How to turn off Fitbit Charge 2?

[Aloha_totoro]

How to turn off fitbit charge 2?

Moderator edit: format. 

[Squirt11]

Thank you battery flat, as haven’t used it since August cos of a broken foot so walking nowhere lol

Sent from my iPad

[PeteG-1]

@USAF-LarryYeah, sort of, except that it has a sort of "hibernation mode", when you dis-associate it with an account, probably for long-term pre-sales transport, my guess anyway.

If it's got this mode, they should be able to allow you to enter this mode, in an easier way/method.  They could require a sync, or agreement to "loss of data if not sync'd" before entering, if this is the key impediment, which I sort of suspect (from a s/w engineering view).

Packing up your Charge2, while recovering from a surgery or something (say you just don't want to see the numbers or similar), shouldn't result in cycling the battery to zero (or close).  Even if the firmware is smart enough to shut it down in some way, say at 5%-ish, it's not great for a battery to go that low, often.  If it's going to basically 0-5%, before "dying", that's really bad for it, and can potentially render the battery un-chargeable.

[PeteG-1]

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@Atomic77wrote:

Its that way because it is. Its meant to always be on. 

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How about during flight, that seems like it could be (technically) an issue.

BT is good for about 30 feet or so, which is pretty big radius, to a ton of electronics in a plane, and the BT radio (low-energy or not) is on, and seeking occasionally, like it or not. 

I suspect this is counter to existing FAA rules, although they probably don't even want to contemplate how to address "wearables", in general...

[BobM2]

But, of course, draining a Lithium Ion battery to zero is about the worst thing you can do. Just destroys battery longevity. Then you get to buy a new fitbit, since there's no way to change the battery out.

[Rich_Laue]

Even with the Blaze and the Surge, turning them off did not stop the battery from going to zero. Of course when they get put on the charger they power up. 

[PeteG-1]

@Rich_Laue Sure, pretty much every battery made has at least *some* slow-drain. Even the "low-self-discharge" NiMH batteries that are so common now (aa, aaa, etc...), they'll go to zero, typically over 1-3 years, depending on their quality (assuming a full charge, to start).

It's entirely possible that the various FB models are designed in such a way, that even in "power-off mode", they're really just in a "really low draw" state, maybe powering some NVRAM or similar, who knows (not like FB is going to disclose this), without disassembling one, and doing a bunch of traces/tests (I guess, if you were really looking for an odd project).

Someone else mentioned how bad it was, to let it drain to zero, or close, which is very true, with pretty much all modern rechargeable batteries.

It'd sure but nice, IMO, to be able to just turn it actually off, in some scenarios, or pause it, at times.

I pedal a lot, more than anything else active by far, but occasionally ride my motorcycle too, and boy does it rack up a TON of steps.  It knows I'm pedaling, and does the right thing (auto-start, cycling).

I tend to think it does "odd" stuff to the resting-HR too, since I'm doing a lot of "walking", with a very low HR (my resting is usually in the low 50's anyway).

[BobM2]

Yeah, I ride motorcycles, too. First time I wore the Charge 2 while riding it credited me with more than 10,000 steps and dozens of floors in a 30 minute ride. Just silly. 
But given all the other issues and inaccuracies I've found, I won't be buying another Fitbit when this one dies, so in the long run it doesn't really matter.

[PeteG-1]

Yep, I've seen similar, I try to remember to put mine in my pocket, if I'm riding (the motorcycle only), it seems to minimize it a bit.

I was thinking along the same lines, but I think some FB features are just too good to "trade off", from recent experience. 

I received an Ionic, as my holiday gift, but the darn thing was so ultra-flaky, that I returned it, and decided to try a Garmin.  Big mistake, IMO, it never auto-started my rides, and maybe sometimes my "rest-day walks", it was insanely unpredictable.  I didn't really see much more HR accuracy, if I wore my old cycling HR belt, the numbers were similarly a bit off.

Yeah, the interface was slick, but so was the Ionic's, if only it had a more stable Bluetooth chipset/firmware/whatever, so that's likely in whichever my next fitness watch is.  

I sort of hope FB releases an Ionic"2", or similar, fixing most of the current issues...

