Some Fitbit Charge 5 users are having a rough time right now, with no solution in sight to a battery drain issue, as well as previously reported issues with the device’s Bluetooth connectivity.
The battery drain issue first emerged in 2021 as several people posted on the Fitbit community forums (opens in new tab) complaining about the Fitbit Charge 5’s supposed seven-day battery life actually lasting a matter of hours.
While turning on the built-in GPS and using other functions like the SPO2 tracker is well known for draining the battery faster, even when the GPS is apparently not turned on, the battery drains quickly.
Not all drives are affected, and it appears to be just a few vocal Fitbit users complaining about this issue. However, the problem persisted into 2022 with more and more users affected. Known Moderator DavideFitbit (opens in new tab) posted in the most recent thread on July 9th, claiming a firmware update is in progress and so be patient.
“Remember that firmware updates are released progressively; it starts with a small percentage and then extends to the entire user community,” said DavideFitbit. This sentiment is echoed by Fitbit Support’s official Twitter account, claiming that a fix is in the works.
Fitbit’s current recommendation is to turn off functions like these in settings to avoid unnecessary battery drain and reset your device.
You’re welcome. We recently released the new firmware update to fix this issue. This is a progressive release, so we recommend keeping an eye on it. You’ll see a banner in the Fitbit app once it’s available to you.July 14, 2022
However, as first reported by Wikiphones (opens in new tab)It’s worth noting that the Fitbit Charge 5 issue has been well known for some time now, with users warning Fitbit in 2021 and the issue being publicly acknowledged by Fitbit in March 2022. There has been no fix for months and it has left some users essentially unable to fix it. use your expensive new fitness trackers.
It’s compounded by other issues with Bluetooth connectivity that we’ve been reporting for several weeks now, with some devices stubbornly refusing to pair with phones, or often unpairing once successful. At that time, reached out to a Fitbit representative for comment, but received no response.
Writing on July 14th, a forum user said (opens in new tab): “I turned off my Fitbit watch completely in my watch settings and restarted. This has worked for me so far. Let’s see.
I got a message from Fitbit saying they are working on the issue. It’s the exact same message they were sending a year ago.”
It’s not a good look for the Fitbit. The Charge 5 is an amazing fitness tracker and its most expensive, feature-packed device that isn’t a legit smartwatch like the Versa or Sense lines. The Charge 5 review units we’ve tested before certainly didn’t contain any of the above issues. It’s a really great device, and my review unit lasted about four days on a full charge, with light GPS usage for running.
However, there’s no way of knowing what percentage of Fitbit Charge 5 devices might experience one or both of the above issues. With that in mind, we couldn’t honestly recommend buying a Charge 5 right now until we know a fix is in sight. You might be better off with the similar Fitbit Luxe.