I have two Fitbit Charge devices. I took two months off using it. I went to go use them, one will simply not boot (turns on for 1/2 seconds and shuts off) and the other now will only stay charged for a few hours and dies. I'm not sure what's going on here, but it seems suspicious.
IIRC you can't turn off Fitbit devices. You have to drain the batteries completely so that the device powers down by itself. Utter shit design, but it is what it is.
I have owned probably a dozen Fitbits over the years.
Not coincidentally, I own a dozen dead Fitbits.
Honestly you are better off buying the cheapest Chinese product on Amazon. Fitbits are pure fucking diarrhea in wearable form, and I eagerly await the class action lawsuit.
Lol. They weren't all mine. I bought one for wife, a couple more for wife's family. They didn't all die at once, each lasted about a year and I'd replace them until I was like... wait a minute
A few years ago I bought a xiaomi fitness tracker for 30 euros. Used every day until I got bored of it. Left it in a drawer for a year, tried it recently, still works just fine.
Not that I'd necessarily recommend getting one, but if the battery on yours is already dead, I agree that is suspiscious. Sounds like it's by design.
Those xioami fitbands are great for the price, if you want basic tracking without needing your phone or just want a really cheap smartwatch that can control music or your cameras shutter.
But their battery also doesn't last more than 2 years if you charge it every 3 days. At least the 2 and the 4 died within 2 years for me.
3 days? I've owned the Mi band 1, 2 & 4 (still on my wrist), and only need to charge it once every 20+ days. The only reason I upgraded from the 2nd one was that the LCD was starting to be too dim.
Granted, I turn off every tracking feature that I can.
Yes, I realize that my use case might not be the norm. I just dream of a smartwatch that just gives me the time and proper notifications, without the added cost and bulk of all the tracking features.
Edit: I was just surprised that the battery duration difference would be so drastic.
I don’t think any Fitbit I’ve ever owned has lasted more than a year. The good thing about the company is that they have a pretty good warranty program and as a result, I haven’t paid out of pocket for a new device in over three years.
I have a charge 4. People don't like it because it has no colors, I don't like it because it has no sdk to support making new apps on it. Apparently it has very good sensors that I would have loved to manipulate and use for my own personal use cases. But alas.
Looking to buy a new tracker soon since it helped me understand my heartbeat and sleeping patterns better. I'm looking for something FOSS where it's easy to make and share custom widgets.
Yeah, once my current versa 3 inevitably breaks, I’m jumping ship. I’m most likely going to Garmin, since other choices are kinda limited and don’t want to charge my watch every day.
I feel like the sleep tracking has never worked well for me on Fitbit. I don’t know if it’s a function of having a low heart rate or it just doesn’t work well, but there are nights that I’ve gotten terrible sleep or not slept at all and it thinks I slept for 6+ hours because I just laid there.