My FitBit was stuck in a reboot loop: it would show the turquoise FitBit logo for roughly ten seconds, a single pixel row would flash, the screen would go black, and the logo would reappear. This repeated for many minutes (even hours). I tried every length of button press lengths I had seen posted (including here). Eventually, I gave up, setting aside my FitBit for seven weeks after wearing one (Sense, Ionic, ...) for 10 years straight.
I called FitBit customer service, and the solution they provided finally broke the boot loop: hold the button for 10 seconds, release for a second, hold the button for 10 seconds, release for a second, hold the button for 10 seconds, release. Don't touch for about 90 seconds. My screen turned black after the third button release, within 20 - 30 seconds, the FitBit logo reappeared and did not stutter/reboot. At the end of the 90 second wait, I got a big red X and a message that my data had failed to clear (this was an attempted factory reset, after all). I didn't particularly care about that; I just wanted to get the Sense out of the boot loop.
Aside: at this point, the customer rep gave up immediately and started checking my warranty. Obviously, my Sense was out of warranty. He then offered the 35% discount on a new watch, AND GUARANTEED THIS WOULDN'T HAPPEN WITH A NEW FITBIT. Oh lord. In my searches, I have seen these boot loops on multiple generations of devices.
I plugged my FitBit back in overnight (as it was surely close to 0% battery). In the morning, I was getting a request to connect to "a new FitBit". My FitBit screen showed a multilingual set of instructions (look for FitBit on phone, something like that). The FitBit app was looking for a four-digit code. I had to enter an arbitrary code (e.g. 9999) before the FitBit showed a new code (which I then entered). Afterwards, the FitBit updated itself and successfully paired with my phone. Within the first few hours, it appears to have captured my steps + other stats and has communicated them to my phone.
Recap: my FitBit could have been fixed but their customer service rep tried to sell me a new one instead of helping me fix the device. I'll be on the lookout for a better device and better prepared to replace this device when it eventually fails. Maybe Garmin, Samsung, or Suunto? Bye, Felicia.
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