Sense won't pair with Pixel 5

[sanman202]

Ok it's getting close to the smash test but that just wastes money..I'm about over it and ready to sell this thing. Truly a terrible what should be a simple thing by now for FitBit to figure out. What's the issue with pairing with a smartphone? This is not the first time. The Charge 3, Versa 2, and now the Sense. Google do you hear us? We want this fixed now!  Yes, I've restarted the device and also removed from the phones Bluetooth. i'm fed up with this thing. There are other competing devices out there. This is a Pixel 5, come on Google it's your own latest device. Step it up guys!

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject and word choice

[SunsetRunner]

Unfortunately, you are not alone.  I had to sort my wife's Sense which is paired to her iPhone SE (2020) as it hasn't synchronised for nearly two weeks and regularly goes flat as the phone refused to send notifications to the watch.  Maybe that's why I now wear a Garmin.

[t.parker]

My Sense had always issues with syncing but mostly after each workout. After my previous Fitbit, I switched to Suunto, then to Garmin and I already got used to seeing the results of my workout in the app before I even think of opening it. With Sense, syncing was really bad. I found out rebooting the watch usually solved the problem (not always), however, the rebooting itself required holding the "World's Worst Button" and struggling to reboot the watch was just driving me crazy. In the end, I have returned my Sense by the end of the return window. For some reason, sync issues are the bread and butter of the Fitbit ecosystem. Since I started using Fitbit devices, it was always a lottery whether it will sync or not. My wife's Galaxy Active, my Suunto Spartan, Garmin Fenix 6 - no problems 99.9% of the time. So good, that in fact, when sync issues appear they are even more annoying. With Fitbit, you just get used to that they are just there.

[sanman202]

Well i didn't smash it because that's foolish and a loss on my end financially. Yeah, not sure what the hurdles are with getting Bluetooth and syncing to work better. It's a very weak spot for Fitbit and by now you'd think it would be resolved. This has been going on for years now. Sure technology will always have issues and it's expected, but other device mfgs seem to have less of an issue with syncing their devices. Bluetooth is generally a very solid connection and has been around for well over a decade now. So i had to remove my Sense from the app and re-add it. So i lost the sleep data from the night before and some premium stats. This is on a Pixel 5 device which is Googles latest phone. So with them purchasing Fitbit one can hope they'll get this right soon. 

[sanman202]

So that's on an iphone, which means it's not just on the Pixel 5, which recently they said it's not compatible with this phone. What? The Pixel 5 was released in October and is the latest device still. So should we be using a 3 year old device? Google needs to look at this now that they own Fitbit. That's like an iphone not being compatible with an Apple Watch. 

[Rich_Laue]

Google may have bought Fitbit, but Google only makes one type of phone. There are many android phones not made by Google. Your analogy leaves something 

[SunsetRunner]

But it doesn't detract from the fact that Fitbit has a major issue with their syncing process and always try to blame it on the 'approved devices list' rather than sort their Bluetooth stack once and for all.

[Rich_Laue]

Really their hasn't been any posts above with enough info about their issue for us to help solve a problem. 

The start with the title of this thread being misleading, a user is unable to pair any fitbit tracker to any model phone. The tracker will reject this attempt to pair and tell the user to use the fitbit app. 

The fitbit app is responsable for controlling the Bluetooth pairing. 

The user, through the fitbit app, attached the fitbit tracker to their fitbit account. Then the fitbit app will request permission to pair the tracker. 

The tracker does not need to be paired for the tracker to sync. 

I have Bluetooth Low Energy devices throughout my house. Thermostat, lights, switches, lock, scale, tracker, key fob, not one of them I am able to pair to the phone. Every one of the above has a phone app that does the pairing. 

BTW: Garmin also has a list of what phones they have found to work with, if someone decided to go with Garmin, they may want to check their list. 

[Hbrand]

I have a Pixel 5 and could pair my Sense without problems.

If the phone rings, I can answer from the Sense, also see my messages on the Sense.

I have my Pixel 5 Bluetooth always on, so no need to connect every time.

You guys having trouble with this ?

Greetings, Harold

[Giampi71]

I was never able to link a Sense to my Pixel 4 (I even factory reset it), why no problem with other Fitbit trackers. I gave the Sense to my wife and she linked it with her Pixel 3 with no problem at all.

@Rich_Laue people use the word "pair" in place of "link", try to understand instead of being so picky.

[t.parker]

@Rich_Laue If you give Garmin as an example, they have a list of devices that didn't pass the tests (yes, they actually test), which are Huawei phones (for which troubleshooting is provided) and 3 other specific models. That's it. Otherwise, the assumption is that everything that meets minimum requirements (iOS12 or higher, Android 6.0 or higher) should work. I'm mostly a Samsung phone user and I have not met a device from Suunto, Garmin, or Polar causing me so many sync-related issues (with exception of services being down). Now, with Sense, I never sorted out the issue of syncing after the workout. Manual sync usually failed and going there I could see, last sync happened like a few hours ago or even yesterday, like on this screenshot:

I have seen that red exclamation mark so often we almost became best buddies! 😄 My phone was Samsung Galaxy S8+. I found out, rebooting the watch (not the phone, not unpairing the watch, not reinstalling the app, and all other troubleshooting steps) could work quite often. This is however workaround and huge annoyance when at the same time my Garmin watch already synced to the Connect app, Connect app synced to Strava and TrainingPeak and I haven't even reached my office floor coming back from my run. You may say that Garmin, Polar, or Suunto may have such BT-related issues too. True, but the difference is that those watches can connect to a number of other BT and ANT+ devices at the same time (when I run, I'm connected to the chest strap and Stryd sensor when I cycle, I'm connected to the chest strap, cadence sensor, and speed sensor and moreover - I broadcast my HR from the watch into Polar bike computer, so I can see my HR zones on the bigger screen. Sometimes, I use BT headphones paired with the watch. So there are several different connections over the air. Hiccups happen (mostly with ANT+) but all the connectivity just works! Yet Fitbit cannot sort out a single BT connection with the mobile phone. We know that for you everything works so flawlessly and that's really great. Not for everyone it does so. Some people will come to complain and look for help here (and the answer like "it works for me" isn't helping). Others will just get a full refund and move on (I did).