The Charge3, if it's similar to speculative articles I've seen, just isn't much of  an upgrade, for me, I really want to move to more of a smart-watch format, next, and have the auto-start accuracy that I've only seen on FB (no one even seems to come close, and it's a feature that escapes many reviews, from what I've seen).

[HeydyF]

Hello folks! I hope you are doin' great!  

I can see that most of you are asking for an option to turn OFF the Charge 2 because it is tracking extra steps when you are not actually walking but instead, you are driving a car or a motorcycle, and specially when you are driving over bumpy roads or too fast. As some other users have responded, no, there is no option to turn off the Charge 2, it only shuts down when the battery has totally drained out, but this isn't a recommended workaround. 

In order to avoid your Charge 2 to record so many extra steps while driving, I can suggest you a few things: 

1. Manually log Driving activity for certain time period to negate all steps in that time, still leaving heart rate data and calories.

2. Attach anywhere else on torso or in pocket to avoid it tracks steps while driving and heart rate. You'll always see calories burned. 

3. Try with DriveBit app which is super easy to use and you can set it to custom activity name. Just hit start when sitting, and then stop when your up and moving. It does everything else for you and subtracts the accumulated steps from your count after it's logged.

Give it a try and keep me posted! 

[Juice74]

I have long since gotten rid of my fitbit device. After a week, I was far
from impressed with the unit. I went to a Garmin, for the same price and
got a waterproof unit that is easier to use with more features.

[BobM2]

Cumbersome workarounds to a design flaw really aren't a "feature."

[Anne2525]

Making the assumption that someone would wear it 24/7 is stupid. Life happens and maybe you just want to store it for a while. I guess the only way is to run down the battery if you want to store it. But there are a myriad of reasons to want to turn it off immediately. For example it could be interfering with another BT device.  I guess in that case just put it out in the garbage because that is what it is. 

[Rich_Laue]

I'm the 69 years of my life I have never met anyone who wanted to turn off their watch when the took it off. 

Personally even when I take the watch off, I certainly would not want to have set the time when place img it back on the arm. 

Now if the tracker was shutoff and the clock not disabled, would that not simply run the battery down? 

[BobM2]

The tracker gets its time from your phone. The first time you sync after turning it back on it will have the right time again.

[MarreFitbit]

Hey there @Juice74 @BobM2 @Anne2525, thanks for getting back!  I totally understand your point my friends. However, as my friend @HeydyF mentioned, there's no way/option to turn off your Charge 2 trackers when you take them off or when you're driving. Did you try the 3 suggestions she shared with you here? 

I agree with @Rich_Laue. The only thing I do when I take my tracker off is to switch the Heart Rate settings to "OFF". Sometimes the Charge 2 can't detect you have taken it off, and it sees what it thinks is your pulse. This is can be explained in this article. Note that if you remove your tracker but it keeps moving, for example if you put it in a pocket or backpack, the tracker may display an erroneous heart rate reading. 

Also, another thing I do while I drive with my Charge 2 is to plug it into the USB charger while I'm in the car. It pauses counting while charging and I never get a flat battery. I don't bother for short drives. But don't forget to put it back on after your car ride! 

Last but not least, as everyone knows, most of the users are requesting for an option/way to avoid erroneous steps during activities that don't include steps. To what I recommend up-voting and commenting on Add "Driving Mode" feature to avoid erroneous steps/floors feature suggestion since it is very similar of what you're looking and asking for.

Thanks so much for your understanding! Hope you guys can vote for the suggestion! 

[Julia_G]

I agree with those excellent suggestions, @MarreFitbit!

[Mikem57]

When I ride my motorcycle it thinks iam riding a bicycle and logs a bunch of exercise activity. How do istop that?

[PeteG-1]

Mine's a bit better, if I take it off my wrist, and put it in a jacket pocket, I think this adds some "cushion/buffer", and seems to cut down (but far from eliminate) the number of "vibration" steps I get, when I ride the motorcycle.

I pedal a lot (a lot more yearly miles than my motorcycle), and sometimes it thinks I'm riding (the bicycle), when I'm on the motorcycle, I've accidentally logged a couple of "huge" rides, hmm ;-]

[Tinysuz]

I want to turn off my Charge 2 in order to sell it, but can’ Seem to turn it off!

[Julia_G]

Hi, @Tinysuz, the Charge 2 cannot be turned off.