Sense 2 turns on only when plugged to charger

[Kareem_M]

Hi Fitbit support team,

Need your help here. My Fitbit sense is starting only when i plugged into charged and turn of when i removed the charge cable. I went through few articles and did reset, updated and performed few trouble shooting steps, but still didn't help. It was good before, not sure what is happening all of sudden. 

Google/Fitbit support, Please help here, i have invested 1 months salary to buy this. Kindly please help.

Thank you

Kareem

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi there, @Kareem_M.

Thanks for all your efforts while working on this. I understand your concern and I'm sorry this happened to your Sense 2. To work on this, I went ahead and contacted our Support team who told me a case was already created on your behalf. I'm glad you're in communication with them, and please follow their suggestions as I'm sure they'll continue working until you're back on track. Have a good one!

[ChristinaC31]

Hi I'm having this same problem with mine too 

[Dirtfarmer75]

Mine just started doing this very same thing.

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi there, @ChristinaC31. @Dirtfarmer75 Welcome on board!

@ChristinaC31 I'm sorry the same happened to your Sense 2. While checking your information, I noticed that you already have a case created with our Support team. I'm sure they'll provide you with further assistance, so please keep an open communication with them.

@Dirtfarmer75 Thanks for joining this thread and because your post didn't mention, may I know if you've tried the steps described here? If not, please give them a try and make sure to restart your watch with the charging cable. Monitor its behavior in the next few days to see how it goes afterward.

[DawnLoueen]

This is my problem as well, shutting down when taken off of the charger that is. I've uninstalled the app and reinstalled. Forgot the watch in connected devices and repaired. Shut down my phone and restarted it. Nothing is working. It says the battery is full when on the charger but 10 seconds after I unhook the charger it shuts off. It started this after I migrated from Fitbit to Google. 

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi @DawnLoueen. It's good to see you here.

I'm sorry that you're having this experience, and thanks for trying the steps tried prior to posting. I understand that you've tried troubleshooting your Sense 2, but please make sure to exhaust the following and monitor its behavior in the next few days:

1. Clean the gold contacts on your watch and charging cable.
2. Make sure to use an original charging cable and try a different USB port, or a UL-certified wall charger.
3. Check the alignment when connecting your watch to the charging cable.
4. Restart your Sense 2 to refresh its performance.
5. Leave your watch plugged into the charging cable for at least 30 minutes.

[Lynnon]

I’ve had horrible trouble with this as well for the past 4-5 months or so, and I’ve given up. I can charge it all night and get to 100% battery life, and then it dies within 15 minutes after I have it off the charger. The battery goes down maybe 10% after having it on for just a 1-2 minutes, and then it completely dies/shuts down before even getting below 75% battery (which all happens within the 15 minutes). I’ve restarted a million times, restarted my phone, disconnected from my phone and reconnected, cleaned it thoroughly, and tons of other stuff that I’ve read to try and do. And nothing. It seems like a ton of people had this trouble after some update months ago. Pretty upsetting when I pay to have the premium membership and haven’t even been able to use it. And it would be nice if the app had a clearer way of getting help on issues like this. 

[DawnLoueen]

Yeah, I've done ALL that many times over. I'm getting the big red X. The
battery started draining quickly and now says it's charging when plugged in but then shuts off when disconnected from the plug.
It's not the contacts, it's inside the watch.

I thought it may have started after I migrated to Google or when I cancelled my premium subscription. However, I just activated the premium subscription for a month to see if it was that... It's not. The watch is unusable at this time. I can't even use it to tell time since it's won't stay on and just shuts off immediately after it is taken off the charger. 

Is there anything that can rectify the problem and get the watch working again? It's a year and a half old, much to new for me to replace. If I do have to replace it it will not be with Fitbit which is to bad, I've been with you since 2020.

Hoping for the best,

Thanks, Dawn

[SunsetRunner]

That has been happening to me as well and have done everything that is recommended to fix it and it doesn’t work 

[DawnLoueen]

Call customer service and see if they can get it going. . The company said
mine can't be fixed and I'd have to buy a new one.

[Mmh1]

This is also happening to mine. Charged to 100%  lasted a few hours and then tells me that I have 20% battery life.  For the amount that is spent on these watches I would hope that it would last longer than just over 1-2 years. I researched for a long time which watch to "upgrade" to from my previous FitBit. I had the FitBit charge and it lasted me 3x as long, and I only upgraded because I had broken the screen on my previous watch. 

[DawnLoueen]

Same here. My watch started losing battery faster and faster, within two
weeks it only worked while charging. I agree they are to costly to go out
that fast. Very disappointing!

[ITguy2025]

same issues here with my Sense 2 and I already did everything to "fix it". I hope this is a software issue and soon we will get an update

[Kareem_M]

Hello everyone, I reached out to Fitbit for assistance, but they informed me that they are unable to help since I am located in India, where no service centers are available. Unfortunately, since the device is out of its one-year warranty period, I have no option but to discard it. This is truly heartbreaking for me, as I invested an entire month's salary to purchase it, only to lose it just a year later."

[DawnLoueen]

I agree that it's so costly to have it discarded a year later. That doesn't
seem right to me either.

[Mmh1]

I have seen that Google is phasing out the Sense, and the Versa styles. I am guessing that unfortunately for many of us that comes with issues to the watch. I can only hope this isn't the issue because I love my watch, but the way it has gone downhill so quickly, I can only imagine it being an issue with software. It factory reset on itself, erased from my phone, and I had to reinstall and complete a brand new setup. Including watch face. I thought that maybe this had something to do with the battery life and hoped all of this would correct the issue, it has only made it worse. I might get 2-4 hours if I am lucky. Which means I am losing all the data that I keep up with. It has me strongly reconsidering brands not just styles once again.

[DawnLoueen]

I agree, My husband, Mr fixit, ordered a new
battery and tried to install it but hasn't been successful getting the
screen to work again. So, I don't recommend that. It's very frustrating and
wish the company would pro rate the cost of a new watch. They did offer a
discount on a new one but not enough to entice me to get one.

Moderator edit - word choice

[Mmh1]

I agree!! A discount when I have already spent what I have. In addition to that, the cost of premium which by itself is non-refundable. It is not enough to get me to jump on the bandwagon of getting something that is no longer going to work the way I want it to. It is sad, as Fitbit used to be really good products. It seems others seem to be catching up and surpassing quickly. 

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi everyone and a warm welcome to our new members.

Thanks for your efforts and I'm sorry for the inconvenience that you've experienced. I understand your point of view and please know we'll continue working to improve our devices, as well as your experience with it.

@Lynnon, @Mmh1 and @ITguy2025 If the steps described in my previous post were already exhausted, I'd like to get you connected with our Support team. To do so, I’m sharing a link to a form for you to fill out so we can look into this further. I’ll keep an eye out for your response specifically, so please let me know once you’ve filled it out.

@DawnLoueen, @SunsetRunner and @Kareem_M I noticed that you already have a case created. Our team has the appropriate tools, so please keep an open communication with them in order to receive further assistance.