me a refund on the item, so do get in contact with them.

[Gr4ndp4]

That's interesting!- I have been using the settings (built-in-GPS, Glonass on GPS low power off) for two days now. Two long walks and a short walk and I got map tracks in full each time but at the cost of battery depletion. I've just tried using the phone GPS, as suggested and that worked as well. I think I need to see it repeat the exercises a few more times to be confident. 

Cheers

[Pesky]

M’y fun run worked too and noticed today there a new release not feeling confident about the update considering how long it’s taken 

[SculleyF3]

These settings seemed to work for me also. Will be trying it out on a long  🏃‍:male_sign: tomorrow. 

[Hhooper]

Moderator Edit: How can the Fitbit charge 4 not connect to GPS? That is literally one of the things that you market about the product. When I first received the FitBit, it worked no problem. Now it can not establish a connection—neither in cities or suburbs. Last Fitbit product I buy 

[dotface]

ALL, I JUST WENT TO LIVE CHAT WITH FITBIT AND THEY SENT ME THIS LINK TO REVIEW.  IT MIGHT BE HELPFUL TO ANY OF YOU WITH THIS GPS ISSUE ON CHARGE 4 https://help.fitbit.com/articles/en_US/Help_article/1874.htm#How3

They also told me they are working on a fix for dynamic gps disconnecting and built in gps draining the battery.  NOT SURE when we will see an update

[JakeOMite]

I gave up and returned mine! Not worth it! Too much hassle!! 

[dmarsh99]

dotface, this isn't aimed at you.  It's aimed at Fitbit, but it has to be said. 

Sorry to be a "hater", Fitbit, but this is classic "help" that isn't really help.  You contact customer service because you have an issue that goes beyond a simple FAQ, and they suggest you go to the FAQ.  You have an issue that goes beyond what they have on the website - then suggest you go to the website.  

I'm sorry companies (and I mean ALL companies), there is NO WAY you can anticipate ALL things people will encounter with your product and then have the solution on the web page.  For me, I've exhausted all the web-based solutions before I call.  HellooOOOOooo, THAT"S WHY I'M CALLING! 

Where do you think I got the phone number to call you?  Think about it...   YOUR WEB PAGE!!!  Hmmmm, now scratch your head... Do you really think I didn't already look through your web pages for an answer?  I need to talk to a human, and I don't mean just any human - a human who has ACTUAL DETAILED KNOWLEDGE of your system.  That's what I really need.  Not some **ahem** who only knows what the computer screen is telling them as they step-by-step take me through re-booting and a host of other useless tasks before they FINALLY let me talk to someone with skill.  I'm sorry, but it's high time that companies realize their customers in the modern world are far more self-sufficient and web-savvy than just a few years ago.  ANSWER THE PHONE!!!!!

[SunsetRunner]

The whole point of the build in gps is that you can leave your phone home right.. so why do i need to sync with my phone? If the build in GPS doesn't work properly,  i could have simply downloaded any sport app on my phone and track the same..

[JHS88-92]

I previously posted that I would make the Glonast, etc. Software  changes to overcome the connecting issue. I did this and the watch was connecting within 10 seconds. Great stuff until it disconnected me on two subsequent occasions. This was enough to send me over the edge so I went back to the retailer and they replaced it with a brand new one. This was good of them, but my confidence in Fitbit had taken a hit so I exchanged the Charge 4 for a Garmin Forerunner 245 music watch which ended up only being only 150 dollars more than the charge 4. I am so happy with the Garmin. Connection is absolutely no problem which you would expect from the pioneers of GPS tech. I should have gone with them in the first place as I am a serious runner and the GPS was the main reason I bought the Charge 4. Sorry to jump ship guys but this is how it is.

