Fitbit Sense not syncing with my Pixel 5

[EmilyV86]

I just got the sense for Christmas, it connects just fine with my phone and for the first day was working fine. But now it won't stay linked with my phone no matter how many times I pair and unpair, forget the phone, turn off my phone, turn off the sense, etc. There's very limited things I can do when it doesn't connect to my phone. It does the first pairing fine but after that it disconnects right away and I can't get it to sync with my phone even once after it first did. I don't want to return it but I don't understand why it won't work.

[USAF-Larry]

@EmilyV86, I am not sure what you mean by paring and unparing the Sense with the phone.  The Sense is paired via the Fitbit app, not by the phone's Bluetooth settings. Unpairing and pairing will generally results in problems, such as being unable to get it to pair again.   When it does not sync, have you tried turning off the phone's Bluetooth, waiting about 30 seconds, and then turning the Bluetooth back on before trying to sync it again?

[EmilyV86]

Sorry I meant connecting to my phone's blue tooth. On my phone it is called 'pairing'. I have tried literally everything, including turning off my blue tooth for periods of time then back on, 'forgetting' sense controls which the sense directly tells you to do if you are having Bluetooth problems, then re pairing it to my phone, turning off my phone and turning off my sense and then back on. It just keeps saying that it cant/isn't connected to my phone. I can't sync my app, add my messages, make calls or use it for anything except a step counter.

[USAF-Larry]

@EmilyV86, to rephrase my earlier comments, you should not be using the phone's Bluetooth to pair the Sense to the phone. The Sense is paired to the phone by the Fitbit app, not the phone's Bluetooth.  If you turn off the phone's Bluetooth and wait a period of time, when the Bluetooth is turned back on it will search for devices and reconnect to ones discovered that been previously paired.  Your Sense would have been paired to your phone via the Set Up a Device option, and it should not be manually unpaired.

[EmilyV86]

Okay  I simply followed the instructions on both the sense and Fitbit manual when pairing the phone. Regardless, it seems to pair just fine but then does not stay connected and keeps telling me that it is not connected to my phone even though it is pairing fine and worked fine for the first day. I'm just not sure how to fix the issue that I currently have.

[Marrrmaduke]

@EmilyV86 happy new year! I see @USAF-Larry is already helping out here but I just wanted to squeeze my two cents in - I have pixel 5 and can confirm Sense works well with it. I know it's not your case so let's see what we can do about it. Quick questions first: are you running the most recent version of sense firmware as well as the most recent Fitbit app? Is Fitbit mobile app being optimized by Battery settings of Android? Do you have adaptive battery on?

[Nicocase]

I have exactly the same issue not with Sense but with the connection to Sense control. Anyone have a tips? Thanks

[Bleslie]

I have the same problem, although it is sense controls that does not stay connected.  All the app syncing works fine, but not able to get calls, adjust volume, or get notifications on my sense.   When I connect the first time it only stays connected for a little bit.  Sense controls shows up on my phone as a previously connected device, but clicking it will not connect.  I have to click forget device, then go to the sense and turn off and back on sense controls and then it will pair again, but within minutes it is not paired with my phone again.   Then I have to go through this whole process again.   It is very frustrating.   I still have the health benefits of the sense, but none of the convenience portions of the device.