The bluetooth on my fitbit is broken, it wont connect to my phone

[WhistlerWarrior]

Hello,

First of all, I just want to say that I have really enjoyed having my Fitbit for the last 3 weeks, its been great fun tracking steps against friends and family. This is the main reason why i'm so frustrated as I love wearing the fitbit! 

The fitbit started by displaying the wrong time - I then went through the relevant steps and it worked again. 

It then worked for another 3 days. Before doing the same thing again. However this time, after following all the relevant steps to get it to work. The bluetooth is now broken and it won't connect to my phones bluetooth (This does work as tested on other bluetooth devices). 

I'm not sure what is left to do - should I get a replacement?

[CallieT]

I had put in the original problem and I honestly don't know how it started to work again.  I was extremely frustrated that I couldn't get it to work and thought it was dead after two years.  It may just need to go on vacation.  I too did all of those steps that had been listed and got a new ChargeHR but then it started to work again.  But here's what I noticed.  My Fitbit does not seem to synch with my phone.  It can't be my phone as I am still able to use the bluetooth with my phone for headsets and/or speakers.  The same thing happens with my "new" one so not sure why.  What I DO is use my laptop to synch which is extremely inconvenient but for some reason it works better.   If you have access with a laptop with bluetooth, I'd suggest downloading the fitbit app to your laptop and then you can at least test to see if your fitbit bluetooth is the problem.

Was wondering, does anyone take their fitbit off and "clean" aka wipe down the sensors?  I know I must sweat sometime and curious if that is a cause for something?  I seem to have delays where my steps just freeze, usually around 11:30 pm - midnight and won't track.  Maybe it's telling me I should workout earlier.

Wish I could offer something conclusive.  Good luck!

[madma65]

I am having same issue did all the troubleshooting steps more than once and nothing has changed.  Doesn't hold a charge and time is off; but it does track steps and heart rate.

[Mini_Rae]

I know I’m weak but I caved in the end and bought myself a new one! Nothing was working and who knows if it would work again?!

But now my new one (inspire HR) won’t synchronise with MyFitnessPal properly. FFS, there’s always something wrong eh!

[Twist18x]

All, I’ve switched to Apple Watch. Stopped using Fitbit 3 yrs ago. My
post is old so the process may be diff.

[Kunnal08]

Hey !! I tried everything and I even restored my watch !! Still it's not working 

[Nick_Bottom]

Yes I have the same issue !! I’m getting really annoyed now 

[zumbacat]

Keeps reoccurring with mine as well. Did not sync for 6 days. Eventually
resumed after I restarted phone & Charge 3 a few times.

[kelscjo]

@Mini_Rae Have you had any success getting your Charge 2 to sync yet? I am in the same boat as you and everyone else, but you are the most recent poster. I am about to give up on my FitBit. I keep going back to try to connect it, but still doesn't work. 

[Mini_Rae]

Hi...nope. Had no luck. I gave up and bought a new Inspire HR instead. Quite snazzy but sync issues with this one - time doesn’t auto update when abroad and can’t get it to sync properly with MyFitnessPal. Overall not impressed with Fitbit any more and won’t be buying any more.

Rachael Pugh

Sent from my iPhone.

[Optron]

An observation I did yesterday:

I bought a Surge about a week ago, used one. First day I paired it to my phone, it connected, synced and everything. Second day it refused to sync at all. When I tried to remove it from the app and add it again, it was not even found by the app. Since then i tried to pair it, sometimes it asked for the pin, sometimes it did nothing, but it did not pair at all. Tried on a tablet, same thing. Until yesterday, when all of a sudden it connected to the tablet, paired and even synced once. But, after that, it was not even visible - "No device found". I decided to check out my phone and I was surprised to see that it is connected to it and syncing. Then I realised: on the second day, my tablet was in the same vicinity as my phone, so it is conflicting between the phone and the tablet. I switched the phone off and it appeared on the tablet. Now I am using it without problems, even with the phone on and near, but with the app uninstalled from it.

So, in conclusion: when you are trying to pair you tracker, remove or switch off any other bluetooth activity in the area, so the tracker can connect only with one device.  I guess, that would be valid for any tracker, not only for the Surge.

In my opinion, that would be nice to be added to the manuals for the trackers. And in the troubleshooting lists too. It will be of much help for most users.

[Optron]

Update:

I made some experiments and I learned the following:

The tracker can connect to one device. This is perfectly normal, as it is sufficient to do its job - to send the data, collected in its memory. And, when it is connected to one device, it is invisible to others.

According to this, when there are two or more devices with the app installed, the tracker choses one to connect and sync. The other devices get the data through the fitbit servers. So, when you cannot sync your tracker, first check if there is another phone or tablet that it could be connected to.

[Nick_Bottom]

So do you think u could help me?

Kind Regards

Caleb Gios

[zumbacat]

Routinely I can't get it to sync. I agree with Jogger - for some reason other Bluetooth devices confuse it.  I can't use the app with my desktop at all, and I think my car Bluetooth causes a problem, even tho I've never paired it to the car. Sigh. Repeated reboots (both phone& HR3) & re-pairing to phone eventually work. Probably my last Fitbit as well.

[Optron]

Nick_Bottom, well, what I can think of is to try to switch off any other bluetooth activity around you and leave only the device, to which you want to pair the tracker. If that does not work, you can try to go to some isolated place with no people around, to exclude bluetooth signals from the neighbours, for example. If even that does not work, then it is confirmed that the bluetooth on the tracker is defective.

