I can confirm that this happened to me too. My Charge 5 failed on me after using it in the shower for 3 times. The screen is now flickering yellow and unresponsive. It just crossed its warranty last month and now it's dead. So much for your waterproof claim, Fitbit.
Your assessment is 100 percent correct! Two fit bit charge 5 models in my family. Never been used for swimming. Both got wet when they were submerged in a foot of water for a few seconds. Both failed due to water entering the units. Thanks for the video. I am going to take apart the one that just failed and look inside.
Thanks for the post. I wore my charge 5 in the ocean in Hawaii last week and it hasn't worked since. Put it in a bag of rice for a couple of days when we got home. Still nothing. I'm researching warranty information now...
I had a Charge 5 same thing quit working after barely being in a pool. Never failed on me sweating profusely through tons of workouts. I got a replacement and now won't even wear it in the shower
I also had my fitbit charge 5 for 1 year 6 months. After this time period, I thought it would work in a pool. I found out after my short time in the water, that the watch died. I did everything to dry it out - Used a rice bag to dry it out with no luck for 2 days. I tried to charge it and no screen picture. After waiting several more days and caller the help center and listening to many videos on how to dry it out. I decided then to try to open it and dry it out. Not a good idea. It took several days to just try to open the screen and still didn't work at all. Now I just have a broken watch in pieces. You are correct. NEVER EVER PUT A FITBIT IN WATER. Yet I also read a fitbit life is about 2 years.
Took my charger 5 to the pool for the first time ever about 3 weeks ago, first time ever. The pool isn't even 2m and I only swam surface level. When I got home the screen started blinking white. So yep, they are such a failure when it comes to water. Thankfully my warranty covered it and I got a refurbished one from them.
I'm on my second Charge 5. The first one had the battery life go from about 5 days, to barely over an hour, after just giving my daughter a bath. I've had this current one only a few months, but the first time I swam in the ocean, same thing. Only an hour battery life from a full charge.
Some of the "crusty stuff" youre seeing is flux residue from the soldering process, which is normal, but I agree that the stuff not on a solder joint is likely corrosion. Here to say me too, mine just failed 2 weeks out of warranty. I've never taken it in a pool. Saw moisture in the little sensor windows after it started boot-looping. Other than that it was a great device in life. RIP.
(from Italy) You are right 100%. My first Charge5 failed after swimming. I changed it (still on warranty). Same result with the second. The waterproof 5atm is simply not true. Charge5 has not been ddesigned properly to run in water.
My Fitbit Charge 5 also got slightly wet while submerged in water (hot tub) for about a couple of minutes. I had it for 1 year-10 months. Working with customer service was frustrating. I never received the email they were supposed to send me to offer a discount on a future purchase.
Mine died in five minutes on its first trip to the swimming pool. I've only had it for eight months, during which it never suffered any significant impact, and never had any more moisture than some sweat and light splashes (except that swim). I normally wear it with a leather strap, so I was pretty decent at keeping it dry until I swapped in the silicone bands for the swim.
Mine recently stopped working, most likely from washing my hands and it getting splashed, i have a screen protector on it due to the rough work environment i am in and water would sometimes get trapped in between, it starts working fine after drying, and my backplate around the lights came loose and will fall off occasionally
My fitbit got splashed by a wave in the ocean and hasnt worked since. I found grains of sand under the heart rate part of the watch under the little stretchy plastic barrier. I think thats how the water got in. Before that I swam with it in a pool all summer and it was fine.
Same just happened to me it's about 10 months old I swam with it many times prior to this incident blindly believing that is water resistant however it leaked and now it's not working on the bottom sensor screen I can see a significant amount of water droplets so I would say a big amount of water got in how is that even possible i was in a shallow 4' deep pool. Anyway I was lucky it's still under warranty but once I get new one no more swimming with it quite disappointed about quality of it they claim it's water resistant it clearly isn't.
Exactly same thing happened to me. Mine is 1 year and a half and works perfectly until the first time swimming in the pool. So disappointed. We need a class action against Fitbit.
