How Long Does A Fitbit Last? Running Out Of Time

Short Encapsulation: Fitbit Time!

Fitbit have been around for some time now. To be precise company began its operation in 2007 but it wasn’t until 2012 that a huge chunk of its customer base began to take its shape. Today Fitbit deals in 150+ nations around the globe and stock market rises keeps dwindling around billionth in value.

Mostly known for its keen interest in healthcare industry Fitbit primary domain has always been about manufacturing top of the class health trackers. In the recent years, before the Google acquisition, an anomaly was seen within Versa and Sense series (two of Fitbit flagship models) that they were rather focused to serve smartwatch functions over foundational tracking. After the arrival of Fitbit Versa 4 and Sense 2 it is safe to say the company has reverted back to its old ways.

As for your query to how long can A Fitbit last and its other possibility of how long does THE Fitbit last it is better to see some numbers.

Fitbit Trackers & Battery Lifespan

Fitbit have a strong set of portfolio, you can’t pick one Fitbit tracker and use it to define the brand’s vision or its goal in long term. No, not at all, there is variety in options, as it is in the numbers Fitbit’s respective trackers put on for the battery.

Now I can’t possibly list each Fitbit model and its battery lifespan, but what I can do for you is point out the median of the values. If you take a close look you’d see there is pattern within the numbers. Not one Fitbit tracker ever requires the charge after a day or two use – if it is doing for you, you might want to get it checked for possible issues. It is pretty easy to have battery replaced or charge it without charger.

Either way, there are numbers in front of us, and numbers are telling a story, and the story is that Fitbit trackers irrespective of their belonging to certain series lasts for 5 days. Now you could be wondering if its Industry standard or anomaly that Fitbit seems to have conjured out of nowhere.

Well, wonder no more…

Why Fitbit Exceeds The Others?

During my time at Chronoat I have had the pleasure to test various wearables and not all of them were made the same way. Just recently I did one from Spade & Co it wasn’t what it should’ve been, my point stands: Not every smartwatch isn’t made for same set of audience, aim, or even functionality.

There is variety within quantity.

However, in order to stand out you ought to have that special something. Samsung Galaxy Watches have it in the face of LTE Coverage, Fossil Watches have it due to its association with certified Brand Identity, and Apple Watches are Apple Watches that’s their whole identity and it works like a fine wine.

So what about Fitbit? Where does Fitbit stands in the ocean of tech floating towards gates of generic land?

If you would ask me I would say this it is Battery Life of their trackers, and yes it might sound counterintuitive given Fitbit identity resolving around the Fitness Tracking. Well, don’t get me wrong, but there are far too many trackers in the market that can – to an extent –  outdo Fitbit in terms of accurate health tracking. But, and this one is one big but, majority of them fall short to compete with Fitbit trackers battery timing.

Therefore, it is safe to say, Fitbit does have a plus point, and for them it is battery, and numbers back it too. At Chronoat we have put the Fitbit trackers against various wearables and theme of time 95% of the time had remain the same: Fitbit beating the competition on the basis of healthy battery support.

Although, why…

How Fitbit Trackers Out Last Competition?

While Fitbit competes with all sort of wearables from all sort of places one thing is certain Fitbit have a single goal in mind: Be the best tracker out there.

Now, I am not at the position nor required to comment on whether their goal has been achieved or not, I can certainly tell you they are working very hard for it. You won’t see Fitbit trackers loaded with redundant or futile features nor would you see them marketing the tracker as smartwatch. Because they are not, at times I define them as such and I apologize for it, but Fitbit trackers are certainly not smartwatches.

For sure, you could take the literal meaning to heart and deny with me and I can’t blame you, from a technical perspective Fitbit(s) can never be called as such, or should be, and it is not a bad thing. While everyone loves to have cool features on their palms 101% time those cool features are the reason for the reason of poor battery performance.

Don’t believe me?

Take a look at Fossil Gen 6 and you’ll see how bloated Wear OS  and far too many “techy techy features” have made its battery life reaching the end within 24 hours.

Fitbit just doesn’t have this problem, it’s OS is simple and you don’t have hundreds of functions to remember each one of them. Which perhaps is the reason why its lifetime span ranges to what it ranges.

What About Fitbit & Age Factor?

For those who of you took the jump right from the beginning we are going to take at the look another possibility of what your question was: How long does THE Fitbit last?

Taking the leaf from my own experience and after ransacking the world of Fitbit I think I have reached the right number and it is: 2 years maximum. It could go to 3 years if you are using Versa or Sense but I wouldn’t hope for it.

Given the price tag of some of the higher end Fitbit devices 24 months is not the good sign, and if you are thinking that I am all for it, I am not. However, we have to consider, take into account, and work around certain factors that have great influence over the age.

As lightweight or simplistic Fitbit trackers might be they are still digital gadgets with flaws hiding between the cracks.

Reasons Responsible For Lifetime Value

Even if we put aside the Fitbit limitations and focus on the word “digital devices” there is bound to be external and internal factors that would have a say in its lifetime value. As we discussed above not every gadget is made the same way, so limitations of one could be strong point of the another.

As for the Fitbit trackers and why they have short lifespan of mere 24 moons I would like you to go through the following and try to understand the reason: Why

• Frequency of usage.
• Surrounding conditions in which tracker is majorly used.
• List of activated features always in work mode.
• Display conditions.
• Age of the device.
• Recent encounters that resulted in damage to Fitbit tracker.
• Cleaning habit of yours and cleaning condition of your Fitbit tracker.
• Nature of use.
• Fitbit model in question.
• Changes to hardware (if made in recent times).
• Faulty past.

As much as I want to I can’t go into details how each factor listed here can influence the age of your Fitbit tracker. From the data collected we find no otherwise evidence stating otherwise. Hence it is your duty to understand – if you are someone who think their Fitbit tracker is near the untimely demise – to consider each and every situation that might just save you and your tracker.

Managing Expectations With Fitbit

While I’m sympathetic with the notion: “I paid $299 for darn thing and it is not working anymore.”

More often than not I see people harboring an illusion that somehow their smart gadgets would outlast them. Not that I wouldn’t pay to have a device that can do it, I strongly believe it is vital to manage the expectations.

You can’t expect a device made out of plastic and silicone to possibly do it. By no means should it means we should sit back and tolerate lackluster attempts from manufacturers. I don’t, just recently I have published this piece about Spade & Co latest attempt to be opportunistic clan.

In the case of Fitbit and Co I do think strong criticism regarding the total lifetime isn’t the way to go. It wouldn’t budge the brands into changing their business plan. The very reason there is always news of “new one” roaming is because they want you to move on to newer shiny prospect – even when there is little to no significant change to overall functionality.

Once again, I understand the struggle and how it is not possible for everyone to afford the new device. It’s just humble suggestion to think everything through and get the most out of every possible manner of aid at the time of crisis.

Be it contacting Customer Service.

Or having the tracker checked by third-party vendor.

Prolong Conclusion: Fitbit For 2 Years

Despite their timely features and high attention on the precision it doesn’t take long for Fitbits to reach their end, and there are two side of this story.

The bad side: You wouldn’t know when, but someday your Fitbit would take your resting heart rate reading and it would be it’s last ever.

The good side: You don’t have to worry about your Fitbit funeral service for good 18-24 months.

However, for now it’s neither bad or good, for now story is going on and we are far from harsh reality. After all, isn’t there 5 days battery support?