[SunsetRunner]

Hi @Giampi71 the problem with @Rich_Laue is that no-one is ever allowed to say a bad word about Fitbit as in his opinion they can do no wrong.  If there is a problem then clearly the user has done something incorrectly, hasn't read the compatibility list or is simply uninformed.  As @t.parker has noted below the connection to Garmin devices just works.  There are only 3 Hauwei devices on Garmin's list (with workarounds) and I have never had any connection issues with any Garmin device or phone that I have owned.  Also as @t.parker has pointed out I can connect my phone, speed sensor, cadence sensor, varia light/radar and chest HRM strap and it all just works.  I get lap and pace updates through my headphones (which aren't paired to my watch but to my phone) and I can even use my Garmin as a remote when listening to ANY music service that Garmin has available!!!  All of this is seamless and trouble free.  I can go for a run or bike ride, get home and before i've even unlaced my shoes my activity has synced and i've normally received my first kudos via Strava.  I haven't even mentioned the firmware update either, I updated my Versa 3 yesterday to the latest beta firmware (128.5.27) and it took best part of an hour!! Whereas a £1,000+ Garmin Fenix 6X Pro Sapphire can do a download, install and reboot in under 3 minutes!!!  I have yet to see a Garmin firmware that exceeds 15-16mb in size and they are very easily managed via Windows.  Oh and also their firmware releases have very detailed release notes as opposed to the 'bug fixes and improvements' that Fitbit usually publish which are about as useful as a chocolate teapot.

I will always try and give a balanced view on these forums but there are times when we have to admit that the Fitbit hardware/firmware is at times very lacking and blaming the users all the time is not particularly helpful.

[t.parker]

@SunsetRunner you just reminded me of one more surprising quick sync. Since I use Strava Explore, one time I generated a route and was going to go for a run but wait... need to upload the route to the watch first. And here's the surprise, the route was already in my Courses on the watch. I don't even know when it happened. It's sync Strava->Garmin Connect->Watch. Since I usually run during my lunchtime every minute is precious so that was a very nice surprise I didn't have to get the GPX file from Strava and push it manually into the courses.

I posted here several comparisons of HR and GPS for Sense vs other devices. When working on the analysis lots of that time was spent on sitting and waiting for Fitbit to sync just this one recent activity (sitting and rebooting and waiting) 😄 If competitors can implement connectivity so it works almost 100% of the time (there will never be 100%, something like the recent Garmin issue with Jaybird), why Fitbit can't (probably, we'll never know)?

[SunsetRunner]

@t.parker that's a very good point which I also forgot about!! Yes, when I create a route on Strava and star it, it automatically syncs to my Garmin which I can then use the Pacepro or normal navigation modes to run it.  Again don't even have to think about it as it just works.

Maybe the fact that Garmin has also componentised their firmware makes it easier for them to sort out any issues.  They sometimes release BT, ANT+, sensor or other firmware components separately to the main firmware.

[sanman202]

@ Rich_Laue Google makes several Pixel phones. Maybe you mean just the "Pixel" name and not necessarily several device options under that name? That's a good amount of devices out there.  

[sanman202]

Yes, there is trouble with this. Do a search. 

[Rich_Laue]

That is wrong @SunsetRunner my issue is that when many people say that they can not pair their tracker, they are trying to pair in the Bluetooth screen of the phone. Some even tell us that the phone is telling them to use the app. They then ask what should I do? 

So how do we know if the person is trying to pair the tracker, or setup the tracker. 

@t.parker fitbit has a list of phones that they found does not work, and another list of workarounds for phones that have issues. 

BTW I've had a good amount of frustrations with fitbits 

[Giampi71]

@Rich_Laue a brief look at @sanman202 profile can tell you that the user has 75 posts and he is definitely able to pair/link/setup a Fitbit tracker so your involvement in this discussion is just to lecture about the right use of the wording.

You are also clearly saying that fitbit has a list of unsupported phones and here it is, however more and more people are finding many "pairing" issues with the compatible phones. Hence the frustration.

[SunsetRunner]

Also, why do we constantly get the notification to ensure the Fitbit app is always running in the background to sync?  Even when I do it still doesn't!!  So why do we need to keep the app constantly in the background? Is the syncing that bad that we are being forced to keep the app active? No other app I know of has this requirement so why Fitbit?

[Rich_Laue]

People still try and pair a tracker to the phones Bluetooth @Giampi71 

So when the word pair is used, we do not know if the are recovering to linking a tracker through Bluetooth, or using the app to link a tracker to their fitbit account. 

As for linking to a phone, the fitbit app is responsible. A user will not be able to, or try to, link a fitbit to a phone.