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.

[UncleMuzza]

This issue needs to be addressed with some urgency thanks, Fitbit. It's hard to believe it wasn't discovered during QA testing and unless I'm completely mistaken, should be fixable through a software update. Ignoring the problem won't make it go away, but it might turn customers away from future Fitbit purchases.

[Dandeepet]

Hi. I was able to get my money back from Best Buy, and I used the refund towards the purchase of an Apple watch. This is a much more costly option, but it has so many more features and pluses.
Two of the pluses is that the screen is always on, and that it can be read in even the brightest sunlight. By the way, it uses the same type of screen technology as the Charge 4, however it has a much more high intensity display. The only downside is that you need to charge it every night because of the greater power draw. No biggie if you don't wear your watch to bed.
Fit Bit knows they made a huge design mistake with their Charge 4, however they are refusing to make it right for their customers.

[dragon33]

This boost is needed. The fact that you can't even see the screen when you're out on a run is terrible. Every reason to return the Charge 4 if they can't promise a update to the firmware.

[janap]

This is terrible. I can't see anything on the screen. And I can't even return the watch back, since I've been using it for more than a month now. That should be modified ASAP. It's simply not fair to the customers.

[SantoP]

I fully agree on all comments on brightness issue. It is a issue that must be absolutely solved. I have a charge 3 thinking to charge 4 upgrade. Can you please confirm if the charge 4 has the same brightness of charge 3 or slightly better? Thanks Santo

[BigDaveRanger]

Santo, I would not advise an upgrade to the charge 4, it is just as bad as the charge 3.

[UncleMuzza]

Ok I'm over this. Why bother having a community forum if you're not going to acknowledge this fatal design flaw? Just admit you made a mistake and you've learned from that. I won't be buying another fitbit of any kind and certainly won't be recommending the brand to others. This is disgracefully disrespectful behaviour towards your customers.

[HeatherUFEATHER]

Amen to that.

[SantoP]

Thanks for the reply. 

[timbonz]

The screen on Charge 3 (with the charge 4 update) is very hard to see

Why when there were many complaints about screen brightness did FitBit add the DIM option to NORMAL/AUTO

you should replace DIM with BRIGHT

My fitbit for some reason reverts to dim - the brightness setting should LOCK

NOTE- it is very hard to see the screen when dim making it difficult to change the settings, please add the settings to the APP 

[HeatherUFEATHER]

Exactly. I couldn't even see what time it was while sitting in my car, out
of direct sunlight. Then, even shading the watchface with my hand, couldn't
see well enough to check brightness (or any other) settings, much less
adjust anything. So frustrating.

[vandenhooven]

I agree. The screen appears very dim outside. Almost impossible to read.

[vandenhooven]

It would help if the screen was always on. It disappears before I have a chance to read the time...

[Dennis85]

There have been so many posts on this brightness issue on the Charge 4, with many people agreeing to it.  The biggest question now is will FitBit be doing anything about it?

[Dandeepet]

I returned my Charge 4 and bought an Apple Series 6 watch. It uses the same screen technology as the Charge 4, but is very easy to read even in the brightest sunshine. Much more money of course, but it does a lot more too.

[littleStevieK]

Wish I read this before I purchased. FitBit does not seem to care enough to make what should be a simple software update to make their product serviceable and their customers happy. I hope FB steps up to the plate on both the brightness and font size issues for the heart rate monitor screen.   

[Tinhead]

The fact that this thread has been going so long without a comment from Fitbit shows what little respect they have for their customers Sent from my Galaxy

[vandenhooven]

The trouble is that the heart rate and date fields text appears a darker shade of grey than the rest of the clock face (which appears white). While that contrast may work & look great inside, it doesn't work at all outside on sunny days. It's hard enough to read the white text, let alone the darker grey! It's just practically impossible. I am finding my fitbit practically useless for cycling. I wanted to be able to quickly glance at my heart rate now and then but I can't even do that. It's very frustrating!

[SteveHaynes67]

6 months after logging my issues with the screen brightness (on the 1st page) and not receiving ANY help from fitbit, I've got to say that I'm truly disgusted with their customer support. I still use the wrist strap to log my rides (as long as they're under 2 hours as it goes flat if any longer!) but it's still absolutely useless to see outside. As I'm not in a position to afford another watch, I take great pleasure in showing/telling every single person I can how good the Charge 4 is and I will continue to do so. I'm not being vindictive, I'm just a normal honest bloke who works hard for what I have and despises being ripped off and lied to! 

Steve.

[Kassyleigh]

The numbers on the clock face of the charge 4 need to be brighter. Or a new clock face made for those with vision issues.  As an example, the clock face 'totem' has great sized numbers, and the hours are in white.  However the minutes are a much duller grey making them much harder to see.  The older charge 2 had nice bold white numbers.

[YojanaFitbit]

Hi @Kassyleigh, thanks for explaining why you would like to see Charge 4 screen brightness boost. Thanks for sharing your feedback. I've moved it into a similar request.  A lot of users are asking for this option, I hope we receive updates soon.

[jimbobhickville]

It won't let me vote for some reason, but I wanted to chime in. I have a Charge 3 and it was actually made dimmer by a mid-2020 update. Previously it was dim, but you could read it in the shade. Now it's impossible to read even in the shade. I would rather have a "bright" option that drains the battery twice as fast and have to recharge more frequently than a useless watch. 

[Noodle61]

And that is exactly what we have purchased...a useless watch. Not able to
even look at the time whilst out side. Ridiculous

[HeatherUFEATHER]

The same with my Charge 4. It went from bad to impossible.

[Amyck30]

I’ve reviewed it on amazon now saying it’s pointless. The reach will be huge and put people Off. I’ve also told Friends not to bother when they were considering buying them. Fitbit need to do something - or comment at least

Sent from my iPhone