Sense Firmware Update OS 5.1.1 (44.128.4.17)

[FitbitCommunity]

Update 12/11/2020: An update OS 5.1.1 (44.128.4.17) is now available to all customers.

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Update 12/8/2020: An update OS 5.1.1 (44.128.4.17) is currently in progress. Full release notes can be found here.

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Update 11/25/2020: OS 5.1 (44.128.4.15) is now be available to all customers. If you have any difficulty updating, make sure you are following the directions in this article, and then provide as many specific details as possible in your post so that we can assist.

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Announcing the release of Fitbit OS Firmware Update 5.1 (44.128.4.15)!

We release firmware updates to all customers in phases. The update will be available to everyone soon, and a banner will appear in the app when you can install the update. If you don’t see the banner yet, check the app again later.

Important Note: You will need to be on the latest app: iOS 3.34 or Android 3.34.1 in order to view the latest features. Please update your app.

*Firmware releases are not distributed based on region or location and can reach anyone no matter where you reside. We do not recommend performing a factory reset to force the update to your device as your data will be lost and you may not get the update. Please be patient and wait until you see the update banner inside of the Fitbit app to begin the firmware download.

WHAT’S NEW AND FIXED

• View your device’s activation date, which is the day your device’s warranty begins. The activation date is the day you set up your device.

• Use Google Assistant on Fitbit Sense and Fitbit Versa 3. For more information, see How do I use a voice assistant on my Fitbit smartwatch?

• Use the built-in speaker and microphone in Fitbit Sense and Fitbit Versa 3 to take calls from your wrist. For more information, see How do I take on-wrist phone calls with my Fitbit smartwatch?

• This release includes bug fixes and improvements.

Full release notes can be found here.

HOW DO I UPDATE?

Step by step instructions for updating your Sense can be found here.

I recommend updating your Sense over a home Wi-Fi network as this can greatly reduce the time it can take to get set up. For more information on connecting your Sense to Wi-Fi, check out this article. 

If you run into any trouble updating, review these troubleshooting tips. 

We look forward to hearing your thoughts! 

[westsidekilla1]

The notification pull down problem has affected me too. They still haven't fixed the auto time zone switch either. So who knows what was fixed. Plus speech to respond to text is still garbage and hardly ever works. I use a Pixel 4 XL with Google Assistant on the Fitbit.

[Reganviola]

My watch has MAJOR issues syncing ever since this update. I can only get it to sync outside my home. I have tried unpairing/re-pairing, phone on/off, app on/off, watch on/off, forgetting watch and adding again, and finally, a factory reset. It also seems to ask for my passcode and random times (set only to ask every 24 hours or after removing) and I do not receive any notifications (texts, emails, weather) on my watch. This is EXTREMELY frustrating. I called customer service and was told I'd have an expert email me. NOPE! No one ever emailed. VERY DISAPPOINTED with the customer service. My Versa 2 was more consistent and trouble-free. Might just return the watch and go back to that one.

[bobby2478]

Interestingly the notification swipe down responsiveness worked fine prior to the 5.1 update a few weeks ago. Since then however now it doesn't always work it's very picky. But before 5.1 it mostly worked great. So while they cleaned up some of the lag which is good now the swipe down to bring up the notifications motion isn't working as well.

[Swendy]

I don't have a option in the Fitbit app to update the firmware. I have the lastest version of the app and made sure I can run in the background but it is not giving me the pink update button.

[DonRW]

It takes awhile for updates to reach all owners. It will show one day!

[westsidekilla1]

What has made me happy about the latest update is speech to text is working much better. I've responded to three texts today with speech, one was even with the TV on in the background. The other two were in complete silence. So I'm not holding my breath that it's completely fixed but I sure hope it is because it was so frustrating not to be able to respond to texts with speech. I did do a factory reset though and I use a Pixel 4 XL with my Fitbit Sense. Time zone switching still doesn't work though. 

[Kladz]

Better battery life with SPO2 actived this night with the last update. 10% drop

[Reganviola]

Yes, even unpaired, set up as new and finally did a factory reset. In the last week it has only paired 3 times. So frustrating 

[sanman202]

It took a bluetooth unpairing out of the blue today to notice the new update. I lost connection and couldn't pair again. I removed the device and re-added it and the update for OS 5.1.1 (44.128.4.17) was there. Hopefully this will fix any connection issues, though i haven't had too many in the month or so time i've had the Sense. I didn't see the banner for the update and maybe it was coming soon. Re-adding the device probably found the update waiting. I don't see a changelog for this new version. 

[Kounyk]

What is this 5.1.1 update bringing new to the Sense?

[DaveS3]

Unspecified bug fixes, there's a link in this forum to the official page.

[DenaliBeast]

I can personally say this whole Fitbit experience so far coming from my Samsung Gear S3 Frontier Watch released back in Nov 2016 (Over four years ago) and I can say 100% I'm not impressed at all, there is so much lag, the app store is pathetic and just to get the device to stay synced to the Fitbit app is a real PITA including the fact that almost all the time the google assistant doesn't even work saying it lost connection with the phone (Something that Samsung has no issues with at all), in addition, even find my phone is horrible because the Bluetooth range in the watch is horrible relying on Wi-Fi connectivity too much (I literally couldn't find my phone because my niece hid it in jest and I had to tell my google home to locate it), in fact, I think they put the cheapest Bluetooth receiver they could find on the market because uploads to the phone are painfully slow almost like it has Bluetooth standard of 4.0 not 5.1 like it should be especially for a 2020 release, furthermore, even when I got the Fitbit Sense out of the box brand new from Fitbit itself and it would not connect to my wireless router period (I tried so many times and i even tried manually, also A WORD OF ADVICE TO THE DEVELOPER PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF SANITY PLEASE PUT WPS CONNECTIVITY IN THE WIFI SETUP TO MAKE IT PAINLESS) and I ended up having to update it through Bluetooth which took close to SEVEN hours to get it on OS 5.1, however, the only reason I continue to deal with this watch is because of the Afib software and that is all, otherwise, I would jump right back to my Samsung no hesitation even being four years old its still faster than this Fitbit Watch lol.

