Charge 4 screen brightness boost

[eschroedermark]

For direct sunlight situations, add an ability to boost screen brightness temporarily, i.e. one-time event, through an easy to access while exercising method e.g. through a screen tap/scroll sequence. Enable the user to determine the preferred method in the Settings on the Charge 4 device.

[BuffyCoco]

I can only echo the other commenters. Even when it's not sunny, you can/t read what's on the screen of Charge 4. I am so disappointed. I will have to buy another fitness tracker, as this is just useless when working out outdoors. What an utter shame.

[busymomri]

Thank you to all that continue to comment on this. I have thought about getting the newest tracker from Fitbit and am thinking of going to Samsung instead.

I tried to be loyal and thought with everyone staying outside and doing more walking and keeping fit this would have changed.

These posts are reviewed yet no action is taken. I thought i was a customer for life....

[Jeraboam]

I agree with you. If the FB Sense is available at a discounted price, you
should consider it. I am quite satisfied with mine for the range of
health data it provides and for running on my treadmill. The colour
screen is excellent even in bright sunlight (and today's snowstorm :snowman_without_snow:).

[busymomri]

Thank you, you have motivated me to reach out to FB and see about getting it. I really like their band options. And the waterproof functionality.

[tmmoore800]

Exactly.

[andrew.w.toole]

How has  2 years gone by and this is still not addressed!?!?  Unbelievable!  Do you not care what feedback we give?  The charge 4 is NOT VISIBLE OUTSIDE!  It does NOT matter what brightness setting you use, you can't see anything.  Please, fix this or at the very least address it here.  I do not feel like an appreciated customer at this point. Seems like you like my money, but that's about it.

[LuizBandeira]

As we have already found that the company does not consider the basic needs of its customers, i solve the problem myself. i thrown the charge 4 in the trash and purchased a smart watch from china

which is much more modern, with much more functions and cheaper

i will never buy any of the crap manufactured by Fitbit.

i will never buy any of the crap manufactured by Fitbit

[colscuba]

They aren't going to fix the Charge 4 because they came out with the charge 5 which fixes the issue.  The Charge 5 has the same display as the Versa 3 and the Sense which both can be seen in all conditions, including bright light.

[IHandfull]

My Charge 4 band disintegrated off my wrist one day, the band just broke
away from the device. Since I can't see the Charge 4 outside, I didn't want
to purchase a new band and continue to be annoyed with it. We called it
dead and moved on. I purchased an Apple Watch. It's taken a month to get
used to it, especially since steps and total daily calories aren't first
and foremost like FitBit, but I'm now enjoying it and getting the hang of
it. And you can see steps and total calories, but it's just buried a bit.
Oh and I can see it outside in any weather! I charge it alongside my phone
at night as I don't really care about my sleep patterns. Hope this helps
someone who's on the fence with ditching the fitbit.

[SteveHaynes67]

Seriously all... I expressed my concerns on the first page of this thread 20 months ago and heard absolutely nothing back from FitBit!!!

They've had some serious money off me in the passed, but no longer!

Bought myself a Garmin over 12 months ago and they are far superior than FB.

I will never buy anything to do with FB ever again and so far I reckon I've save hundreds of people from buying from them and will continue to do so!

I've never known a company with such appalling customer services. 

Shocking!

[SunsetRunner]

What about the money we paid for the Charge 4?

------------

Totally agree with you!

------------

Change brand! Fitbit never again!

[LindaMcG]

Totally agree! I'm really struggling all the time to see my Fitbit Charge 4 Display.

Very disappointing - I had no issue with my Charge 2.

[BillCr]

I am not sure we have received a single comment to the affect that the
charge 4 works in sunlight as opposed to dozens to the contrary.

But what really amazes me is that I never read a single review suggesting
even the slightest difficulty reading a charge 4 screen in sunlight
including comparative reviews. How has this problem not received any
publicity.

[Droege]

Same issue,

when running I cannot see anything on my charge 4 it is so faded even under normal settings.

there should be a setting to boost it during exercise.

even if it drains battery one can always charge before exercise.

very annoying 

[RayATX]

I've tried making sure my Charge 4 is set to "Normal" for brightness and that the Sleep function is off.  I've tried a factory reset.  Still to dim to see in any kind of normal outdoor daylight condition (I'm not saying full sun, just even being outside).  Sort of defeats the purpose of the device if you can't see it when exercising outdoors...

[kyrankuijpers]

Brightness under direct sunlight is so bad that the Fitbit is practically useless. Considering switching back to my analog watch. What a disappointment. It should be the devs number one priority.

[ptanner]

I also cannot read anything on my Charge 4during the day even if it is not sunny. Not sure what the dim setting is for.  What is currently normal should be labelled "dim", and something much brighter should be "normal".  Then auto would be a good choice.

[ivan8680]

I support this request.

When outside in sunlight it is not possible to see what's on the display; even when shielding the watch from direct sunlight by your hand.

The brightness is set to "normal" (which is the current maximum), "DND" is off, "Sleep" mode is off and "Screen Wake" in on.

Please fix this. I am sure the community is willing to agree to a shorter battery lift, if a brightness mode called "boosted" is added.

Thanks,

Ivan

[maggie.myers]

I have the Charge 3 and have this problem when running outside. I swear the Charge HR was a lot better. I just bought a Charge 4 for my kid and am disappointed to read that it apparently has the same issue. Any recommendations for a tracker with built in GPS that has a bright screen? Since our main use case is running outdoors, seems pretty useless to use a tracker that can't be read while we're exercising. 

[Jeraboam]

I replaced mine with the Fitbit Sense and received a discount on the price
because it wasn't doing the job it was designed for, outdoor exercise.
The Sense has been very good and because of the use of colour, it is much
easier to read outside. In very bright light it is less effective but
still quite legible. In my race this week in Ottawa, I was able to easily
track my times and heart rate in bright sunshine.
Syncing with an Asus Zenphone is inconsistent, as with former versions of
Fitbit, which still hasn't caught up with the reality that millions of Asus
phones are sold all across North America and much of the rest of the world.

[namcy4]

So difficult to see the charge4 in the sun.  I'll work with it for now, but if it ever dies, i will replace it with something else if this is still an issue.  Based on comments, it seems to have been an issue for years, and has not yet been addressed....just got this one and it is 2022.  Overloaded with too many options for my taste....difficult to scroll as well.

[LS01]

This belongs in the no brainer category, just fix it. 

[tmmoore800]

on ‎05-13-20 21:50   Status changed to: Reviewed By Moderator

Hi @eschroedermark, ... We rely on feedback like yours to help us develop products and features that we know our community wants to see.  ...
Watch this space for status updates. In the meantime, try visiting Health & Wellness to talk with other members about all things health and fitness

over 2 yrs later and no update even though customers are still actively pointing out this flaw with the inability to view the watch outdoors.   

[derwood75]

The Charge 4 screen is completely unusable is outdoors.  Please add another brightness level or increase the Normal setting.

[Pbaillie]

It's hard to believe with all the negative comments out screen brightness, inside and outside, that something has not been done. I've had the Charge HR, Charge2 and Charge3. The Charge 3 was fine until an update and the screen was unreadable outside.

This is not good when you use it exercise outside.

If a feature is broke due to an update, you would think they could/would fix it with an update.

My husband purchased a Charge 4 and it has had the same issue since day 1, he can not read it outside as the screen is too dim.