Short battery life workaround

[manola143]

After 5 calls to customer service and 10 batteries, I have a solution for everyone!

Apparently the problem is the iphone fit bit connectiveness. For some reason when your fitbit is connected to your iphone it is killing the battery. I unsynced my zip from my iphone and synced it to my desktop and have not had any problems. It would be nice if fitbit would tell people this, it was a very frustrating process to get to the bottom of it. 

Moderator edit: subject for clarity and word choice

[H-zip]

Looking at this product troubleshooting history, I can see it has had a battery issue going back to 2014 if not sooner.

This is unacceptable to be still selling the product with an unresolved issue! I need this as I’m on wards and can’t wear anything from the elbow down. I saw it and thought it was the answer. Sadly since having it at Christmas I’ve been through 3 batteries and have lost faith in the product, as have many other customers by the look of it.

bith myself and my partner gave followed your instructions but still appalling battery life. Wish I’d never seen it and bought an extra large wrist band so I could wear my Alta on my ankle!!

[tmdb]

The third time they replaced it for me under warranty seemed to “be the charm”. It has been fine for months now. Have you tried getting a new one, under warranty?

Sent from my iPhone

[H-zip]

No I haven’t, It was a gift so I’ll see if I can get that sorted. Thanks h

Sent from my iPad

[wd8dsb]

TMBD,

Sorry to hear you are having problems.  My wife and I have had no problems since we switched to syncing less often.  My wife syncs one time a day, and I am syncing mine every 15 days.  We are easily getting 3 months per battery if not longer.  I did encounter another problem recently when replacing the battery in my wife's unit, and it was related to the side battery contact not making good connection.  I had to manually adjust the spring clip slightly, otherwise the unit would not power on.  After we sync we quickly shut down the fitbit app.  I should also mention that I turn my bluetooth off if I want to keep the fitbit app open for any length of time after I sync the data.

[tmdb]

I am no longer having troubles after they sent my third one. I honestly think the engineers figured out a software fix. I always only synced once a day and I shut the app after each sync.

Sent from my iPhone

[Celia1997]

Oh, I’m sorry what worked for me didn’t work for you. It is a great product
when it’s working. Mine is a zip, IDK if that makes a difference. But yes
the companies response is disappointing and a real turn off from buying
anymore of of their products. Good luck finding something that works!

[H-zip]

I use my Alta when not on the Ward so us the app frequently I the evening, might look at the Bluetooth to see if it’s open.

Sent from my iPad

[wd8dsb]

Update on my battery life.  I just synced, and still working fine on battery I installed exactly 4 months ago (Nov 1, 2017).  I sync 2 times a month, around first of each month and then the middle of the month.  I turn my Bluetooth off after I sync.

Just FYI,

Don

[Celia1997]

That’s good to know- thank you! They recently did an update that seemed to
help mine. It may still be draining a little quicker but I’ve been able to
synch several times a day. 🙂

[SunsetRunner]

I have had a fitbit zip for several years now. My first Zip wouldn't hold a battery charge so I bought a new one in the past year. The battery died really fast on the new one and it took me awhile to get another battery. I put the new battery in 2 days ago, synced to my computer and my iphone and my battery is already dead. I called Fitbit customer service and they are blaming the battery drain on my iphone -- I call BS -- what good is a device that drains a battery in less than 3 days. I LOVED my ole ZIP, but I am no longer a Fitbit customer -- I give Fitbit and my new ZIP 0 stars and will be posting on multiple sites about this -- what once was a great device (my batteries last for 6 months or more) is now a **ahem**.

[wd8dsb]

My wife and I have no problems with ours as long as we shut down the Fitbit app as soon as we get syncd up.  My wife downloads her data everyday and I download twice a month.  Neither of us have problems as long as we dont keep the Fitbit app open after we sync and download the data.  I go one step more and turn off my Bluetooth.  We are now very happy with our zips (no battery problems).

**Update** Just did my two times a month sync, and finally seeing half scale reading (battery indicator yellow in color and half scale) after the sync.  It has been exactly 5.5 months since I installed my current battery.  I’m very happy with my battery life using my two times a month sync routine.

**Update** Finally had low battery indicator on my zip today (April 28, 2018), and this was just 3 days short of 6 months life on the battery (originally installed on Nov 1st, 2017).  Measured battery voltage was 2.855 volts DC, and based on previous measurements it looks like low battery voltage occurs when the battery voltage gets down below approximately 2.90 Vdc.

Just FYI,

Don

[SunsetRunner]

Thanks -- agree that if you only sync once in awhile then the battery seems
to do fine. I currently sync about every 10 days to my laptop. But given
that the device is supposed to be able to sync to the iPhone -- this isn't
really a good fix. Just frustrated that this has been a problem for a long
time and FITBIT hasn't fixed it. I actually bought a new ZIP last year
because I thought mine was broken because of the battery issue. So I spent
$60 to get a new one only to find the same issues -- just very annoyed.

[LucyAP]

Hi everyone! Thanks for sharing your experience with your Zip tracker. I'm really glad to hear that most of you are enjoying your Zips and you batteries are lasting as expected. 

For those who are still experiencing any inconvenience you might want to verify that there is proper contact between the battery and the battery contacts inside your Zip. You can do this by opening the battery door of your Zip, removing your battery, and ensuring that the silver battery tab located in the lower right half of your tracker is flush with the white box outline in the tracker housing. The process can be followed here.

If you are using an iOS device, please make sure that the All-Day Sync feature is disabled. To do so, you need to go to account, then tap the picture of your tracker and scroll down and disable this option.

I hope this helps, keep me posted with the outcome! 😉