Charge 4 won't hold a charge

[ArchAngelDante]

This weekend my Charge 4 just suddenly went from lasting days to not been able to hold a charge more than 2 hours. This is after just over 2 years of ownership. My charge 2 did exactly the same thing a few months after its 2nd birthday as well. 

I know batteries degrade with time, but that's too dramatic a change to be chalked up to normal battery degradation. Almost reeks of planned obsolescence. 

I had multiple charge 3s changed under warranty due to issues with the display before giving up and getting the Charge 4 with the discount offered by Fitbit.

I was also keen on getting the Sense 2 but changed my mind after seeing how much they nerfed the device.

I am officially done with Fitbits. I mainly kept using them due to their impressive sleep tracking but it's no longer enough of a justification to keep buying what are frankly, poorly made devices with numerous bugs. 

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[DavideFitbit]

Hi, it's good to see you visiting the community forums, @ArchAngelDante, 

I'm sorry to see that you've been having this inconvenience with your Charge 4 and I appreciate all the feedback provided so far. 

There are a few features that would make the battery drain faster than usual, even in one day. Some of these features are: 

• Built-in GPS (Charge 4 can have a battery life of up to 4 days when using this feature regularly, or up to 5 hours if you use it continuously).
• Tracking SpO2 (Fitbit points out in this article that you may have to charge your Fitbit device more often when collecting SpO2 data).

If this doesn't apply to you, another step that has been helpful for other users having battery draining problems is the restart procedure. In general, it is recommended to follow the recommendations listed in this article to improve or extend battery life as well. 

[TSherm]

I've begun to experience the same issues in just over the last week. Same tracker, same age (2 years and 2 months). Terribly frustrating! Bought my Mom a Charge 5 in August and hers stopped working last week. Fortunately hers is still under warranty and I have a visit planned (cross country) so can try to help her, but I'm not feeling very good about the products at present and am looking at other options.

[DavideFitbit]

@TSherm Thanks for your reply and for all the feedback provided. 

Before considering other options, could you please confirm if you already tried all the steps suggested here earlier? They have been helpful for other users experiencing something similar. 

[TSherm]

Confirmed. I’ve tried turning off all of the non-essential features. I’ve restarted. It will not hold a charge for more than a few hours. I’ve had my device for 27 months. The strap broke off six months ago and the fact that it couldn’t be repaired was extremely frustrating. I ended up purchasing a third party strap that enabled me to insert the “brains” into the strap because at the time it still worked fine. I have loved my Fitbit but the issues are becoming tiresome. It seems like the one-year warranty is optimized for the company and not the users and based on the frequency with which I see these same issues on the forum I’m hesitant to purchase another.

Sent from my iPhone

[willjoe]

If your Charge 4 won't turn on, here are some troubleshooting steps you can try:

Check battery level: Make sure your Charge 4 has enough battery power. If the battery is drained, you may need to charge it before it will turn on. Connect it to a charger and let it charge for at least 30 minutes.

Try a different charger and cable: Sometimes a faulty charger or cable can prevent your Charge 4 from turning on. Try using a different charger and cable to see if that resolves the issue.

Check for physical damage: Inspect your Charge 4 for any physical damage such as water damage, visible cracks, or other signs of damage. If there is any physical damage, it may be preventing your Charge 4 from turning on.

Restart your Charge 4: Press and hold the button on your Charge 4 for at least 8-10 seconds until the Fitbit logo appears. This will perform a hard reset on your Charge 4 and may help to resolve any software issues.

Regards,

Diana

[DavideFitbit]

@TSherm Thanks for your reply. 

Just to confirm the issue is not related to the battery not charging properly, please make sure to try the recommendations listed here as well. You can also follow the recommendations @willjoe provided earlier. Let me know about the outcome. 

[ArchAngelDante]

Yeah, have tried to suggested solutions and has not helped. Feels like a recurrence of the same issue that happened to my Charge 2.

Moderator edit: format

[DavideFitbit]

@ArchAngelDante Thank you for your reply and for confirming that you already tried the steps suggested.  

I've gone ahead and sent your information to the Customer Support team for further assistance, so you should be getting a reply soon. Please keep an eye on your inbox. 

See you around. 

[Rcameron]

The same thing happened to me yesterday. It seems like after an update. My charge 4 would hold a charge for a few days and suddenly it will only hold a charge for about two hours. I think an update on corporate's side went askew.. 

[SunsetRunner]

Yeah my fitbit charge 4 just started doing the same thing while on vacation last week and it's the same age.  Went through did all the suggestions and guess what within 2 hours later is shut off while I was at work and it didn't even notify my it was shutting off.  Get home put it on the charge which I had it on before I left for work and so i knew it had a full battery and I got the smiley face showing it restarted up.  So after reading everything and doing everything I gave up and said forget this I'm not going to buy a new fitbit because this is just all a waste and headache and I found myself with a better watch through Amazon.

[Surf_Doggie]

Same battery not holding charge in the Charge 5 forum and other forums, not all just some. It started happening to my device "Charge 5" 3 or 4 days ago.

[Surf_Doggie]

I have a Charge 5 and the battery went from lasting 5 days to 6 hours about 5 days ago. I got another fitbit software update this morning and now it runs for an hour LOL. I have had multiple issues on the charge 5 because of fitbit software updates but the watch usually heals itself with the next update. This time the update appears to have made it worse.

[TSherm]

My Fitbit charges just fine, it just won't hold a charge for more than a few hours. I have had to carry my charging cable with me everywhere I go to be sure I have it in the event that the battery runs out while I'm away from home. It used to be that I could go 3-4 days on a single charge. I'm open to other suggestions, but skeptical...

[DavideFitbit]

Hi everyone, I appreciate all the updates. 

I'm sorry to see that many of you are still having this problem, even after trying all the steps suggested earlier. 

If the issue persists, I do recommend that you continue the communication with the Customer Support team so they can let you know how to proceed. You can get in touch with them here to chat with them or to give them a call.