Fitbit Shelf Life

[cpires2323]

Hello,

I would like to know what is the actual shelf life of a Fitbit watch these days.  I bought my first Fitbit watch in 2014, which is still in use by my niece (yay early versions of Fitbit watches!). 

Since then I bought several others (different versions of Versa and recently Sense) which don't seem to last for more than a year.  One of the Versas I had last for a little over 6 months (this is a bit ridiculous!).  Before buying my current one (Sense) in March 2022, I was actually considering buying an Apple Watch, but decided against it since I am used to (and like) the features Fitbit offers, but I am so disappointed.  As I said, I had the Sense for a little over a year and it already stopped working.  The battery suddenly stopped charging.  I followed all the instructions and tips provided in this community, I checked videos online, I spoke to the Fitbit Support team (by the way.... why does the website offer the option for live chat, but when you click on it, it simply gives you an error message?  If no live chat is available, just remove the option altogether!), and nobody could help me. 

Actually, after speaking to someone from the Fitbit Support team, I was told that I was going to receive an email with instructions on how I could solve the problem.... What instructions?  The email I received just stated I was out of warranty and provided me a discount code for 35% (really?).  This is so disappointing.  So I am reaching out for 2 reasons:

1. I would like to get feedback from the Fitbit community on the average shelf life of their Fitbit device.

2. I would like to know if anyone else has had similar issues (watch stopped working soon after the warranty expired) and how Fitbit addressed the issue.

Fitbit watches are expensive and I don't think it is fair to have to dish out $250 every year for a new watch (when I am not ready to upgrade).  I know that it is my choice to buy a new one (or not), Fitbit is not forcing me to do so.  But still... if their product is not as good as it was in the beginning, I don't think it is worth as much.

Thanks!

[Guy_ · Accepted solution]

Hi @cpires2323 - have a look here - it is the most frequent reason for not charging How to check charge cable - Sense/Versa 3 won't charge, won't start or blank screen it may resolve your immediate problem.

For people who have problems after the warranty it is a major issue, but for those that have a problem during warranty it merely gets replaced so is not raised as an issue. The point being those who get their watches replaced during warranty are not going to qualify for 1 year shelf life breakdowns, unless there is a new problem. By qualify, it won't count towards a statistic and may not even appear as topic in the forums.

Of the millions made some will obviously fail, but how many continue to work without a problem. Several of my watches are over 3 years old and work fine, but weren't trusted to get wet, are not charged daily [more like every 5 days] and run older firmware to avoid the risk of problems during the update or from new faults in the new firmware.

So it is difficult to say how frequently a watch breaks, or when, especially as a lot also depends on how the watch is treated.

It is true quality control could definitely be improved, in both the software [update process which causes the watch to fail and new bugs] and hardware [seals and connections] and bugs in the Fitbit App which cause/ create new problems through unnecessary troubleshooting.

For the 35% discount on a new watch [with loads of conditions] it is not so enticing which is a shame, especially if the fault is faulty software provoked, such that a perfectly good watch is destroyed when updating the firmware which Fitbit accept no responsibility for.

Often you can buy the watch in the shop for the same price or less than the discount.

[cpires2323]

Hi, really appreciate your feedback.  And yes, I did try everything 😞 and nothing worked, including a different charging cable (my husband also has a Sense, near than mine and working fine... for now... so used his charging cable and it still didn't take charge).  So that is the main reason I was so frustrated.

I really appreciate you taking the time to get back to me.  Thanks so much!

[JGoody]

Charged my watch (purchased last May) the night before our flight to Hawaii. The charge usually lasts me several days, almost a week. Landed that afternoon and took off my watch, and it was dead. It started to take a charge but got really hot on the charger and just died, with no warning. It’s done. And is almost exactly one year + one week after the last purchase. So disappointed. Going to buy an Apple Watch. 

[ASEfit]

I have the same issue and same story! Just out of warranty and offered a discount. Pretty sure I will be replacing with an Apple.