[Gr4ndp4]

• @SunsetRunner  The Charge 4 onboard GPS was subject to unfavourable comment from the earliest reviews and Fitbit have, quite rightly, taken steps to provide a GPS option that does not deplete the onboard battery as much as was originally the case. In my experience. The built-in GPS works well but the price continues to be battery depletion, by about 50% over a two-hour run/walk, the alternative Bluetooth piggyback using your phone GPS reduces device battery capacity by 3% over a similar period. Battery efficiency continues to be a limiting factor in all small form electronic devices, the size of the Charge 4 naturally limits the capacity of the battery. Other activity trackers manage the built-in GPS load by having more battery and a larger form. I find both the GPS options work well but have not yet seen reports of the "dynamic" option offering an improvement.
• Cheers

[Daniel2020]

I went for a cycle ride this morning,  It was on a country road, no clouds, no buildings in proximity and the odd treed area.  My total ride was 41 km.  My Charge 4 GPS connected initially and after 1.2 km disconnected from GPS.  This also happened a few days ago whilst kayaking, not much obstacles in the middle of the Ottawa river.

I had charged the Charge 4 to 100% overnight, I have GPS set to dynamic, and I synched just before the ride.

Is there anything I could have done differently to improve the GPS.  If not it is going back to the dealer and I will go back to my Charge 2.  The only reason I bought the Charge 4 was GPS, which does not work very well.

[Gr4ndp4]

Hi @Daniel2020 your problem is almost certainly the "dynamic" setting. I use the following -

Go into GPS settings and set GPS to built-in GPS, GLONASS on and GPS low power mode off. This will drain your battery so make sure you have 90%+ when starting (50% in two hours is not unusual). Alternatively set the GPS to phone GPS, GLONASS on, GPS low power mode off, this utilises your phone GPS and you will see only low battery drain on the device (on the same two-hour walk this setting depleted the device battery 3%). Note also that when starting your run/ride you must wait until the demented GPS arrow says "connected" which can take a "few" minutes", especially if you are using the built-in GPS setting.

A fuller explanation can be found at https://help.fitbit.com/articles/en_US/Help_article/1874.htm?Highlight=Dynamic#How3

These settings are reliable, "dynamic" is not as far as I can see.

Cheers

[daveo555]

I think I found a way to make "dynamic" mode work.  In my experience, when the watch is in dynamic mode it will never fall back to using the phone's GPS *unless* you perform the step of manually syncing the watch to the Fitbit app on the phone while the watch is displaying the "connecting" arrow.  I tried a couple of experiments where I began a walk in dynamic mode.  I found that if I didn't perform the sync step, the watch would always use the built-in GPS.  I repeated the experiments, but this time I did a manual sync to the app while the watch was attempting to acquire a GPS signal.  In each case, the instant the sync was complete, the watch would show "connected", presumably using the phone's GPS.  I found the manual sync step is also necessary when the watch is configured to always use the phone's GPS.  I could never get it to use the phone's GPS unless I did a sync while it was trying to connect to GPS.

It's a bit bogus to have to insert this extra step in order to use the phone's GPS.  My Charge 4 replaces a Charge 2 that was working like a champ until I finally broke it.  The Charge 2 never had any problem using the phone's GPS and never required a "sync" step in order to make the GPS connection.

[dotface]

HERE IS WHAT IS DISTURBING...............FITBIT  MODERATORS ARE NOT COMMENTING ON THIS ISSUE WITH GPS AT ALL.  BY NOT COMMENTING THEY ARE  LOSING CUSTOMERS.  THEY NEED TO ADDRESS THIS PROBLEM AND EXPLAIN TO THEIR  CUSTOMERS THAT  THEY ARE WORKING ON A FIX AND STOP IGNORING THIS ISSUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Anne8524]

Where do you go to do that?

[JHS88-92]

My new Forerunner 245 music, which I exchanged for my Fitbit Charge 4 because of GPS connection issues, even connects when I am sitting indoors or in the car! Absolutely amazing hardware. It has GPS+GLONAST (Russian system) and GPS+GALILEO (EU system), so pretty solid system. I don't like to slate companys as the more competition the better, but if Fitbit want to be serious about GPS, then they need to get to the same level as Garmin or expect a lot of unhappy customers. I must applaud them on their return policy though as they took my old one back no problem 😉