Never Run Out Of Juice: How To Extend Fitbit Battery Life

Rebecca Paredes March 30th, 2017

When you work an office job, taking a healthy amount of steps per day is a challenge — which makes it all the more devastating when your Fitbit battery goes kaput.

I saw this happen firsthand during a company-wide beach cleanup, which involved plenty of steps along a nearby shore. But halfway through the event, one of my coworkers stopped what she was doing because she had realized something horrific: her Fitbit was dead, and it hadn’t tracked any of her hard-earned steps.

Cue Brock Lesnar-level anger.

Don’t be like my coworker (or Brock Lesnar). If you’re between charges, here are some simple ways to extend your Fitbit battery life for all Fitbit trackers.

1. Fitbit Flex

2. Fitbit Flex 2

3. Fitbit Blaze

4. Fitbit Alta

5. Fitbit One

6. Fitbit Surge

7. Fitbit Charge

8. Fitbit Charge HR

9. Fitbit Charge 2

10. Fitbit Alta HR

11. Fitbit Zip

Fitbit Flex Battery Life

The standard Fitbit Flex battery life is up to five days, but frequently tapping your tracker can kill your battery. Essentially, try to forget you have it on (until you want to check out your stats). Here’s what you can do to extend your Fitbit Flex battery life:

• Stop tapping. While it’s tempting to view your goal progress, constantly turning the screen on just reduces your battery life over time.
• Set fewer alarms. Your Fitbit Flex has to remember all those silent alarms — just set the important ones.
• Turn off All-Day Sync. All-Day Sync allows your Fitbit Flex to automatically sync with your health apps and your phone or tablet. But since you can also sync it by opening the Fitbit app, this feature isn’t necessary.
• Turn off Always Connected on Android devices. This feature maintains the Bluetooth connection between your Fitbit and your phone or tablet. Like All-Day Sync, it’s optional — your Flex will sync when you open the Fitbit app.
• Check the temperature. Seriously! The official Fitbit Help page states that your battery life could take a hit if you charge your tracker in extreme heat or cold.

Fitbit Flex 2 Battery Life

As Fitbit’s first waterproof device, the Flex 2 is designed to go with you anywhere. It lasts up to five days on a single charge, depending on use. Along with the steps outlined above for the Fitbit Flex, try one of these tips if your Flex 2 isn’t lasting as long as it should:

• Make sure the the swim detection feature is off. While a waterproof Fitbit sounds great, that feature can seriously drain your battery life. Turn it off if you’re not planning on swimming anytime soon.
• Turn off smart notifications. Your Flex 2 can alert you whenever you receive a notification on your phone. If you can live without that feature, you can potentially add a few days to your battery life.
• Adjust your move reminders. Like the Alta, the Flex 2 will remind you to move if you haven’t taken 250 steps in an hour. Turn off this feature, or shorten your reminder hours.

Fitbit Blaze Battery Life

The Fitbit Blaze has tons of exciting features and a full color screen, but those features could also sap your battery life if you’re using your device frequently. Your Fitbit Blaze should last up to five days. Here’s how to get there:

• Fully charge your Blaze before you use it. You’ll know your tracker is fully charged if you see a blue battery icon on the screen.
• Limit your use of music control and FitStar workouts. Both features are great, but they can cut into your battery life.
• Turn off notifications. You can receive call, text, and calendar notifications on Fitbit Blaze. Turn this feature off to save your battery — or only receive one type of notification, not all three.
• Turn down your brightness.

• Don’t be alarmed. You can set up to eight silent alarms, but each one you set will reduce your battery life. To maximize time between charges, only set a few necessary alarms.
• Turn off Quick View. This feature lights up the screen when you flick your wrist. It’s handy, but turning the feature off (in the Settings section of your Fitbit app) could prolong your battery life.
• Turn off Always Connected (Android) and All-Day Sync. Both are handy, but not necessary if you open your Fitbit app every one in a while to sync.
• Don’t charge your tracker in high heat or extremely cold temperatures.
• Turn off heart rate tracking, or use the Auto setting. If you turn off heart rate tracking completely, you’ll have to restart your tracker.

Want to win a Fitbit Blaze for yourself? Between now and July 2, 2016, enter to win a free Fitbit Blaze from WearableZone!

Fitbit Alta Battery Life

The Fitbit Alta is a stylish fitness tracker with call, text, and calendar alerts, and it can last up to five days between charges. How can you maximize your Fitbit Alta battery life?

