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.

[vldm]

Almost two-years anniversary of the ticket. Does this  mean that nobody cares to implement a fix?

[GrahamWh]

What I cannot believe is that they are still offering this product for sale.
Absolutely disgraceful, it is only fit to be a give away in a box of
cornflakes.

GrahamWh

[BillCr]

I finally purchased a Fitbit Charge 5 and I can actually use it in bright
sunlight. Like ,any others here I was disappointed by the Fitbit Charge 4.
I could not believe that.nome of the reviews for the Charge 4 that I read
pre-acquisition mentioned that you could not read the device in the direct
sun. I didn't investigate any further because it never occurred to me that
anyone would make sn exercise watch that essentially was unuseeable
outdoors. Nor was I impressed by Fitbit's failure in my opinion to fix this
issue or at least offer some compensation to people who purchased the
Charge 4. Despite all of this I ended up replacing my 4 with a 5 which is
a much better product.

[littleStevieK]

Are you saying the Fitbit charge 5 five can easly and plainly be read in bright direct sunlight?

[BillCr]

Yes the Charge 5 uses color and I can read it clearly in bright sunshine
unlike my Charge 4 which was unuseeable in sunlight.

[gravyluvr]

Agree with most posters here. The brightness has been an issue. Very disappointed with the HR4. The watch has become a chore to work. I would and have switched back to my HR2 but the battery life is pretty short.

[beach9NOEL]

Good to k is. I don’t even wear my Charge 4 as it is basically useless!--
..NOEL

[SteveHaynes67]

Hi all, I still get updates on this thread as I posted a few times on it with no joy from Fitbit, so purchased a proper tracker, Garmin!

Anyway, I'm absolutely bemused by people upgrading their FB4 for another Fitbit! And I guess you never got a refund?! 

Don't understand! 

[andrtnnr]

I agree, I switched to an Apple Watch. If Fitbit staffers cared, they would have reached out to us with a trade. Better yet, a recall!

[GilGomesJr]

It’s the Emperors new clothes all over again. I dropped Fitbit like a prom dress when the Charge 4 screen could barely be viewed indoors. Went to Garmin that has its own issues but viewing the screen is decidedly NOT one of them. Shame on you Fitbit. Charge 4 was an AWFUL offering.

Sent from my iPhone

[Mickos23]

Please asjust firmware to permit brighter display. It can be a setting that the user manually goes and invokes if you are concerned about it giving users the whoops or shortening battery life. 
I would have it boosted during my exercise outdoors. I can’t see it for $hit and I  about to follow the masses and buy an iWatxh. 
So it’s over to you, Fitbit!

[GrahamWh]

I doubt that it can be fixed by firmware, it will be a design limitation on
the display panel.
What they need to do is offer a replacement FitBit5 with the colour display
for £30 to everyone who feels the 4 has never been and is not fit for
purpose. That does assume a guarantee that the 5 does not suffer the same
problem.

GrahamW

[Mmkss]

Change the color of all displayed information to be light/white ti enhance the visibility in daylight (e.g. excercise duration and total distance are now dark which make them much harder to see in daylight when riding the bike in daylight)

[YojanaFitbit]

Hi @Mmkss, thanks for taking the time to share this suggestion about having the option to change display color on Charge 4 to improve brightness. I've moved it into a similar request. You can learn more about how Fitbit decides what suggestions get released in our FAQs. Click on the thumbs-up to show your support.

Thank you again for your participation in the Feature Suggestions Forums.

[BillCr]

Graham, I share your disappointment about the 4 but I can say that I
purchased the 5 which allows me to see the the screen in bright sunshine.

[virginiaeller68]

I agree with everyone about the brightness on the Fitbit Charge 4. It is impossible to see my screen outside even if the sun isn’t out. I can see it indoors but not outside. Even in my car I can’t see the screen. But I do want to thank you for the information on how to switch the brightness from dim to normal. I can now see my screen inside. I don’t know how it got switched to dim but it is ok now.

[Resmal]

Simply impossible to view screen outdoors on my Fitbit Charge 4 unless in very overcast weather.    Setting is on ‘normal’ as recommended.   Bought a second Charge 4 for partner and this has a MUCH brighter screen and so there is obviously a real disparity between examples of the same model.

My Fitbit is Version 48.20001.1 00.76 (Activation date 2020-July-07) and Partner’s Version number is identical but has very bright display on normal setting (Activation date is 2021-April-13).

I had only used my Fitbit inside and so was not aware of the brightness problem and was amazed by how bright my partner’s display was both indoors and out.    If I had wanted to use mine outside it would simply be not fit for purpose. 

Looking at Forum comments, this problem has been known about and commented on for years and, instead of being honest and open about this, Fitbit appear to have simply kicked the can down the street for years with banal comments about supporting comments so that developers can address them when enough adverse comments are accumulated!    Come on Fitbit, this is disgraceful customer support for this brightness issue.    If it is a problem isolated to a small minority of users, for example the discrepancy between the two Fitbits we use, then why doesn’t the company offer a fair trade in of the faulty devices as the current stance of endless inactivity is just ridiculous.    In the light of my experiences, unless you can offer a genuine solution then not only would I never buy another Fitbit product again but would also strongly encourage any potential buyers to look elsewhere also.    This is potentially a really great product and I am very disappointed in the lack of effective support from Fitbit for this particular issue.  I submit this in despair rather than anger.

[BillCr]

The number of posts citing this problem suggests that the brightness/sun
issue is not unusual

[smurf3680]

I agree I cannot read my Fitbit outside either with my brightness all the way. It’s very frustrating since I do a lot of outdoor activities. 
please make the screen even brighter an option 

[Mickos23]

If I had known this, I definitely would never have purchased it.

I need to write a review warning buyers of this.

Sent from my iPhone

[MelJ07]

I would also like this feature.  I make use of the clock face that has the top part of the time in bright white then the bottom part of the time is grey . The sun makes it impossible to see the bottom part .  I cannot change to a different clock face for fear of my battery being drained too quickly.

[wwsm]

I couldnt read anything outdoors since I first got the Charge 4 but at least I could read it indoors. However, recently, it has gone really dimmed even indoors. The brightness settings has been changed to normal already, but still way too dim, i can only read anything in a dark room. It’s very frustrating. I can believe after 2 years, the screen is still dimmed and no improvements has been provided. 

[chuckster007]

Guess I will have to leave the Fitbit family.  Cannot use it.  Picked as a gift with points that I will now never get back.  Too dim, wrong font, hard to read the time let alone texts.  Completely unimpressed 

[Aussiekim13]

I’m not able to read the time at all - sun or no sun, it’s very dim and even with glasses it’s a struggle. The most basic need and I have to defer to my phone for the time 😞

[SunsetRunner]

Still nothing huh?

Cant believe they just dont change the textfont to a bright white color, that would help alot instead of the gray text on a badly illuminated screen