In my case, my Surge does not sync sometimes. But if I wait for a couple of hours, it eventually syncs and everything is OK. I guess, if there is a phone nearby, causing interference, that happens. It might be something else, of course, i have not enough data to make a conclusion.

Bear in mind that, after you have paired and connected your tracker, if you install the app on another device, it will start searching for the tracker automatically, without pairing again. The tracker will chose which to connect to and sync, the others will not see it. That is not a problem, they will sync from the server.

[Optron]

Another update:

After reading some articles and seeing some pictures of teardowns, I found out that the bluetooth antenna of the Surge is located beneath the upper strap band, at the point where it connects with the main body. To my surprise, it is not soldered to the circuit board - it is instead press-fit and glued. It is the same glue that holds the strap band in place, so it is dependent on the strap movements. I tried to press the band where it is glued to the body and suddenly the bluetooth started working. It started syncing, shows real-time heart rate on the app and even received some notifications. And, fortunately it is not disturbed by another devices with bluetooth as I mentioned before.

Another thing that I understood it, if a sync is in process, if you tap the Sync now command, it will give you an error and make you falsely thinking that you have trouble.

So, in conclusion:

The tracker is not disturbed by another bluetooth activity.

If a sync is in process, you cannot interrupt it. If you try to sync manually and get an error, first check if the device is "Refreshing" - you can check it on the today screen in the app.

The antenna may come loose. If you still have troubles, try pressing or moving the upper strap band near the place, where it is glued to the casing. That will move the antenna a bit and eventually will restore the electrical connection to it.

The mention about the use with multiple devices is still valid - the tracker wil connect to one of them and others will not see it. That is normal and does not indicate a problem.

Hope that helps!

[Optron]

Additional information:

It appears that half of the problems are coming from the app and the Android OS. I don't know what is the situation with Apple devices, I do not have one to checkout.

What I discovered:

Sometimes, the tracker just won't sync at all. If this happens, I open the recent apps list and clear it fully. Then I open the app and everything works again. It is important to clear the whole list. If you remove only the app from it, it will not solve the problem.

I found some instructions in Youtube to adjust some settings regarding the app itself. Have a look:

https://youtu.be/a91CDZh3LlQ

https://youtu.be/Z0iqx-l3cMg

These are not mentioned in the manual for the app or in any troubleshooter by Fitbit. Nor is mentioned in the manuals for the Android itself. Performing these steps solved the problem for me partially, meaning that the sync glitches happen rarer than before.

Hope this help too.

Edit:

The Surge will not sync if the battery is low, no matter what you do. It does this to save energy. Charge it first and then try again. It should start syncing at the moment you connect the charger.

PS: I found this topic through google, searching for bluetooth problems with Surge. Did not notice that it is for the Charge HR. However, some of the instructions are for the app and this affects other Fitbit users besides Surge. Alternatively, some of the tips about the Surge might happen to be valid for other models so hopefuly it is helpful for them too.

[Schwartz8445]

i tried to fix it by deleting the fitbit and setting up as a new device.

and now bluetooth won't find it at all. on phone, ipad or computer.

could the bluetooth in the fitbit be dead?

[EricBuist]

Stuck with the same issue since a week. Seems from my Google searches that it happens regularly to many people and it fixes itself after trying again, again and again, tens, if not undreds of times. But I tried a lot, this time, and that doesn't work. I'm doing all sorts of silly mistakes when I have to repeat the same thing over and over again, especially on a touch screen which is not accurate enough for these kinds of tedious jobs. I tried to reinstall the Fitbit application, turn Bluetooth on/off, restart my phone, restart my Fitbit, factory reset my Fibit, to no avail. My computer can even not see the Fitbit; needs the Fitbit-specific synchronization dongle which is NOT shipped with the watch, needs to be purchased separately. WHY?? WHY not not standard Bluetooth??? My Android phone detects the Fitbit, says it finds it, then after a couple of seconds, reports a malfunction and suggests me to retry, turn Bluetooth on/off, etc. My phone can connect to other Bluetooth devices, I tested with a portable speaker and it still works. So my phone's Bluetooth is not broken.

Even contacting support is now impossible. The option disappeared from fitbit.com, I just see a LOT of useless contents and offers to get new products. Clicking anything takes from 10 to 30 seconds. Maybe reaching support works with Chrome now and not Firefox anymore? This is too much for me, too annoying. I cannot fix everything at the same time (switching browser and moving all my settings/plugins/bookmarks, shopping for a new ISP because my Internet connection is suddenly too slow, trying with a VPN in case I'm victim of ISP-specific throttling, reaching Fitbit support, getting that synchronization dongle, finding somebody who would have time I try the application with his phone, etc.).

I will probably end up throwing this device away, but next time I buy a smart watch, I need something with a fallback, ability to synchronize through USB in case Bluetooth fails. Hopefully, there is something better out there than the iWatch, but I have doubts.

[Samsteps]

Can you tell me how to contact the tech. My flex 2 hasn’t connected through Bluetooth since June 23.

[Muddepaws]

You can contact tech by sending a pm on the Fitbit Twitter feed. However, their solution to me was to buy a new Fitbit. They were polite and friendly but not terribly helpful. They offered a discount voucher but I won’t be buying a new Fitbit as the Bluetooth issue seems to have been going on for years and affecting so many of their trackers.