Versa 4 - Battery draining after the update

[Flossyflo19]

I have had my Versa 4 for well over 2 years now and it's been a wonderful little thing with barely any problems. 

However, since the latest update it will not hold charge and dies at ~30 to 40%. I recently updated to 61.20001.220.31 and ever since it's been awful! The battery drains super quickly from 100% to easily 60% in a day. Then dies at 30 to 40%! I've tried a soft and hard restart. Short of a factory reset I'm not sure what to do. Any help would be much appreciated because I've never had anything like this!

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[MarreFitbit]

Hi there, @Flossyflo19. Welcome to the Fitbit Community Forums. Thanks for bringing this to my attention and for the troubleshooting steps you've tried. I'm sorry to hear that the battery of your Versa 4 is draining quickly. I understand your concern, I will do my best to help you with this!

Since you mentioned that this started happening after the update, please try to logout of the Fitbit app and swipe off the active face on your phone and turn off the phone's Bluetooth, then hold the watch button for 10 seconds till it vibrates and the logo appears and wait for it to start. In this disassociated state the battery should last as before.

Nevertheless, please bear in mind that as all rechargeable batteries age, they deteriorate to some extent and an older device will need to be charged more often than a new one. The best way of minimizing this effect is to avoid deep discharges of the battery. To maximize the overall life of your Fitbit device's battery, ideally keep it between 20-80%.  Many people find that a daily battery boost works best ( e.g. giving it a 15 minutes charge while you are showering in the morning).

If you haven't done so yet, I'd recommend taking a look at this help article Can I extend my Fitbit device's battery life?

[ChrMic]

I’m having exactly the same issues, before the update, I was getting almost a week from a charge, now it’s not even 24 hours.  I’ve tried both resets, I’ve disconnected and reconnected.  Nothing changes.  It just dies mid-activity, no matter whether there’s 30% or 70%, it just randomly dies, no battery warnings or anything. 

[Flossyflo19]

It's awful isn't it? Since posting, I've had mine: get stuck in a reboot loop, completely factory reset itself, had to factory reset again, and have white lines flash on the screen. On top of randomly dying as you said. I can't seem to get a straight answer from anyone anywhere! It makes me wonder if Google are doing it on purpose to 

[ChrMic]

Yes, it’s brutal, I’ve seen the white lines too, it must have factories itself too bc I had a different screen setup on it.  I wish there was a way to delete the update and go back 2 weeks. @MarreFitbit 

[Asl23]

I’m facing the exact same issue since last week. Versa 4 was able to hold battery for 4-5 days and right after the firmware update now it dies within 24hrs. Battery collapses 47% to dead in no time. Any real solution from Google? Or an update to the firmware?

[ChrMic]

Nothing yet, nobody from Fitbit has replied to me yet.  I hope that means they are working on a fix! 😀

[TracyMM]

Also having this exact same issue with exact same lack of improvement trying everything suggested.

Is anybody else trying out the new features - was thinking this might be the actual issue since it's providing a ton of info regarding sleep & activities. Might go back to the old interface on the app to see if any improvement.

How can my Versa 4 drain from 100% to 30% in 6 hours of sleep ??

Also, why has the app stopped advising low battery on my watch or notification on my phone like it used to at 34%?

[Larry59]

Has anyone tried a factory reset?  Only reason I ask is I am a new user and have went thru some other issues with the watch not installing on April 16 because of a system issue and had to create another google account on the 18 and then I was able to install the update. I have not had this issue and I am wondering if its involving people with older watches and update on update over time. Try a factory reset possibly. Open settings on watch (gear Icon) scroll down to about Versa 4 and tap factory reset. Have your phone and watch nearby and put the watch on the charger as it will download the latest software again but this time your previous software versions will be deleted. Not sure if this will work but its worth a try. 

[TracyMM]

Giving ur suggestion a try! 🤞 Thanks!

[Markamg]

I have had mine nearly two years and since the last update i have the same problem. The Versa also just locks up on occasions as well which is fixed by just putting on charge . if i keep the phone next to the versa the battery last longer and the device does not lock up so it appears to be related to sync issues  (I think when out of range it is continually trying to connect. Older versions of the software used to allow you to Manual sync which extended the Battery life but this has been removed . THIS IS NOT PROGRESS GOOGLE !!!!

[gho2111]

Yes, I had the same issues and as I have tons of IT skills I also tried to make a factory reset. Big mistake as it was in my case!

No response from fitbit and not even switching to using the google account (which is pushed a lot since months) - i find such pressure very annoying but there is no solution to that. 

I cannot connect to the watch via Bluetooth and also not via the Fitbit app. The problems startet when changing to a new smartphone (a Google Pixel 10). First I thought the reason for emptying the akku of the watch could be that I turned on the old smartphone sometimes. But this was not true. 

I think I tried everything systematically - HELP!!!

[Asl23]

Factory reset is NOT a good idea. I tried and now my Fitbit is completely dead. Can’t connect to my iPhone, can’t sync. I tried to unpair and pair again, didn’t work. It’s now in my drawer. Very sad to see that one firmware update completely messed up Versa 4. Google either has no idea or is not interested in fixing it.

[Flossyflo19]

Just coming to say that after over easily two months of this issue I'm still having issues with no fix in sight. 

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You are so right! I've noticed if my Fitbit goes out of range of my phone it pretty much dies instantly! Which is FAR from ideal because I can be away from my phone a fair bit walking or exercising. It still doesn't look like they're interested in fixing it. 

Moderator edit: merged reply

[Roomski]

I’m having the same issue. Just amended the always on setting hoping it will lengthen the battery life but sounds like it’s a common issue. I noted the bs reply that battery lose efficiency over time? lol yes they do but funny all this happened immediately after the update

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Nah. This is happening to too many people at the exact time of the update for you to successfully fob us off as battery fatigue. 

Moderator edit: merged reply