How To Fix Fitbit Charge 5 Battery Drain Issue
There are several factors that that can cause the battery of your Fitbit Charge 5 to drain rapidly. It could be due to apps running in the background, an outdated software, or even a lot of health trackers running. To fix this you will need to perform several troubleshooting steps.
The Fitbit Charge 5 is one of the best fitness trackers available in the market today. This fifth generation model has an electrodermal activity (EDA) sensor that measures small electrical changes in your skin’s sweat level to track your body’s response to stress, an electrocardiogram (ECG) app that checks for signs of atrial fibrillation (AFIb), as well as other useful health monitoring features.
General info and specifications:
- 3-axis accelerometer, which tracks motion patterns
- Built-in GPS receiver + GLONASS, which tracks your location during a workout
- Bright color screen
- Optical heart-rate tracker
- Multipurpose electrical sensors compatible with the EDA Scan app
- Ambient light sensor
- Vibration motor
- Housing on Charge 5 is made of anodized aluminum and surgical-grade stainless steel.
- Bluetooth 5.0 radio transceiver and NFC chip.
- Vibration motor for alarms, goals, notifications, reminders, and apps.
- Rechargeable lithium-polymer battery.
Why is my Fitbit Charge 5 battery draining so fast?
The Fitbit Charge 5 is one of the fitness trackers that you would want to wear always. Aside from being small and light, it has a long lasting battery life. A single full charge on the Fitbit battery can last you around 7 days however if the always on display is turned on and most of the health trackers are active then expect its usage time to be reduced.
There are times when you might experience issues with this fitness tracker such as when its battery drains quickly.
If you are one of the many users experiencing this problem then here’s what you need to do to fix this.
Solution 1: Fully charge the Fitbit Charge 5
There’s a possibility that the battery is draining fast on this Fitbit device because it is not being charged fully.
A fully charged Fitbit battery should last up to seven days. It will take around 1 to 2 hours to fully charge the battery.
Charge your tracker
Plug the charging cable into the USB port on your computer, a UL-certified USB wall charger, or another low-energy charging device.
Hold the other end of the charging cable near the port on the back of the tracker until it attaches magnetically. Make sure the pins on the charging cable align with the port on the back of your tracker.
You can check the battery level by double tapping the screen. You will see a solid battery icon once the device is fully charged.
When the device is fully charged try checking if the battery drain issue still occurs.
Solution 2: Restart the Fitbit Charge 5
Sometimes the battery life of this Fitbit device can be affected by a glitch in the software. There could be some corrupted data that’s causing the battery to drain quickly. in order to get rid of this corrupted data you could restart this fitness tracker.
Restart Charge 5
Swipe down from the clock screen to find the Settings app.
Open the Settings app.
Tap Restart Device.
Tap Restart.
Once the watch has fully started try to check if the issue still occurs.
Solution 3: Turn off Always-On Display on your Charge 5
The Always-on Display is a feature that ensures that the screen is always on. This can be useful as it will allow you instant access to information on the watch. This can however consumer a considerable amount of battery life which is why you should try turning it off then check if the battery life of this fitness tracker improves.
To turn always-on display off
Swipe down from the clock face to access quick settings.
Tap the Settings app.
Tap Display settings.
Tap Always-on display.
Tap Always-on display to turn off.
Solution 4: Turn off sensors that you are not using on your Charge 5
If you would like to extend the battery life of the Fitbit Sense then you should consider turning off the sensors that you don’t really need at the moment. This could be the GPS, Bluetooth, and other health monitoring sensors.
Solution 5: Perform a software update on the Charge 5
The latest software update for your Fitbit Sense will usually have improvements and new features not found in the older version. It’s always a good idea to make sure that this device is running on the latest software update.
Update Charge 5
Open the Fitbit app on the connected phone.
Tap the photo avatar on the top left side of the app.
Scroll down and tap Help & Support.
Tap on Check for Charge 5 update.
If an update is available then just press the on-screen prompts.
Once the watch is running on the latest update try checking if the issue still occurs.
Solution 6 Perform a factory reset
Performing a factory reset will delete your data stored in the device and bring it back to its default settings. This usually fixes any problems caused by a corrupted software.
Factory Reset the Fitbit
Swipe down from the home screen/clock display until you find the Settings app. Tap on the icon to open it.
Swipe up until you reach the Device Info menu. Tap to open it.
Once again, swipe up until you reach the Clear User Data. option. Tap on it.
Finally, tap and hold the Hold 3 sec button to initiate the process.
Try checking if the issue still occurs.
Solution 7: Contact Fitbit support
In case all of the troubleshooting steps listed above fails to fix the problem then you will need to contact Fitbit support for further assistance.
Feel free to visit our YouTube channel for additional troubleshooting guides on various devices.
Have been having the same problems with charging I charged the fit bit charge 5 for 24 hours straight and in only two hours it went down to 75%. Last month I could not get it to sync with my phone and the tech went in and updated it now it will sync but won’t hold a charge
what a waste of money. company should be held accountable or stop selling these fitbits. only holds a charge for half a day, turns off. tell everyone you know/spread the word not to purchase a fitbit.
Joining the chorus of people upset here and elsewhere with Fitbit/Google; my Charge 5, purchased in November 2022, has spiraled downward with each recent update. After the last one (late August 2024), I am now down to 6-8 hours from 100% to 0% with just about everything turned off. Done with Fitbit.
I’m done Fitbit. Bought my charge 5 in Feb 2022 and now battery drains after 6 hrs. Tried all these fixes to no avail. Co texted costumer service and they never responded. Bad thing is that my problems occurred after last software update. Wow!
I am done with using Fitbit product, I bought a Charge 5 in 2022 and now I am experiencing black screen battery flat-out every 10-12 hours of usage. Tried every tips on the website and nothing is working. Wanted to replace a new battery but there are no service center available. Some other 3rd party service center offered battery replacement services but need to pay deposit for them to order a new battery that takes 2 weeks to arrive and the total fee is SGD185.00.
I gave up on using this product.
My Fitbit Charge 5 no longer hold a charge more than a few hours. I tried a factory reset as well as restarting. I called Fitbit service and they basically said no longer under warranty, so not their problem. The Fitbit was purchased in May 2022. What a waste. I had two prior Fitbit Charge 3’s that I also had to replace ( my health insurance was giving me a “kickback” for hitting milestones on a Fitbit). I am done with Fitbit and their inferior product. Going back to an old school watch.
My fitbit charge 5 dies every day even after fully charged. I called to say that one of 4 round gold circles on back was black and looked broken. I thought they would send me a replacement since I only had it since March. Nope, they sent me a new charger. Terrible