‘It’s useless now’ say furious Fitbit users after new update makes devices ‘non-functional overnight’
DOZENS of Fitbit users have taken to social media to express their frustration over the device following a new update.
Issued in December 2023, the Fitbit Charge 5 update was meant to fix bugs and add some new features.
Instead, it has rendered the watches “useless,” according to one Fitbit user, per the BBC.
One of the most documented complaints on social media is that the device’s battery drains quickly.
“I experienced rapid battery drain after a week or so,” one person commented on Fitbit’s community thread.
“Now the screen is black and won’t respond to any touches,” they continued.
The same Fitbit user noted that even though they tried to restart the device using the button on the charging cable, they still could not see their screen.
“I can see the device using a BT scanner on my phone, but can’t do anything with the tracker,” they added.
Similar problems were reported by several other users on the thread, as well as on other platforms like Reddit.
“Just did the update. Battery went from 82 to 65 percent. No improvement in syncing,” another user said.
“Takes forever and fails regularly. Still only tracks to the minute, not the actual exercise time. Don’t really see any change,” they continued.
Even more frustrating to users is that the issues seem to be largely ignored by customer service, one person told the BBC.
They criticized the service and said they offered no real solution “other than to buy a new Fitbit”.
“They F***** up tons of devices with their botched update,” one person noted on Reddit.
“And then when the heat got too much, they just completely stopped communicating about it,” they added.
“Now they released the Charge 6 which feels like a slap in the face as we’ve still not gotten the promised software update for our 5s.”
Another added that their Charge 5 went “from perfect to non-functional overnight.”
The U.S. Sun has reached out to Google for comment.
Fitbit first launched in 2009 before being acquired by Google in 2021.