'It lasts less than a day' – Fitbit users furious over update that crushes battery life

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Fitbit recently issued a vital software update to stop batteries overheating
The Versa 3 and Fitbit Sense were reportedly a risk to their users
The new update is cutting battery life from five or six days down to less than one.

Just a few weeks after Fitbit issued a battery overheating update for two of its most popular smartwatches, users of the Fitbit Sense and Fitbit Versa 3, two of the best Fitbits on the market, are complaining that the fix is causing catastrophic reductions in battery life.

Google said the overheating problem could pose a risk to users and required an immediate firmware update. The company confirmed that the update would reduce the risk of overheating, but at the cost of some reduction in battery life, and even offered customers $50 if they were affected, however, that compensation figure appears to pale in comparison to just how much battery life users are actually losing now the update is complete.

Fitbit's battery life crisis goes from bad to worse

"Before doing the update my battery would last about 5 -6 days (depending on how much exercise I did)," one user told the Fitbit community forums, "Now since doing the update it lasts less than a day. That's with everything turned off too (eg. Notifications, snore detection, vibrations, etc)."

"The firmware update has caused an extreme battery reduction," another added, noting their device was also lasting less than a day, where previously it would deliver a week of charge.

Elsewhere on Reddit, users are reporting similar issues. "For a very long time, my Sense battery has lasted a very long time. I leave the screen off so I don't usually need to charge it but once a week," one poster wrote. "However, since about a week ago, the battery has started dying rapidly. Tonight it went from 46% to 22% in 3 hours. That used to take about 2 days."

"I’ve started experiencing the same thing since the firmware update they pushed through," said another.

All signs, then, point to Fitbit's recent planned firmware upgrade causing a catastrophic reduction in battery life. User outrage is widespread, and while Google confirmed that the overheating issue could be a safety risk to users, the trade-off in battery life following the firmware update appears to render devices almost unusable. "I had to charge mine twice in one day," one user in the forum said.

As noted, this should only affect the Versa 3 and Sense, the two models identified by Google as presenting an overheating risk. If you've been affected, drop us a line at stephen.warwick@futurenet.com. We've also reached out to Google for comment and will update this piece accordingly with any response.

Stephen Warwick is TechRadar's Fitness & Wearables writer with nearly a decade of experience covering technology, including five years as the News Editor of iMore. He's a keen fitness enthusiast and is never far from the local gym, Apple Watch at the ready, to record his latest workout. Stephen has experience writing about every facet of technology including products, services, hardware, and software. He's covered breaking news and developing stories regarding supply chains, patents and litigation, competition, politics and lobbying, the environment, and more. He's conducted interviews with industry experts in a range of fields including finance, litigation, security, and more. Outside of work, he's a massive tech and history buff with a passion for Rome Total War, reading, and music.