Versa 2 battery short life - Feb 2024

[DepinderS]

My Versa 2 has been working well for over 3 yrs until I upgraded to the latest firmware a few weeks ago. Since then, the battery that used to last 4-5 days barely survives 10 hrs. Is someone else suffering from the same issue ?

I've filed a case ID with fitbit customer service and followed the trouble shooting steps (drain to 0%, charge to 100%, then restart ... and repeat twice), but that hasn't made a difference. This is starting to feel like Fitbit/ Google forcing premature hardware obsolescence with a 'nefariously designed' firmware. Fitbit now says they will revert with 'warranty options available', which seems to be a thinly veiled pretext of saying - 'Your watch is old, sorry it's not covered under warranty anymore ... yes, we've bricked it with our firmware but we won't let you roll back to the earlier firmware, so just buy a new one'. Hope Google remembers not to be evil .... will post updates here. 

Moderator edit:  updated subject for clarity  & removed personal information

[Guy_]

@MarkMM - this is a possibility, hence the question to get which version is causing a problem.

It seems this link may not reflect the current situation in What's changed in the latest Fitbit device update?

[MarkMM]

@Guy_ I have an old Galaxy S8 phone with an alternate Fitbit account. I think I'll put the Versa 2 on there and see if I get an update prompt in a few days. 

[Guy_]

@MarkMM - thank you.

I stopped doing ANY updates a while back, so although the app says there is a firmware update, it doesn't give any indication of what version is available, so you can't check anything before doing the update.

What this means is once the prompt appears there can be multiple updates and you have no way of knowing, only thing you know is you aren't on the latest level.

Even if they added the version in the firmware prompt, the announcements, if they make any, only normally say bug fixes and performance improvements, which is of no help either.

Being on the older Fitbit app and watch firmwares, at least everything works fine.

Sorry about your Versa 2 fault. If it didn't get wet and is still working are you going to glue it back?

[Guy_]

@MarkMM - if you are giving up on the Versa 2, a factory reset will install the latest firmware normally. Otherwise probably best not to do it.

[MarkMM]

@Guy_ I had an issue with pay. I got an email from Fitbit not to remove my card manually, a day after Fitbit support told me to remove it. Long story short, I tried something I found here on the Forums and it wiped pay out. I think I can only get pay back by doing a factory reset, if that'll even work. Besides that, after a -20f wind chill bike ride week, the face fell off. I now have some glue to try, but I'm already used to not having pay, so the Versa 1 is fine for now. I do plan on trying the Versa 2 again. 

[MarkMM]

@Guy_ Oddly, on my test account, pay can be activated, so I think it's an account issue and not the watch. While I was chatting with support, Lori confirmed there was a recent Versa 2 firmware update.

Fitbit OS 4.1. 1 (Firmware Version: 35.70. 7.21) for VERSA 2 smartwatches has been released to 100% of users

[DepinderS]

Thanks Guy, I appreciate you helping me troubleshoot the issue. Here are the firmware versions:

Watch: Version 35.72.1.23  

App (on iPhone/ iOS) : Fitbit 4.12 (41225015)

I'm going through the remaining steps you've mentioned and will report any differences in battery life. 

[MarkMM]

Interesting. That's the same firmware I have and it's not new. Fitbit however, told me it's not the latest. So far no update prompts on the app. 

[Guy_]

@MarkMM , @DepinderS - Version 35.72.1.23  is probably the latest from a year ago. So if you just applied this firmware update, it isn't recent.

Version: 35.70. 7.21 is the original factory reset version most likely (so not the latest) but beware where you get that from.

Check in the watch settings, about Versa 2, system info to be sure, if you can, otherwise what's shown in the app if it is not syncing can be an old value.

@MarkMM The Pay problem can be an app issue and a logout on the new V4 Fitbit App may help, combined with swiping off the active Fitbit window (in Android, clear the storage cache and force stop also) before restarting the phone.

@DepinderS - as the latest firmware is running on most watches the firmware update might not have been fully successful in this case.

If the other issues don't resolve the battery life, as a last resort step, a factory reset (not without risk) may help. Make sure to wait 5 minutes before doing anything with the watch after starting it to give it time to complete.

[DepinderS]

Guy, Just following up on this. As you suggested, I switched off the Phone Bluetooth to isolate any app issues and charged the Versa 2 fully ... the battery still drains quite rapidly in 10 to 12 hrs. So that isolates the problem again to the firmware/ or firmware not being fully updated. 

Since the watch still shows the old firmware (35.72.1.23) even after the update, I'll have to attempt a factory reset. 

[Guy_]

@DepinderS- 35.72.1.23 is probably the latest, but if you do factory reset, don't set it up immediately.

Do the same full charge with the original factory reset firmware, without phone Bluetooth, and see how long the battery lasts. If the battery runs out in that short space of time it will confirm it is a watch problem (which is the most likely cause) and not the 35.72.1.23 which is used by many without problem.

A factory reset isn't without risk but is a good way to isolate issues, like a failed firmware update, if it works fine again.

[MarkMM]

Thanks @Guy_. Yep, no new firmware alert incoming. 

[Stillworking]

I have also had my Versa 2 for about 3 years. I started with an S8 and updated to the S23FE over the Holidays. No problems with the battery or anything else. Until this morning at 9:00am. I reluctantly updated to version 4.12...was on 4.11 and boom I lost more than 15% of my battery in less than 10 minutes! I refuse to do resets or whatever else they are trying to make us do to fix problems they have created. Fix this!

[teri62]

I got mine to work by doing these,  go into settings on your phone look for apps find fitbit app. force stop it.  shut off bluetooth.  that might work. by I went further and went to my fitbit accout and deleted my watch from my account. shut my phone down.  restarted my phone after a couple of minutes, turned bluetooth on, went back to my fitbit app and added my watch back to my account.  had to go thru the whole thing like it was new but it work.  I had several issues that were happening to mine,  not syncing and data not clearing. but what i did solved the problem.

hope this helps, good luck

[G-Bruce]

Following some help advice - I did a factory reset and ended up with
version 4.12. After charging up the battery all now seems fine although I
may have suffered a little on the recharging cycle. However there are a few
features that seem to have improved on the exercise displays giving elapsed
time among other improvements. Looks like my problem is fixed.

[maca_s_2000]

Came here today searching for this exact problem, sometimes lasts 1 day, 3 if I'm lucky. Is there a way to track your charging history I'm wondering?

[G-Bruce]

I’m very sympathetic to your Versa problem and will watch my charging
length of time and let you know. I’m charging it right now so will let you
know how long it lasts.

[Guy_]

Hi @maca_s_2000 - I know you can log your charging history using SimpleClockPro, it even tells you by when it will be charged and how much autonomy you are getting from your battery, useful to compare night time and daytime usage to help identify any issues.

In the watch log it does a battery level check point every midnight for comparison purposes.

[MazzaMoo62]

Rjs6

Iam glad its not just my watch I have had the exact same problem been with Fitbit many years and had many different watches 😡Think they only made to last a year 😡 won’t be buying anymore they Rubbish 😰😰

[Hgamsterdam]

Same issue here. Mine runs out in around 20 hrs despite phone being in lowest settings to preserve power. Apple replaces batteries in Europe for a base charge. Fitbit should offer that too before European regulators make it an obligation.