Battery life and customer service!

[Irish57]

Twitter folks super kind but assistance is referred to those that send an email and NEVER respond to further question. Twitter representatives do!!👏

However, my 300.00 Sense is faulty with the battery and perhaps oxygen sensor. Battery life is nowhere near what is advertised. I use no special widgets, apps, clock faces and yet am lucky for 3 days! Beware guys! 

[N8teGee]

Hi @Irish57, welcome to the community.

Can you check to see if the SpO2 app is installed on your Sense? You can do this by opening the Fitbit app on your phone - tapping on your profile picture - tap on Sense - tap the apps tile - make sure the "My apps" tab is highlighted - tap on spO2 app (if it's listed) - tap uninstall.

Obviously once you remove this your Sense will no longer track night time spO2 average, but I believe this is the cause of a lot of people's battery issues. With the app installed I get about 3 days, without it installed I can get around 5-6 days.

Let me know how you get on. 

[Irish57]

It is installed but I want it that way for health reasons. It is
unfortunate that one app can zap the batter, I can only imagine if I used
the many other features, widgets and such.
Thank you for your help, guess I’ll need to keep charging!🤦🏻‍:female_sign:

[SunsetRunner]

@Irish57 - For what it’s worth, long ago I got in the habit of removing my Fitbit device and charging it when I showered. With this habit, I never have to worry about battery life. And I’m a heavy duty under of apps, etc. 

[N8teGee]

@Irish57 Yes unfortunately it's a big drain, let's hope Fitbit find a way to make it more efficient.

I have a fingertip Pulse Oximeter which I use to take on demand readings, so for me it wasn't a big problem losing the functionality on the Fitbit.

The good news as @SunsetRunner points out, is that the battery charges very quickly. So a 10 minute charge in the morning would likely give you a day of usage. 

[Irish57]

Great suggestion, I try to now charge when I watch TV an hour or so before
bed. Guess I should do this nightly now! Thank you!

[Irish57]

After much ado with the Fitbit Representatives...Twitter Reps are kind though...due to battery and other issues they have “offered “ to send a paid shipping label for the return of my 3 week old Sense to them for an undetermined time frame while they assess the problem and decide upon a replacement. 
That is not an option, it’s my watch, I rely on it during daily exercise, heart monitoring due to CAD and sleep data. My thought is it is an attempt to wear me down, I’m not a quitter but in this case I’m not returning my Sense without a replacement. 
Not sure how else to proceed but wanted Fitbit wearers to know! 

[Gail1034]

I am having the same problem with my Sense watch!

[N8teGee]

@Gail1034 If you are not fussed about the night time spO2 reading (you will still get the EOV chart for sleep apnea), I suggest you follow my post at the top of this thread. If you do however use the feature, please disregard this advice.

@Irish57 I too wouldn't bother with an exchange, as the replacement will behave in the same way (as it's the spO2 tracking that it's causing the drain). I believe the issue is that taking spO2 readings from the wrist is difficult due to the thickness of the area (usually a light would shine through the finger tip to be detected by a diode on the other side). So I believe the tracker has to update the intensity of the light and possibly the poll rate too, which of course uses more power.