Versa 4 versus Sleep Functions

[Chael]

I have read other threads describing similar experiences, but I'm hoping to get a solution and avoid the can-spam responses I saw.

My Versa 4 does not reliably display my sleep score on the watch face. Sometimes the score will eventually appear. All other times, the score does not display until I force-stop the Fitbit App and clear its cache. 

On this most recent occasion, I observed the watch face after each step to recreate the positive outcome after app restart. The moment I clear the cache, the sleep score appears on the watch face.

Please do take the above information and find the problem, whether in the device or the app. 

You can read my sad story and why I don't want to return the Versa 4 for a refund, but the clock is ticking. I'm not going to have a $200 smart watch like the crap watch produced by New Balance some years ago. Fitbit is better than that!

I upgraded to the Versa 4, because my Charge 4 started to "flake out" after 2 years of reliable tracking. At this point in time, I'm having heaps of trouble considering the move to the Versa 4 an upgrade.

The Versa 4 was a birthday present from my spouse purchased during Father's Day discounts. When I was researching my next Fitbit, I seem to remember the Charge 5 lacked a feature from the Charge 4 that was important to me. That piece was enough to tip the scales towards the Versa 4; however, I didn't realize I needed to consider reliability.

[Biceboca]

Sleep score is often slow to appear for me and I can speed that up by either restarting fitbit app on phone or restarting the watch. That forces a 2-way sync. I think it is a phone or phone fitbit app bluetooth issue, and the  frequency of communication from phone-to-watch direction. After data is sent from watch to phone, the sleep time needs to be calculated and then sent from phone to watch. But phone-to-watch communication is not constant (and should not be because that would kill the battery too fast). This does not really bother me much anymore because I sync the watch soon after I wake up and then look at my sleep info on the phone, so I don't immediately need to see the sleep hours on the watch. I think bluetooth issues are common and it is not necessarily the watch's fault. It would drain battery too fast if there was constant non-stop 2-way communication between watch and phone. When you force sync, it for sure transfers data from watch to phone but then fitbit has to process the data before sending it back to the watch, and again phone-to-watch communication is not constant, so that often does not happen immediately.  The frequency of phone-to-watch communication (without a trigger like a notification or restarting the phone app or watch) may depend in part on the phone OS and its battery management (maybe). This issue bothered me at first because I was worried that the watch was defective, but it's not. So now I just accept it, same as the weather being a bit behind sometimes. It is probably a delicate balance between reasonable battery life and frequent-enough syncing (for phone and especially the watch, with its tiny battery).

[Chael]

This was never an issue wearing my Charge 4 (with which I was very happy.) The app has full permissions to do anything, which is a bit scary. I realize you aren't employed by Fitbit, so I'm hoping for more than a 'get over it' reply from their technical support. I won't 'settle' for not fully functional. Who does that?