Sense doesn't always sync with Pixel 5

[andrewpmartinez]

I got my Sense Nov 2020 and for the past two weeks it has started to not sync quickly or at all, sleep tracking stopped working every night, and the battery started draining quickly. Today it started restarting over and over, boot looping. Sometimes it would get to the clock face, other times it wouldn't. When it did, interacting with it was painfully slow and would then restart again.

Are there know issues with Sense manufacturing? I am not doing anything extreme with my Sense. Wear it all the time, go for walks, golf, and that is it. I removed it to bath as i don't trust getting it wet. 

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi @andrewpmartinez. Welcome to the Community Forums.

Thanks for sharing how you've taken care of your watch, I'm sorry for the issues that you're experiencing with it. In regards to the syncing, may I know if you're getting an error message? What is the model of your phone? If you've not done so, please follow the troubleshooting tips described here.

About your sleep data not being recorded, let me recommend to restart your watch, wear your watch about 2-3 finger widths above your wrist bone to sleep and sync once you're awake to see your details. Note that you need to sleep for more than 1 hour to receive sleep patterns (3 hours for sleep stages) and your watch should have enough battery.

On the other hand, there are many factors that impact the battery life of your Sense. If you're using an animated clock face, having the Always On Display enabled, tracking GPS or SpO2 data, you may have to charge your watch more often. I'd suggest to charge your watch with the charging cable that came in the box and follow the tips described in this help article.

Lastly, about the repetitive restarts, let me explain that this has been reported to our team and they're currently working to bring a fix to all our affected members. Your feedback will be passed to them and my best advice is to keep an eye to this thread for future updates about this situation.

[andrewpmartinez]

Hey LizzyFitbit, thanks for responding. You edited my topic for clarification, but it is 1) not clear as the topic isn't proper English, and 2) the problem isn't just syncing. The problem is that the Fitbit Sense gets stuck in a boot loop, has poor performance (doesn't respond to touches, animations are slow), and when it does happen to stop restarting, won't sync regularly or syncs very slowly. I would suggest you not edit titles if you are not going to reflect the post's content properly.

For syncing, I did follow the troubleshooting tips. I restarted the watch, removed and added it to the Fitbit app (multiple times). It starts to work for a few days, then stops again.

For sleep, I am wearing it in the proper location and the battery is usually charged.

For boot looping: I don't know what you expect me to do about this. It will do it off my wrist sitting on a desk. 

My phone is a Pixel 5.

I haven't done anything rugged or abusive to this device, and in less than 2 months, it seems to be failing. Based on the other posts I've read here and on other forums, I'm starting to wonder if there is a manufacturing or firmware issue.

[sanman202]

I've been having on and off syncing issues as well with the Pixel 5. Also text message replies with voice will work for a few replies and then it stops showing you what you said and you can't send anymore messages that way. There are several quirky bugs. In tech years a decade or more of a technology you'd think they'd have that down by now. Bluetooth syncing has been an issue with almost every Fitbit device. It tends to get better after about a year after a device is released. That's too long. 

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi @andrewpmartinez and @sanman202. It's good to see you here in the forum.

@andrewpmartinez, thanks for getting back with more details about your Sense. Please let me explain that the title was edited to reflect the main issue experienced with your Sense as this will allow other Community members to understand your inquiry and help you out. I'm sorry if this caused you an inconvenience and thanks for the heads up.

In regards to the sleep, may I know if the issue is with the sleep stages, the sleep scores, or with both stats? Is your watch tracking heart rate data during the times you were sleeping? Did you also try the tips suggested above? Please reply back with these details so I can look further into this.

About your watch restarting by itself, our team has been informed of this situation and they're working hard to get this resolved. Please keep an eye to this thread for future updates about this situation.

I appreciate every step you and @sanman202 tried to get your trackers syncing. As with any other app, the Fitbit app was optimized to work on certain phones and apps to ensure the connection between the watch and the Fitbit app, as well the performance of its features. Currently your Pixel 5 phone doesn't appear as a compatible device and while you were able to sync before, we cannot guarantee it'll always work. I'm sorry for this situation experienced and my best suggestion is to try with a compatible device to so we can determine if the compatibility of your phone is the main factor of this situation.

[andrewpmartinez]

Gave up and returned it.

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi @andrewpmartinez. Welcome back to the forums.

Thanks for the update and I'm sorry you've gone through this situation. I understand where you're coming from as this isn't the type of experience that we wanted you to have. Your feedback will be passed along as it'll help us to evaluate our procedures, and improve our products, services and overall environment. You're always welcome back to the Fitbit family.

[sanman202]

That's very interesting that the Pixel 5 would not be a compatible device when it's a Google device. It's like the iPhone from Apple, The Pixels devices are directly from Google running pure Android.. Now with the acquisition of Fitbit by Google finally getting done, I would think that they're going to make every Pixel device compatible. Is the pixel 4 compatible? Maybe it's just a matter of time because it's still a newer phone. The Sense does connect to Bluetooth so I don't know what would not make it compatible, it just drops periodically. it stays connected for a long enough period of time to make you wonder how it would not be compatible. 

[sneezewortt]

Dude pretty lame, pixel 5 with top of the line fitbit sense, and the **ahem** thing isnt syncing it just locks up and says it cant sync, i keep getting notifications on and off, but it wont freakin sync. This is the top product from both companies who have now merged at this point, WTF google/fitbit? your flagship products dont work together!!!!!!