New Sense won't turn on and it's stuck on a red X

[kriscamacho]

My husband was given a new Fitbit sense. He charged it and it won’t turn on, face won’t light up anything. Tried to hold the side button and get the red X. Couldn’t even get it on so that it could be synced. Any insight on what happened? Is it just defective?


Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[JohnnyRow]

Try hold in the side button but keep holding it in even after you get the red X, and just keep it held in for maybe up to 30 seconds or more.  Could go through lights flashing on and off, red X coming on and off, Fitbit logo coming on couple times, but keep holding in until clock face comes on.

[MarreFitbit]

Hi there, @kriscamacho. Welcome to the Fitbit Community Forums. Thanks for bringing this to my attention and for the troubleshooting steps you've tried. I'm sorry to hear that your husband's new Sense is still not turning on. We're here to help you! 

I agree with @JohnnyRow, it seems like a factory reset is the last resort.  Important: Take into consideration that a factory reset deletes any stored data, which includes all data that hasn't synced to your Fitbit account, your applications, alarms, etc. 

With the above being said, please sync your Sense and then, proceed with the steps below in the order listed: 

1. Hold the back button for about 8 seconds. 
2. When the Fitbit logo disappears:
   1. Release the button briefly (for less than 2 seconds). 
   2. Hold the button again until you feel a second, longer vibration, which indicates you initiated the factory reset. 
      
      

You can follow the steps to set up the device after that: How do I set up my Fitbit device?

If the above doesn't work, may I know if the Sense vibrates? How do you guys know that it has a charge? Did you have the chance to set it up before the red X starting flashing out?

[kriscamacho]

So it wasn’t even set up. This is fresh out the box, supposedly charged, trying to set it up and clock face won’t come on. He hasn’t even been able to use it yet. So I can’t even sync it because it’s not linked/used yet. 

[MarreFitbit]

@kriscamacho Thanks for getting back and the details provided. 

Have you guys tried the tips and recommendations we've provided above? 

I'd also recommend putting it on to charge on a charging wire and outlet known to be working. Leave it on the charger for a good two hours, even if it doesn’t seem to be charging. Some new devices need to be charged even when they are fresh out of the box. 

When it has had two hours, try restarting the Sense. I would recommend trying this maybe twice in a row if a first try doesn’t work.

[kriscamacho]

Hi. Yes we’ve tried it. I can’t do the set up because I can’t get it to turn on. We put it on the charger for several hours before trying to set it up. So this was after it was “charged”. Still haven’t been able to get it past the red x.