Sense 2 brightness won't change

[Hazmort]

Whenever I try to put it on max brightness it goes back to dim, same with normal. Any ideas on how to fix this?

[pegatha7]

I’m mine, it is stuck on dim and the display controls our grayed out so I can not change it to brighter setting. Please advise. My husband got his the exact same time I got mine and he doesn’t have this problem.

[SunsetRunner]

I have the opposite issue.  Mine is stuck on max and won't dim despite being set on dim.  Side note, I did try to return this to Amazon, they gave me my money back, but haven't sent me a return label, lol!

[Guy_]

Hi @Hazmort @pegatha7 , one of the main reasons it's locked is because Sleep mode is enabled.

Pull down the watch face to get to Quick Settings and disable Sleep. The you can make changes.

@SunsetRunner- you may still be able to restart it and that may cure it - How do I restart my Fitbit device? if you still have it!

[SunsetRunner]

The problem isn't with it being in sleep mode. I turned sleep mode off, changed the brightness thru each setting (Dim, Normal, and Max) and see no change to the light level of the watch except on the screen where I select the brightness.  I did reset the device as per the instructions and tried putting in sleep mode, with no fix to the issue.

With that said, my wife likes this one compared to her new Charge 5 and since there is no real difference between the two, she's taking the Sense 2 and I have ordered a new Sense from Amazon.

I'm really confused that a company with a reputation that Fitbit has would do something like this. The Sense 2 is definitely a downgrade from what I've seen and heard about the Sense. If I could afford a Galaxy Watch, I would have gotten that.

[Guy_]

@SunsetRunner- there is automatic brightness which can compensate/override for the chosen setting except in extremes and in Sleep mode.

Try each setting in very dark ambient light and again in very bright ambient light. You should then be able to see a slight difference. You should find the Sense more functional.

If you are unhappy with the Sense 2 Fitbit have a 45 day refund policy if bought direct from them or from an authorised shop perhaps, and some stores offer a 14 to 30 day one, so it may be possible you can swap it for the cheaper Sense for your wife too.

[t.parker]

@Guy_ I think there is something off about brightness. I never changed it but tried to see now whether it works. I noticed two strange things:

- There is a bright flash (sometimes) when tapping the icon

- The Dim/Normal difference is so marginal that visible only in darkness (and still the difference is hard to tell, had to check averaged values of colours)

- When the flash occurs it looks like indices of brightness mode shift. Look at the video. Normal becomes the brightest of all. In the video, a flash occurred only once but usually, I see it very often. My guess is that on tap event it just skips one mode.

In the video, I made sure the environment was dark and the EV was fixed.

https://youtube.com/shorts/hipCMNAvtO4

[Guy_]

@t.parker - thanks for clip, there is something iffy going on. Have you tried using the watch settings menu.

You need to position the choice in the middle of the screen before selecting it.

It definitely is a bit weird.

[t.parker]

@Guy_ yes, I did. The effect is exactly the same (including that flash).

[Guy_]

@t.parker - it depends how you do it. I got a flash sometimes.

However, regardless of the setting, once the display goes off it resets to its own level, not the one it had before the display blanked. On the latest firmware.

[t.parker]

@Guy_ it's kinda funny that even changing the brightness level requires a workaround 🤣 Well, I put it back to normal and rebooted the watch with intention of not changing it again.

[Guy_]

@t.parker - it seems the watch totally has a mind of its own for brightness.

It may or may not change, it may or may not remain changed, it may or may not be the setting that has been chosen.

Presumably to ensure battery longevity but seems totally buggy.

Btw,  the button push "recent" list gets reset if you restart the watch.