I’ve also had the same happen to me in very similar circumstances. About to receive the 2nd replacement (within warranty). Was wondering if I can better the factory waterproofing in any way. I can take it apart and put it back together but wondering where the water gets in from in the first place. I took apart the failed units and couldn’t tell.
I got a charge 5 in February 2023. It worked until June, the first month that I started swimming with it. It automatically tracked my swims for a week or two. I started feeling like I was receiving small shocks on the side where the EKG readers are. Shortly after that it completely died. Fitbit replaced it with another charge 5. I swam the rest of the summer with it in a chlorine pool until last week. It is still tracking but the face display is now short circuiting. When messaging Fitbit again for another replacement, I asked if it is truly not waterproof enough to swim with it. They assured me it is. But I disagree. After two failures in the water I believe with the EKG sensors on the side it is incapable of being waterproof. My husband has the same model but his has never had a problem because he never wears it in the shower or swimming. He does wear it during his workouts.
My wife and I got a pair and both of them stopped working after just wading around in a shallow pool… mine gained most functions back (hourly move reminder doesn’t work) after letting it sit for a few days before charging it again. We’ll see if my wife’s recovers after a few days to dry.
Mine had the screen come back on once a few days after the initial failure, but then almost immediately died again. Too bad - I really liked it! Hopefully yours continues to work for a long time.
@@electronicswithemrys It really seems like they never perfected the design or should never have said they’re waterproof… it is sad, we’ve really enjoyed them so far too.
Big oof. I think this could've been sweat moisture seeping in. The rotating bezels in the Samsung watches I've owned had this issue with crust accumulating in the same fashion. I could also be wrong here but it was very similar.
Terrible quality product. My wife has had 2 replacements within warranty, the first after a swim, the second not. I just got a warranty replacement after swimming for 5 minutes. Her father also had a warranty replacement, no swimming. Will never jug a fitbit again
I can confirm that this happened to me too. My Charge 5 failed on me after using it in the shower for 3 times. The screen is now flickering yellow and unresponsive. It just crossed its warranty last month and now it's dead. So much for your waterproof claim, Fitbit.
Your assessment is 100 percent correct! Two fit bit charge 5 models in my family. Never been used for swimming. Both got wet when they were submerged in a foot of water for a few seconds. Both failed due to water entering the units. Thanks for the video. I am going to take apart the one that just failed and look inside.
Thanks for the post. I wore my charge 5 in the ocean in Hawaii last week and it hasn't worked since. Put it in a bag of rice for a couple of days when we got home. Still nothing. I'm researching warranty information now...
I had a Charge 5 same thing quit working after barely being in a pool. Never failed on me sweating profusely through tons of workouts. I got a replacement and now won't even wear it in the shower
I also had my fitbit charge 5 for 1 year 6 months. After this time period, I thought it would work in a pool. I found out after my short time in the water, that the watch died. I did everything to dry it out - Used a rice bag to dry it out with no luck for 2 days. I tried to charge it and no screen picture. After waiting several more days and caller the help center and listening to many videos on how to dry it out. I decided then to try to open it and dry it out. Not a good idea. It took several days to just try to open the screen and still didn't work at all. Now I just have a broken watch in pieces. You are correct. NEVER EVER PUT A FITBIT IN WATER. Yet I also read a fitbit life is about 2 years.
Took my charger 5 to the pool for the first time ever about 3 weeks ago, first time ever. The pool isn't even 2m and I only swam surface level. When I got home the screen started blinking white. So yep, they are such a failure when it comes to water. Thankfully my warranty covered it and I got a refurbished one from them.
Very true. Same thing happened to my Charge 5. It's not water resistant at all. (((
I'm on my second Charge 5. The first one had the battery life go from about 5 days, to barely over an hour, after just giving my daughter a bath. I've had this current one only a few months, but the first time I swam in the ocean, same thing. Only an hour battery life from a full charge.
Some of the "crusty stuff" youre seeing is flux residue from the soldering process, which is normal, but I agree that the stuff not on a solder joint is likely corrosion. Here to say me too, mine just failed 2 weeks out of warranty. I've never taken it in a pool. Saw moisture in the little sensor windows after it started boot-looping. Other than that it was a great device in life. RIP.
