[U: Class action lawsuit] Replacement units for Fitbit Charge 5 devices bricked after recent update get backordered until August

Here’s the crux of the article in video form:

New updates are being added at the bottom of this story…….

Original story (published on July 17, 2023) follows:

The Fitbit Charge 5 is a popular fitness tracker with enhanced health and wellness features and a stylish design.

Google recently launched the v194.61 update for the Charge 5, which adds support for global characters and right-to-left text, making it easier for one to read incoming notifications in more languages.

Calendar events, incoming calls, and texts can now also be viewed in Hindi, Arabic, Vietnamese, and a variety of other languages.

Thanks to the latest patch, Fitbit Premium subscribers can also view their daily readiness score on their tracker. In addition to this, the exercise modes are now available in the Exercise app itself.

However, by looking at the reports (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10), it appears that some smartwatch owners are facing issues. As per the allegations, the Fitbit Charge 5 devices are getting bricked after installing the update.

Users assert that the latest patch has rendered the device inoperable and that they will have to wait for some time before the replacement device is shipped to them.

And this is undoubtedly quite disheartening for all those who are unable to keep track of their fitness activities on their tracker.

One person says that their Fitbit Charge 5 has become totally unresponsive and only displays a white screen. Notably, they haven’t faced such a problem ever since they purchased the device.

Another user says that even though the screen no longer works, the device is still able to track heart rate, steps, sleep, and sync with the Fitbit app.

My lovely Charge 5 turned into a somewhat of a brick after the last software update. Customer support doesnt seem to acknowledge whats going on despite numerous articles online and Google itself admitting “something is up with a small number of devices”.
Source

My Fitbit charge 5 got bricked as well after using it for 5-6 months. It just shows a white screen. Customer service placed a replacement order for me which will ship in a few weeks since they are on back order.
Source

It’s worth noting that replacement devices are being provided for those who are still under warranty, but they’re on backorder and will arrive in August.

Some users have experienced similar problems with previous Fitbit models as well, raising concerns about the company’s software release management and hardware design.

And understandably, they are thinking of switching to other brands.

Having said that, we’ll keep tabs on the issue where Fitbit Charge 5 replacement units are getting bricked after installing the latest update.

We will update this article as and when we come across any new info.

12:35 pm (IST): According to a report, if you own a Charge 5 and have faced issues after the update, then you may qualify for a class action lawsuit.

10:45 am (IST): There seems to be some confusion among users where they say that they recevied another update 188.58 (1,2) which seems to have fixed the issue, but some users (1,2) claim that it is an old version not a new update.

It’s likely that it’s an older update or at least a build that rolls back on some changes that were added to the v194.61 update which caused all the confusion

NOTE: You can also check the Fitbit bugs/issues and updates tracker for more information.

Featured and inline image source: Fitbit Charge 5.

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