Sense Battery life too short

[Cadie14]

My husband bought a Sense smartwatch to replace my Charge 3. I am so disappointed I have to charge the Sense every 3 or 4 days…should have stuck with my charge 3 since the battery lasted longer and, frankly, had all the features I needed. The Sense smart watch has a lot of bells and whistles I don’t even use.  Such a waste of money!!! Should have gone with an Apple Watch!!!! 

I also got a Sense sport band which thankfully was on promo for free. I am grateful I did not pay for it since it looks so  cheap! I have true buyers remote: should have ditched Fitbit for an Apple Watch just as I had planned for so long!!!! 

Moderator edit: subject updated for clarity

[Guy_]

Hi @Cadie14 - an Apple watch needs far more charging and can be more expensive..

If your aim is for long battery life have a look at the things that reduce the battery life - mine lasts around 6 days, in particular removing the SpO2 tracker app will get you about 2 days more.How to resolve the Major issues causing short battery life. 

[deiG]

Mine lasts 8 days even with SpO₂ on.

[Rebelrazz]

Mine used to last approx 5 days, until about a week ago. not a happy camper right now 😞

[Cadie14 · Accepted solution]

Thanks. I removed the bells and whistles I don’t need and, fingers crossed, charge seems to be holding longer.

[Whitetulip]

HI Cadie,

For what it's worth, I ditched the Fitbit versa 10 months ago for an Apple Watch series 6. I have now just come back to Fitbit and have bought the Sense. I am having what I hope are a few teething problems with phone calls and reminders to move but slowly working through them. I just could not get on with the Apple Watch reporting app. I missed the clarity of the Fitbit app and found that all the extras I was getting with Apple were useless when I couldn't get the basics. Hope that helps. The Fitbit reporting function is second to none compared to everything else out there. I even for a while, had a subscription to Strava to upload from my apple watch to Strava and then synced the Strava to my Fitbit app. It was too much hassle and in the end I 'made do' with the apple reporting. When it costs so much, to then discover I was 'making do', I realised I should never have gone over to the dark side in the first place 🙂 I'm back with Fitbit and hoping I don't regret it!

[Guy_]

Hi @Whitetulip - thanks, good post, really useful and informative. It's good to get a great comparison..

Don't know how a watch that stops working during the day if you forget to charge it every day could be considered a "watch", as you won't even be able to tell the time with it if you don't have access to electricity and a charger.

[Whitetulip]

Don't even get me started on the battery life! Mine went on the bedside charger every night, overnight. So that rendered all the sleep stats useless but it was the only way I could ensure it stayed charged all day. Great for listening to music on when running, and to be honest, that is what made me go to Apple at the start. I had been used to the Versa 2 with the ability to store music on and upgraded to the 3 to discover I could no longer store music on it. So I went with Apple, but ultimately, that is the only thing it has over the Sense. In all other areas, Fitbit wins hands down. Even the shape of the watch face is nicer. Slimmer and less likely to catch on anything as you go about your daily business. Now, if I could just get the answering of calls sorted I would be totally happy with the Sense. I'm working my way through the forums though and I'm sure I'll find what the problem is. That's another plus for the Fitbit.....the forums and the community are great. I'm looking forward to catching up with some of my old 'friends' to start the challenges again - missed those challenges. Hubby said the other day that he no longer see's me leaping up at 11.30pm and running on the spot - which apparently was a regular thing when I wore the Fitbit!

[Guy_]

@Whitetulip  - thanks, if only there was a way to give you more than one vote !

[Whitetulip]

Aww I'm not after votes......just giving an honest opinion. Glad I came back to Fitbit!

Thank you anyway 🙂

[Guy_]

But I so enjoyed your account of things, you could write a book, very entertaining. Thanks.

[SamiKubu]

Let me know how you get on as I upgraded from a Charge 4 to the Sense and am having so many issues with battery life. I’m having to charge every 2 days after a month. Not ideal

[TheGG]

Wait so there IS an spo2 tracking app???What's it called

[Guy_]

@TheGG - it's called SpO2 Tracker.

Click profile photo, device photo, Gallery, scroll down to find it, remove it and any SpO2 clock face, and check for the other items listed in the post above.

[DavideFitbit]

Hi everyone, thank you for your feedback and for all the information that you've provided about the inconvenience that you've been experiencing with the Sense watch. 

Before considering other options, please make sure that you've followed all the recommendations found in this article to improve the battery life. As you have pointed out, the Sense should have a, estimated battery life of 6+ days, and although battery life is affected by use or other settings and actual results may vary, it shouldn't last for only 1 or 2 days. 

Keep in mind that some of the feature that can drain the battery more rapidly are: 

• Built-in GPS (Charge 5 can have a battery life of up to 4 day when using this feature regularly, or up to 5 hours if you use it continuously).
• Always-on display (Charge 5 can have a battery life of up to 3 days when using this feature). 
• Using an Sp82 clock face (Fitbit points out in this article that you may have to charge your Fitbit device more often when collecting SpO2 data).

Many users have been able to improve the battery following the recommendations mentioned earlier.

Hope this helps, I'll be around. 

[reenssemp]

David,

Something else must be going on.  My watch was purchase May 2021 and has consistently held a battery well for at least 5 days using all the bells and whistles (never always on and GPS not too much). SUDDENLY this week, the watch battery lasts barely two days. Hopefully it is a software issue.  I will stay tuned for a solution!  

Thank you!

[Guy_]

Hi @reenssemp - the sudden change in battery performance is most likely not a watch issue as others are also experiencing it, which leaves firmware or Fitbit App update as the cause.

Please post back your watch firmware version and Fitbit App version so others can see if they have the same for this problem.

[reenssemp]

Version 44.128.6 12

Thank you!

[Laurienahum0601]

my Sense was 100% charged this morning. At 4pm it was 0%. 

Moderator edit: format

[Amyheynow]

I charged my Sense yesterday and now it is at 64%. I turned on every option to save power and it still doesn’t hold a charge!!!! I love the watch/tracker but for $200 it should do what it is advertised to do. If it says the battery life is 6 days, then no matter what features are turned on or off, it should last. I’m more than slightly irritated that I will now have to charge this again tomorrow.

Moderator edit: format