A growing number of Fitbit Charge 5 owners are complaining that a recent software update ruined their fitness tracker, but Fitbit has now denied that the problem is firmware related.
a pinned post topping the official Charge 5 forum for the device’s latest firmware (version 194.91) now has over 400 comments, with many owners complaining that their updated tracker now loses charge overnight or even “completely fails” more responsive.”
We asked Google, which has owned Fitbit since 2019, for an updated response to the problems and what might cause them. So far, Google has only issued a statement to the BBC denying that the Charge 5 firmware update is causing the problems.
In that statement, a Google spokesperson said, “We are still investigating this issue but can confirm that it is not due to the recent firmware update.” The tech giant added that “users should continue to update their devices to the latest firmware and contact Fitbit customer service at help.fitbit.com if they experience any issues.”
But this is unlikely to quell the growing frustration on Fitbit forums, where some users are understandably regretting updating their Charge 5 and even (in the case of forum user ‘Gevans1388’) a 35% discount on a new Fitbit received when they reported the problems.
Some users have suggested restart the Fitbit or perform a factory reset, which will take you to Settings > Device info > Clear user data, then press the ‘Hold 3 Sec’ button for three seconds and release. But this isn’t something Google or Fitbit has recommended and it’s not an option if your device is unresponsive.
We’ll update this article as soon as we hear from Fitbit.
Another Fitbit furor
These Charge 5 issues are the latest in a long line of controversies and calamities that have occurred since Google acquired Fitbit in 2019. Most recently, Fitbit has had to offer irate fans a fig leaf in the form of several much-requested app fixes.
This followed some highly publicized issues in 2022 over the Charge’s connection to Bluetooth, which broke many users’ sleep tracking charts. Additionally, in October 2022, Fitbit ended the ability to download music files to smartwatches like the Versa 3 and the original Fitbit Sense. This led us to the conclusion that Google’s slow destruction of Fitbit was everything that’s wrong with modern technology.
It should be noted that not all Charge 5 owners will experience issues after the 194.91 software update. For example, forum user ‘bbunge’ said they ran the update ‘without any problems’ and that battery life was ‘better by a few days’ with the new firmware. Google’s current position is also that the firmware is not causing any of the reported issues.
Still, the overwhelming consensus from the hundreds of responses on the Fitbit forum is that several issues arose after that most recent firmware update, from battery drain to a completely unresponsive device. And while last year’s app redesign caused more inconvenience, these apparently software-induced issues are understandably causing more anger.
We’ll be contacting Google and Fitbit soon and will update this article as soon as we hear further advice on what to do if you’ve been affected by any of these Charge 5 issues.