Fitbit Charge 3 Lifespan

[ACheung22]

Hey everyone,

I got my Fitbit just over a year ago (Christmas 2018) and the battery just died 3 days ago. I've been resetting, charging, and doing everything I can but the battery is just out. I contacted support and my warranty is expired (just barely!). I was not able to get any help from customer support.

I wanted to ask how long other Charge 3s have lasted? 

Thanks,

Alex

[Disaapointed]

I came looking here for answers about how to potentially fix my Fitbit after having it only for one year and 5 months. The issues I am having are shared by multiple people in this forum and it would appear I am out of luck. I think I will go do my research and see if there is a better quality device with better costumer service and support with a different company. Feeling rather disappointed.

[Rich_Laue]

Hi @Disaapointed what type of issues are you having? Your post says nothing about what problems your experiencing. 

We have many reports of how much fitbit support has helped and I met many every day that love their fitbit's. 

I can say that over the last 7 years it has not been smooth sailing 

[Disaapointed]

Thank you for checking in with me. My screen saver kept flicking back and forth with the clock screen and was vibrating. I reset it. That didn’t work. I changed the clock face and did the upgrade and I thought that might have worked but now it is a black screen and is dead. I am not wanting a device that will need to be replaced just after a year so if it is not on warranty I will try a different brand. So disappointed as when it was working I LOVED it.

Chris Black

Sent from my iPhone

[SFSailLady]

I have had my FITBIT CHarge 3 since March 2019 and I have been quite happy with it until a few days ago when it got so dim I can no longer see it.  I bought the 2 year Warranty but I am now outside of the warranty.  Anyone else having screen issues after a couple of years?  I expected this to last longer.  It seems the Charge 4 is bigger - if so, I wonder if I can get a replacement Charge 3 - even if I have to pay for it.

[SFSailLady]

Thanks for posting experiences about longevity.  Explains my sudden screen issue.

[3frustrated]

I currently have a charge 3 but have had multiple other fitbit over the last few years and all of them have died in some way in under 2 years, many times barely making it over one year. It’s so frustrating to have to get a new Fitbit more often then I get a new phone. And I use my phone way more than I use my Fitbit. My current charge 3 i got in Jan 2020 and a couple days ago the screen started spazzing. Flipping between the clock fase and the dnd screen and now it doesn’t seem to be charging. Or the constantly changing screen drains it as it charges since it will stay on as long as it’s plugged in. I tried restarting it with no change. As this happened to my previous Fitbit and I was told there is no fix to it I am giving up. I will be looking for a fitness tracker that can last at least two years, preferably longer. I’m sick of buying new ones so often. Which is really sad because when they work I love my Fitbit. But the price no longer seems worth it to me if I have to get a new one so often. 

[Rich_Laue]

@SFSailLady have you check the screen brightness settings. 

[BrunetteBossLdy]

My FitBit recently started to become very dim and went up and down and around and around with customer support and they had me try this and that, nothing helped. I bought my FitBit in December 2018 and maintained it meticulously. Even though I got approximately 2.5 years out of it, I’m disappointed. They offered me 35% off my next FitBit, “to stay in the FitBit family”, this would be my 3rd FitBit (this is the 2nd to die) and I feel that the quality just isn’t there. I can’t even imagine the number of FitBits in the landfills, which is sad. 

Moderator edit: format

[prima9665]

Got mine February 2019.  Everything chugging along great - could often go for a week or more without charging (depending on what settings were active, etc).  Just this past Thursday, suddenly it only holds a charge for about 6 hours.  I've tried all the suggestions about cleaning the pins, resetting, rebooting, blah, blah.  Still no improvement.  This makes me NUTS when these technologies all end-of-life just to get you to buy another.  And all these Companies pat themselves on the back about being 'green'.   I think of that every time I toss yet another one of these things in the trash.

[SusieScout]

My husband’s first Charge 3 lasted 6 months. Since it was under warranty, they replaced it. My Fitbit Charge 3 lasted 1.5 years and then died. Obviously not under warranty, so it wasn’t replaced. They are expensive to keep replacing that frequently so we are looking at other options.

[WilsonFitbit]

Hello everyone. For all of you who are new to the community forums, welcome. 

@SusieScout I'm very sorry for the experience and thank you very much for taking the time to provide your feedback. Please note that any feedback posted in the forums is always welcome as it helps to improve our products, services and overall environment.

In addition, please note that replacement devices are provided for products that are within the warranty period. If your original Charge 3 is no longer under warranty a discount could be an available option but some conditions and requirements should be met. For more information about our warranty policy, I recommend visiting the following link: https://www.fitbit.com/global/us/legal/returns-and-warranty. 

See you around. 

[hj55]

Mine died at 1 year 1 month...

[Cneoridium]

I'd say, based on the 5 that my wife and I have gone through in the last 7 years (Charge2, Alta, Charge3).... about a year.   Alta lasted a year and died "nothing we can do".  Second Alta was lost when the band failed after a few months and it fell off.  Charge2 had a split screen cover within weeks and died within a year.   Second Charge 2 lasted a few months and died.  Charge 3 lasted part of a year then stopped working - it was replaced under warranty, and the replacement lasted about 10 months before dying - I can get a 35% discount off the Fitbit website price, which brings it to the going full retail price...       Each death represents hours and hours of testing and resetting and syncing and on the phone to tech services... probably 40-50 hours of my life spent on device testing and service,  and hundreds and hundreds of dollars (could have bought a pretty fancy smartwatch that would still be working for that price).    I really hate to lose all that old data and the app which I love, but just not feasible to keep buying what are basically disposable watches that last a year or under.  

[pjgroeneveld]

Hi,

My experience with the Lifespan of Fitbit (Charge 3).

I bought 3 Charge 3 trackers for myself and my family, approximately 2 1/2 years ago.

2 of them died within a year (became useless due to the vertical lines problem on the display).

The third Charge 3 became useless in the second year, outside guarantee), due to the display becoming so dim that is is useless (tried all solutions mentioned on the forums by support, none of them worked).

From the 2 replaced Charge 3's, one of them has died due to the same "display getting dim" problem.

The other one is currently also slowly dying, since it starts to get dim from the top left corner, slowly spreading over the complete display.

End result : 5 fitbits all dying within 1-2 year after started using them.

All in all, I'm extremely disappointed in the Fitbit quality.

I had expected it to be a quality brand, but it clearly is absolutely not.

First and last time I'll buy a Fitbit or advice someone else to buy one.

[WilsonFitbit]

Hello @hj55, @Cneoridium. Welcome to the community forums. @pjgroeneveld Nice to see you around. 

@hj55 If you haven't contacted our Support Team, I'd recommend reaching out to them through chat or over the phone. Click here to get connected. Note that they will be able to review your case and your available options. 

@Cneoridium, @pjgroeneveld I'm very sorry for the experience and thank you so much for taking the time to provide detailed information and for your feedback. Please note that our team is always working to enhance your experience and your feedback is a big part of that process.

In addition, take into consideration that if you need further assistance, you can also get in touch with our Support Team through chat or over the phone and they will be able to review your cases. 

Lastly, I'd like to let you know that this thread is now closed and if you have any other questions, please post them in a new thread. 

See you around.