Sudden Charge 4 battery drain

[bagg1nns]

So this week, both my partner and I have experienced huge battery drain with our Charge 4 devices for no apparent reason.

Previously, I was averaging about 5 and a half days between needing to charge it. Then without changing any settings, the battery life has plummeted and I've needed to charge it roughly every 24 hours... I've since tried tweaking a couple of settings such as changing dynamic GPS to phone only, but it's still only partly improved the situation (dropping 15% overnight, so at most it would now last 3 days between charges).

My device was brand new in June, and my partners was brand new in July and both suddenly experience the same massive battery drain issues at the same time. What gives? One device going defective is one thing, but for both to go the same way at the same time, has there been some kind of surreptitious firmware update or something?

Moderator edit: updated subject for clarity. 

[cossie93]

My issue started when I upgraded the software, was OK before that now it losing 3-4 % charge an hour

[Catfitmom]

I have had mine for about a year now. I noticed this issue on Wednesday night.  I charged it that night.  I then woke up to find it charged but had died in the middle of the night.  I charged it again and wore it only to wake up find it was dead again. This is so frustrating and I hope it gets resolved for you.

[Schmjg]

The chat line on Fitbit is vertically worthless! have been dealing with them on 4 separate issues regarding my Fitbit 3 and now 4 for years and it's just a known that they will not warranty their product as the warranty states.My Fitbit charge 4 that I purchased in Seirra Vista Best Busy last December or 8 months ago will not charge to 100% (they say it does) and only last 2-3 days on a 98% charge as indicated on my fitbit and wanting me to keep it on the charge cord ( well we darn sure know ya cant use or or wear it) on the charge cord..Very irritated g


Jim G Schmalz 

Moderator Edit: Formatting

[bagg1nns]

Well after monitoring the battery usage all day and not seeing any major, sudden drains... I stopped paying attention for an hour to go play a computer game and then spotted the usual low battery alert/email. Went from 50% to 6% and finally died before I could even get it to the charger. This is a major problem, it didn't even last 24 hours between charge again 😠

Fitbit, what is going on? From what I've seen on the forums, there's a sudden influx of people with battery problems.

Moderator Edit: Formatting

[Schmjg]

I'm having near the same problem with my Charge 3, I went to bed last night for my Fitbit to monitor my sleep (I have a bad heart) and in the middle of the night mine went totally dead. Never monitored my sleep study and shut down at like 1:30 amWhen I started texting FITBIT help line they claim nothing is wrong..


Jim G Schmalz 

[Sdnative73]

I had the same issue, mine was only 6 weeks old.  I feel like it literally started overnight, very soon after it updated.  There is no other way for me to explain it, it went from 6-7 days on a full charge to literally a day or two.  I turned off all GPS, no notifications, dim screen, everything and anything.  Nothing helped, it just got worse.  I contacted Fitbit via chat, and they were very helpful.  They looked over my account, and gave me some tips to follow, and told me to contact them in a few days if it didn’t help.  When I got back in touch with them a week later, they once again looked over my account and said I was still under warranty and sent me an email link for a new device.  They were awesome, it was that easy.  I’ve have the new one for a few days now, and no problems.  I have decided I will skip the firmware update in hopes of that keeping it in working order.  Good luck!

[bagg1nns]

To provide a bit of an update, I contacted Support on Friday who asked me to monitor the battery over the weekend. 4 recharges later, Monday morning they agreed there was an issue. Just waiting on the replacement device to arrive which hopefully solves the issue....!

[Sdnative73]

I would give them a few days. Continue syncing your Fitbit to the app after its fully charged and throughout the day. I did that thinking it would at least document the draining of the battery throughout the day in my app. I then contacted them back after 4 or 5 days as directed. The rep I chatted with researched my account, pulled up my previous conversation, as well as my app info, and that’s when they told me I qualified for a replacement. Don’t give up hope yet, just be vigilant with continuing to use the device and app, and follow through with contacting them again.

Good luck!

Sent from my iPhone

[ECI210]

Thank you! Appreciate your input. I’ll give it another shot. 

Moderator edit: format

[Schmjg]

My charge 4 thats 08 months old did this excact same thing and continues to, I monitored it as directed by the FIRBIT trouble shooters and they agreed to replace my charge 4. Well that was a week ago and 1/2 a week ago they emailed me and told me the address I had sent them wasn't correct.((.its my current address )) how the heck would they know that the address isn't correct? I believe they are pulling a fast one and are delaying replacing my Fitbit charge 4 that is doing the exact same thing thing as it did. Ive got to charge it every day and it's actually quitting my prior to 24 hour's..but of course there's nothing wrong with it..

getting pretty **ahem** mad here as this is the 5th Fitbit in 6-years...the company is getting worse and worse..just saying 

[Goldblum57]

Fitbit has quietly deleted several posts in this thread, including mine (twice) reporting that the same rapid battery drain is happening to us. Well, I'm posting again to note that this happened to me just past warranty expiration.

(Fitbit, I hope you will not delete my response a third time. I'm not sure why you would do so in the first place. I'm not a resident complainer. I've owned multiple Fitbit products since 2014. We should be allowed to reply with our accurate similar experiences here.)

[Dave8]

Mine went from 92% at 5:00 PM to dead at 8:00 PM. I was having trouble weeks ago after it got a little wet. After a week it seemed to normalize. Today, the watch has died 3 times, turning back on at around 70-80% when plugged in. Then the sharp decline tonight. It wasn't syncing and I had to do that whole resync issue. 

[SLONECZNIK]

It happened to me yeasterday. My battery was 45% and went to only 6% in one hour and died suddenly. I've charged to full but it went down over the night to 43%. It was working fine till yeasterday without changing GPS settings (had on Dynamic) battery lasted for 5-7 days.  It's very annoying since  I've got it since last July only. 

[rubil.ahmadi]

Any update from Fitbit regarding this rapid/sudden battery drain.

My charge 4 started doing this wierd battery drain over night. Now it lasts for 2-3h (100% to 2%)

[Dave8]

Mine had just went over a year and was no longer under warranty for full replacement. Instead I was given a list of slightly outdated other devices I could replace it with. I went with the Versa 2, which has been great so far - no problems at all! Though, I never get it wet. Good luck!

[rubil.ahmadi]

Mine went bad suddenly so it should not be HW or battery related issue as battery degrades gradually not over night.

I am surprised Fitbit is not taking any action or not even bother to reply in here. is this Google's new policy? (not to give a **** to customers) 

[SLONECZNIK]

I've got watch and charging cable replacement. The funny think is that the
first replacement wasn't working at all and I had to return it
. Now the second is working fine so far.

[meherenow]

They just did a firmware update, mine is now doing the same

[MSSRocks]

Same here. Three nights ago I did the upgrade and it will not hold a charge since then.  I called Fitbit and they were not helpful. Just told me to buy a new one. My Fitbit is two years old and had no issues until this update!