Versa won't hold a charge

[JeJersey]

The battery is now down to a 36hr charge. It's in the charger more than it's on my wrist! It's only 5 months old! I followed the charging instructions and battery preservation tips did not help, I haven't changed anything, for the first 5 months my battery lasted about 5 days, now only 1 1/2 days. What's going on?

Moderator edit: subject for clarity

[Mochab5]

And the sad thing is Fitbit won’t give you anything but 25% off. It makes
me very angry that you pay 200.00 for an item and as soon as the warranty
is up the battery starts going dead a a really fast rate. It’s almost like
it’s done intentionally so you will have to go out and by a new one. Well I
will be giving my money to another company and I will let anyone I talk to
not to waste their money on Fitbit products. I realize I’m only one person
and I may not make a difference but I won’t waste another penny on a faulty
product.

[cheaplikeafox]

I backed up my old app before upgrading to the new app.  After I reverted back to app v3.2, I'm getting great battery life again.  It only drained 14% in 21hrs.  Did you guys notice the battery life dying fast after upgrading to the latest app?  Do you have iOS or Android?

[cheaplikeafox]

---

@MickU wrote:

So everything on this link tried https://help.fitbit.com/articles/en_US/Help_article/2004#extend

Fitbit disconnected from app and phone.

factory reset carried out.

still battery drained in less than 10 hours.

the problem only started after app update and new dashboard enabled; before that battery was lasting 4-5 days.

Fitbit support said it is not software related but a hardware failure.

---

I definitely think it's software related after doing my tests.  @LiliyaFitbit I think there is something wrong with the latest app and they need to fix it.  I didn't have to reset my Fitbit or change watch faces or anything.  I just had to revert back to the old app.  My Fitbit versa is 8 months old.

[GavRev]

Interesting.. I was already having some issues before the app update but I did want to test that - sadly I didn't have a version of 3.2 to revert to. I'm no moderator in here, only a regular user, but since I'm in the middle of a resolution can you keep me appraised of your experience as you go? I fired an email off to them as part of my issue bringing your comment to their attention.. hopefully we can encourage them to look into this, if they aren't already.

[cheaplikeafox]

If you were having issues before the app upgrade like the original poster, then maybe it's not the app?  I can try to upgrade back to v3.3 today and see how the battery life drains.  So far in 24 hrs with the v3.2, it has drained it 15% which is normal or seems even better than before.

I'll keep you guys updated.  If you're under warranty and they are offering a free replacement, it wouldn't hurt to take it to see if it's a hardware issue.

[Mochab5]

Thank you for including my comments. After charging mine all night I took
it off the charger and sat it on the counter until I was ready for work and
the battery dropped 2% just sitting there. Just so annoying.

[Aboz97]

How do you revert to the older software?
Sent from my iPhone

Moderator edit: personal info removed

[GavRev]

This is a page explaining how you might go about it (this article is Android only, but I assume there may be an iOS version of this procedure - have a search if you're using iOS)

https://www.androidpolice.com/2018/06/03/go-back-older-version-app-android/

[Eusea]

I did the factory reset and my fitbit still doesn't charge.

[TommiD]

I was told to reset but that did not help the issue. My Versa buzzed this morning after I had it in the charger and now it is completely black and not working at all 

[TommiD]

Since nothing is being done on THEIR 

end to correct the bug in the update maybe moving to Apple watches would motivate them. I have had Fitbit since 2014 but this may be the end of my loyalty!!

[GavRev]

Sounds like you've hit the same snag I did.. get in touch with the support team - you're within your warranty!

[Mochab5]

I was told mine was out of warranty.

[cheaplikeafox]

I noticed there is a new app update from August 15.  Maybe that will fix any battery drain issues? So far with the v3.3 app my battery went down 5% in 4 hrs which is pretty close to what I had with v3.2 app.  So maybe it is not an app issue?

[GavRev]

That does sound quite reasonable. The update I did was on the 13th or 14th, so this sounds like a new release, and it sounds as though it may not be related to the battery issue. I'm still concerned that there are quite a few people with blacked out Versas and sync and time issues.. Maybe they will be corrected with the most recent update.. I hope it isn't the most recent one that's causing further issues.. I can't test anything further myself until I get my replacement - that's probably going to be at least to the middle of next week, so let's just keep an eye on things.. I assume you intend to persevere with the latest 3.3 update? 

[JeJersey]

Yes, it's taking 6 hours to reach 100%  and when I take it out of the charger and put it on my wrist, it reads 98%

[JeJersey]

Spoiler

Spoiler

What tracker did you buy?

[cheaplikeafox]

So I noticed the drain is about 1.5% per hour with the new v3.3 app 0.625% per hour with the old v3.2 app.  I guess it doesn't drain as bad as I originally thought.  However, I would estimate it would last 2-3 days with the old app and 6-7 days with the new app.  That's a big difference.  I might update to the v3.3.1 to see if there are any changes.

[GavRev]

Spoiler

Interesting. I've been assured recently by the support team that my particular issue is most certainly a battery/hardware fault and not the app or firmware. With this in mind I'm going to rest with this and see how things evolve, but I'm interested in your experiments if you're interested in continuing to share your experiences. I think there's a lot of value in noting and tracking these things anyway! 

[cheaplikeafox]

I tested out the app v3.3.1 and it seems to have fixed the battery drain issue.  I'm getting the same numbers from before the 3.3 update.