[westsidekilla1]

Totally agree with you. I've been so frustrated and disappointed with this watch. Makes me miss my Samsung Active Watch 2. It had a better speaker, could store music, more apps, switched time zones correctly and wasn't laggy. This watch is just one bug after the other. I mean speech to text doesn't even work 99% of the time. I can't believe Fitbit released this watch in the shape it's in. And phone calls are awful because of the poor speaker built into this watch. Can barely hear who you're talking to and if you try to talk louder it starts echoing on the phone of the person you're talking to. Heck I've already factory reset mine 3 times before I could even get sleep and stress scores. Buggiest piece of tech I've ever owned. My wife's Sense is pretty much the same way as mine. Buggy. I use a Pixel 4 XL and she uses a Pixel 3 XL. It loses Bluetooth connection a lot and won't sync right the other half of the time. Very frustrating for Sense owners, especially the ones who had to pay full price. As is, the Sense is a $150 watch at best.

[ChrisWix]

Can anyone tell me why you can speak to & hear Alexa, but you have to read googles replies after the upgrade hear in the UK? Seriously, buying this watch is like buying a car & saying the engines coming in six months. 

[SPGmd]

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@westsidekilla1 wrote:

Where's the change log for the .17 update? I was on the .15 update until yesterday now I'm on the update that ends in .17. But it doesn't tell what it was for our what, if anything, was fixed. I'm asking because this watch is so buggy. Hoping y'all can sort it out.

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https://help.fitbit.com/articles/en_US/Help_article/2302.htm

FYI, it does not say anything, just:

"This release includes bug fixes and improvements."

[sanman202]

You always have to remember no device is perfect. If you go to the Apple watch 6 forum you're going to see complaints there as well about whatever it may be. It's always obviously the smaller percentages that are in the forums. You got to remember there are many many users that don't have problems. Sure it's unfortunate if it ends up being you and it's not fun, and frustrating. Overall the Sense has been pretty good, there have been a few quirky things but I'm expecting that and hope that it's going to get better with each update. If you think what you had previously is a better option you still luckily always have that option to go back to that. You can always sell this watch. Or you can wait for a few more updates and see if things get better for you. There's always a line of where you may have gotten a defective device as well. I'm not defending them by any means because it is frustrating with Bluetooth disconnections happening from time to time do you think they'd have it down by now after doing this for several years. I'm also using a Pixel device and I've used Pixel 4 XL and now a Pixel 5, and I'm having more issues with the pixel 5 than the 4XL. So you ask yourself what's different, it's Bluetooth. I had to remove and then re-add the watch again yesterday. That's when the update was available yesterday, and now I hope that it will fix any bugs. Fitbit has always come to the plate after several updates to get the devices working better. Comparing them to some of the other technology companies they may be a little bit behind as far as having the least amount of issues, but they all have issues. Technology always will have issues, there is no perfect one device if you get a device that's good to very good with technology, that's pretty good. 

[westsidekilla1]

@sanman202 I agree with you that no device is perfect. But I can honestly say I've never had a piece of tech this buggy. And I'm a tech nerd. Lol.      I truly hope Fitbit reads these forums, sees the problems people are having and fixes them. Updates can work wonders. But I've been voicing my concerns mainly on the poor speaker quality, how the volume is so low, responding to texts with speech is pretty much useless with either "something isn't right" or " transcription error." Also, the automatic time zone change is broken. Phone calls now have an echo that wasn't there in update 5.1. So those are my main concerns. After three factory resets mine is working properly other than those things I mentioned above. I don't think my device is defective, I think Fitbit has some work to do. They need to fix speech to text, btw I use Google Assistant on the Sense, not Alexa, because speech to text works maybe 10% of the time. They can hopefully up the volume on the built in speaker because I think we can all agree that the built in speaker on this watch, as is, just isn't cutting it. And they need to fix the broken time zone change. Plus, like I said earlier, calls are now echoing. My wife was talking to me on her Sense and me on my Pixel 4 XL, she uses the 3 XL, and she said she could barely hear me. I told her to make sure the watch and phone volume were maxed out and she said they was, so, I tried to talk a little louder but that didn't work because then I could hear myself echoing badly on my 4 XL. So, it's just frustration. I hope they can fix a lot of these issues along with a lot of the issues others are having that I'm not having. Just hoping for the best at this point. 

[crashnova]

I still don't have the voice assistant tile with this update.

[westsidekilla1]

You ain't missing much, l Trust me.

[sanman202]

@westsidekilla1Absolutely feedback makes companies better. I think they are aware of most of the common issues now and new ones will pop up. For example, if you go on the Pixel forums there are 4XL users with phones shutting down without warning now a year after it was released. The Bluetooth disconnects are probably the biggest issue for most. Bluetooth has been around now for two decades and new smartphones have been around since 2007 and we're still dealing with Bluetooth disconnections, especially with Pixel devices. Why is this still happening, especially with FitBit devices? So is Google changing something with each new phone release and then firmware updates are needed for the Fitbit device to finally work more consistently? Great questions and the consumer is the loser in all of this. We can rant 10 times a day and that may be overkill. The power is in numbers though for companies to make changes because they have to invest their time properly as well.