Sense difficulties with battery and button

[NetG15]

Last week I went as far as to get a label mailed to me to return my fitbit for refund, but it started working again and I decided not to return it because I really like the available features - figured it was a one time glitch.  Today it stopped again.

Here's what I see happen:

A combination of my "button" stops working and my battery discharges VERY quickly. 

Most recently: I had my fitbit on yesterday to track exercise and it worked fine.  Recharged it, and it worked fine.  Other than while showering, I've been wearing it since and have not updated any settings.  I got some text messages I read on the fitbit without an issue while my phone was charging.  Then I got one, read it, and tried to return to the phone screen.... back button didn't work.  So I started tracking battery discharge.  In 2 1/2 hours (actually 2 hours 26 minutes) the battery went down 22%. It had been discharging at a normal rate - so the button stopping working and battery rapid discharge happened at the same time, without me changing anything on it, and while still charged.

Troubleshooting steps:

It is not connected to battery being low on the fitbit, which I know is one of the common suggestions, and since I have been using it in the past I do know how to use the button per the often repeated "did you read this about how to use the button?" links.

Disconnecting and reconnecting to my phone did nothing.

Turning off then plugging in to turn on (since button doesn't work) did nothing.

Can not press and hold button to restart, since button doesn't work. I tried in case it was specific to the single touch that it didn't work.

Phone (Samsung S22) has latest software

I have factory reset the Sense twice and that didn't help. 

The only thing which maybe helped was letting battery fully discharge and fully re-charging it afterward. I had done that without it helping, so I don't know if it was what eventually helped or not.

Strangely, I think the fitbit broke two Tuesdays in a row.  If that's more than a coincidence, having a glitch in the software which breaks it by day of the week would be one of the strangest bugs I've ever seen or heard of (I have a lot of software debugging history.)

Moderator edit: updated subject for clarity

[Guy_]

Hi @NetG15  - odd behaviour indeed. 

You can do a Shutdown from the watch Settings menu, if needed, but wait at least 10 seconds before proceeding.

If you do a factory reset, from the Settings About menu, wait at least a minute before proceeding, and after setting it up did you load the same clock face as before which might have a problem, if so try changing to a different clock face, preferably a Fitbit one.

Returning it to Fitbit for a refund has a limited time and if it plays up now it is probably best to do it now rather than later. You can always buy a new one.

[NetG15]

Yes, I have done those things.

From perusing the forums, there appear to be problems which have been known since the Sense came out, and have never been fixed.  It's very disappointing.

Update: I let the fitbit fully die overnight, then left it connected to the charger for over 2 hours. The button started working again. It has been sitting at 100% for the last 30 min since I unplugged it, so is no longer on a quick discharge path.

@Janok here's my thread on it.  The let it completely die then charge for over 2 hours method may help you.  It's worked twice for me so far.  It's inexcusable that it's needed, though!

Moderator edit: format

[EdsonFitbit]

Thank you for visiting the Fitbit Community, @NetG15.

I'm sorry to hear about the difficulties you experienced with your Fitbit Sense. Thank you for trying to get them resolved before contacting us.

If you continue experiencing difficulties with your Watch, the best way to get help for this problem is to chat with us online or give us a call. Please click here to get connected.

@Guy_ Thanks for your comment.

Have a nice day.