(from Italy) You are right 100%. My first Charge5 failed after swimming. I changed it (still on warranty). Same result with the second. The waterproof 5atm is simply not true. Charge5 has not been ddesigned properly to run in water.
Just back from the swimming pool and my Fitbit charge 5 isn't working anymore. I guess it's not waterproof!
My Fitbit Charge 5 also got slightly wet while submerged in water (hot tub) for about a couple of minutes. I had it for 1 year-10 months. Working with customer service was frustrating. I never received the email they were supposed to send me to offer a discount on a future purchase.
Mine died in five minutes on its first trip to the swimming pool. I've only had it for eight months, during which it never suffered any significant impact, and never had any more moisture than some sweat and light splashes (except that swim). I normally wear it with a leather strap, so I was pretty decent at keeping it dry until I swapped in the silicone bands for the swim.
Mine recently stopped working, most likely from washing my hands and it getting splashed, i have a screen protector on it due to the rough work environment i am in and water would sometimes get trapped in between, it starts working fine after drying, and my backplate around the lights came loose and will fall off occasionally
My fitbit got splashed by a wave in the ocean and hasnt worked since. I found grains of sand under the heart rate part of the watch under the little stretchy plastic barrier. I think thats how the water got in. Before that I swam with it in a pool all summer and it was fine.
Same just happened to me it's about 10 months old I swam with it many times prior to this incident blindly believing that is water resistant however it leaked and now it's not working on the bottom sensor screen I can see a significant amount of water droplets so I would say a big amount of water got in how is that even possible i was in a shallow 4' deep pool. Anyway I was lucky it's still under warranty but once I get new one no more swimming with it quite disappointed about quality of it they claim it's water resistant it clearly isn't.
Exactly same thing happened to me. Mine is 1 year and a half and works perfectly until the first time swimming in the pool. So disappointed. We need a class action against Fitbit.
I’ve also had the same happen to me in very similar circumstances. About to receive the 2nd replacement (within warranty). Was wondering if I can better the factory waterproofing in any way. I can take it apart and put it back together but wondering where the water gets in from in the first place. I took apart the failed units and couldn’t tell.
I got a charge 5 in February 2023. It worked until June, the first month that I started swimming with it. It automatically tracked my swims for a week or two. I started feeling like I was receiving small shocks on the side where the EKG readers are. Shortly after that it completely died. Fitbit replaced it with another charge 5. I swam the rest of the summer with it in a chlorine pool until last week. It is still tracking but the face display is now short circuiting. When messaging Fitbit again for another replacement, I asked if it is truly not waterproof enough to swim with it. They assured me it is. But I disagree. After two failures in the water I believe with the EKG sensors on the side it is incapable of being waterproof. My husband has the same model but his has never had a problem because he never wears it in the shower or swimming. He does wear it during his workouts.
My wife and I got a pair and both of them stopped working after just wading around in a shallow pool… mine gained most functions back (hourly move reminder doesn’t work) after letting it sit for a few days before charging it again. We’ll see if my wife’s recovers after a few days to dry.
Mine had the screen come back on once a few days after the initial failure, but then almost immediately died again. Too bad - I really liked it! Hopefully yours continues to work for a long time.
@@electronicswithemrys It really seems like they never perfected the design or should never have said they’re waterproof… it is sad, we’ve really enjoyed them so far too.
Big oof. I think this could've been sweat moisture seeping in. The rotating bezels in the Samsung watches I've owned had this issue with crust accumulating in the same fashion.
I could also be wrong here but it was very similar.
I did wonder if that could be salt - but not enough to taste it :D
My Charge 5 also died after cleaning it under the tap. These devices clearly are not water resistant to 50m. Mine isn't under warranty either.
Terrible quality product. My wife has had 2 replacements within warranty, the first after a swim, the second not. I just got a warranty replacement after swimming for 5 minutes. Her father also had a warranty replacement, no swimming. Will never jug a fitbit again