There are few feelings worse than lugging around a dead Fitbit on your wrist. This is especially true when your Fitbit battery life is noticeably shorter than it used to be. What’s going on? Why is your Fitbit battery life depleting so much faster than it should be? You may need to adjust some advanced settings and try some new tricks to prolong and maximize your fitness tracker‘s battery life. Let’s take a look at what your Fitbit battery life should be — and how you can get the most out of your Fitbit’s battery charge.
How Long Does a Fitbit Battery Last?
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Before we break down some of the best ways to prolong your Fitbit’s battery life, we should first talk about how long a Fitbit battery should last in the first place. Of course, this presents its own set of complications. There are half a dozen different Fitbit types on the market today (not including all the Google smartwatches sold on the Fitbit site). Each comes with its own unique battery life per charge.
Using the chart below, find your Fitbit’s name and corresponding battery life per charge. If you’re getting less battery life than what Fitbit claims you should, then you may want to consider a few or more of the ways to maximize your Fitbit battery below. If your Fitbit’s battery life is more or less in line with what’s reported, then you can still use these tips to keep your battery in tip-top shape.
| Fitbit Name | Battery Life Per Charge |
|---|---|
| Fitbit Sense 2 | 6 days |
| Fitbit Versa 4 | 6 days |
| Fitbit Charge 6 | 7 days |
| Fitbit Luxe | 5 days |
| Fitbit Inspire 3 | 10 days |
| Fitbit Ace 3 | 8 days |
Ways to Maximize Your Fitbit Battery
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If you’re disappointed by your Fitbit battery life as of late, there are some ways you can get it back up to where it should be. Judging by the chart above, most Fitbit batteries should last anywhere from 5-10 days on a single charge. If yours falls short of that, give some of these tips a try. Individually or as a unified effort, these are the best ways to maximize your Fitbit battery life.
Don’t Charge In Extreme Temperatures
As a rule of thumb, do not charge your Fitbit in any extreme temperatures. This goes for extreme heat as well as extreme cold. Fitbit batteries do not respond well to extreme temperatures, and charging in these conditions will give you a shorter, less powerful battery life. Try to charge at normal room temperature whenever possible.
Adjust Screen Wake Settings
Every time you lift your Fitbit to check the time or view your stats, you’re using a little sliver of your battery. The same goes for every notification check, every look at an alert, and every raise of the wrist. You can adjust your screen wake settings in the Fitbit app to keep the screen from illuminating as often. This will save you some battery in the long run.
Dim the Screen Brightness
On a similar note, bright screens drain their battery faster. While you’re adjusting your screen wake settings, consider adjusting your screen brightness while you’re at it. Bringing down your screen brightness level can reduce the amount of energy used to light up your Fitbit screen. This conserves your much-needed battery life.
Turn Off Always-On Display
Some Fitbit fitness trackers take screen wake and screen brightness levels to new heights with an always-on display. This means what it sounds like: The Fitbit’s display never turns off, even when you aren’t looking at it or moving your wrist up. Consider turning off the always-on display in your Fitbit’s settings to drastically reduce your battery consumption.
Tweak Screen Timeout Settings
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From iPhones to laptops to Fitbits and beyond, almost every smart device with a screen has a certain time limit before it turns off its screen. On the Fitbit, this is called screen timeout. Go into your Fitbit settings and reduce the amount of time the screen stays illuminated before it turns off. This can save you a little bit of battery every time the screen dims.
Use Your Phone’s GPS
While some Fitbits come equipped with nearly as many features as a smartphone, you may be better off using your phone’s features instead of your fitness tracker’s if you’re trying to save battery. GPS is one of the biggest examples of this. Using your phone’s GPS instead of your Fitbit’s will save precious battery life.
Toggle Button Lock
Sometimes, your Fitbit’s battery can be drained without you even meaning to drain it. This can happen a lot when you accidentally hit a button or turn on the screen while active. This is where the Button Lock feature proves incredibly useful. By activating Button Lock, you can ensure your Fitbit won’t power on with the accidental press of a button.
Turn Off Unwanted Notifications
As a default setting, your Fitbit will let you know every time your phone gets a call, text, email, or other push notification. This is all based on your smartphone’s notification settings, but it really does have an impact on your Fitbit’s battery life. Try turning off any unwanted notifications in your settings to prevent the Fitbit from wasting battery on stuff you don’t even want to be notified about.
Limit Use Of Fitbit Features
Fitbit has come a long way from its early beginnings as a simple fitness tracker. Today, you can get a fully loaded Fitbit smartwatch to compete alongside Samsung and Apple’s iconic smartwatch offerings. However, each of these special Fitbit features — music control, contactless payments, and beyond — uses a little bit more of your battery. Limit their use to conserve your battery life.
Turn Off Device When Not In Use
This one should be a no-brainer. When you’re not wearing your Fitbit, simply turn it off. Perhaps you like to leave it on the counter before taking a shower. Or, maybe you don’t like to sleep with it on. Whatever the reason, just shut the device off if you’re not going to wear it. This will preserve a huge chunk of the battery life remaining.
The image featured at the top of this post is ©A. Aleksandravicius/Shutterstock.com.