• Reduce your alarms. Do you really need to use all eight alarms? Not really.
• Turn off Quick View. The Alta has an OLED tap display, so you can double tap the screen to wake it up instead of using Quick View.
• Don’t charge your device in extreme heat or cold.
• Turn off Always Connected on Android devices. This keeps your device always connected to your Alta via Bluetooth, but it isn’t necessary for syncing if you open your Fitbit app every so often.
• Turn off All-Day Sync. Again, this is handy, but not necessary for syncing.

Fitbit One Battery Life

The compat Fitbit One is a simple sleep tracker and activity tracker, and it lasts up to two weeks. Not getting a full charge out of your One? Try these tips:

• Leave it alone. Checking your stats (or the time) can cut back on battery life.
• Don’t set tons of alarms. Your Fitbit One has to remember each alarm. Setting just a few will help save your battery over time.
• Turn off Always Connected (Android devices) and All-Day Sync. Simply open your Fitbit app every so often to check your stats and sync your device.
• Check the temperature. Extreme heat or cold can reduce your battery life while you’re charging.

Fitbit Surge Battery Life

The Fitbit Surge is an all-in-one fitness tracker with GPS, heart rate tracking, and sleep tracking. According to Fitbit, the tracker lasts up to 10 hours with GPS, and up to seven days with GPS turned off. Here’s how to maximize your Fitbit Surge battery life:

• Turn off heart rate tracking. Alternately, if you still want to receive a heart rate rating, use the Auto setting instead.
• Don’t charge your Surge in extreme heat or cold.
• Turn off All-Day Sync and Always Connected. Both options allow your tracker to automatically sync with the Fitbit app and other health apps throughout the day, but you can also do this manually by just opening the Fitbit app. Note that Always Connected is only for Android devices.
• Set fewer alarms.
• Turn off Quick View. Instead, press any button to see your Surge’s screen.
• Use music control less frequently. It’s a great feature, but it’s also a battery killer.

Fitbit Charge Battery Life

The Fitbit Charge packs fitness tracking, sleep tracking, and caller ID notifications into a sleek wristband. It lasts up to seven days, but if your Charge is calling short, try one of these tips to extend your Fitbit Charge battery life:

• Use fewer alarms.
• Turn off Quick View. It’s convenient, but you can also just press the side button to view your stats.
• Turn off All-Day Sync. Just open your Fitbit app to sync instead. For Android devices, you should also turn off Always Connected.
• Avoid charging in high heat or extreme cold.

Fitbit Charge HR Battery Life

This wristband features heart rate tracking, plus all the other features of the regular Fitbit Charge. Fitbit Charge HR battery life is up to five days, but Fitbit users have reported some issues with their trackers keeping a charge. Try one of the following steps:

• Use the Auto setting for heart rate tracking. If you’re using the Charge HR instead of the Charge, odds are high that you want to use the heart rate tracking feature (if not, just turn it off). “Auto” turns heart rate tracking off if you remove your tracker.
• Turn off All-Day Sync. This feature allows your Charge HR to communicate with the Fitbit app and other health apps throughout the day, but you can accomplish the same thing by just opening the Fitbit app occasionally.
• For Android phones, turn off Always Connected. Again, it’s a nice feature because it maintains the Bluetooth connection between your tracker and your phone or tablet, but it isn’t essential — just open the Fitbit app.
• Don’t charge your tracker in extreme temperatures.
• Try turning off Quick View. If you don’t need to check your stats all the time, Quick View is unnecessary. Turn it off in your app’s Settings section, and just press the side button to see your stats.

Fitbit Charge 2 Battery Life

We’re big fans of the Fitbit Charge 2 as an all-around fitness tracker with smart notifications (and a breathing app). But that five-day battery life can fluctuate depending on how you use your tracker. Along with the steps outlined above with the Fitbit Charge HR, here’s how you can extend your battery life:

• Turn off move reminders. You can adjust the timeframe in which you receive move reminders, or shut them off entirely.
• Turn off smart notifications. Yes, we know — the giant screen is part of the Charge 2’s appeal. But if you’re trying to stay focused, or just want to disconnect from your phone and save your Fitbit’s battery life, disable the feature for a few hours or a day.
• Use the guided breathing feature sparingly. It’s a wonderful way to meditate, but it can drain your battery life if you use it frequently.

Fitbit Alta HR Battery Life

Fitbit incorporated an optical heart rate sensor and more advanced sleep tracking features into the Alta HR — yet it still has better battery life than the original Alta. With up to seven days of usage per charge, the Alta HR lasts longer than any other Fitbit tracker.

That time frame varies depending on the features you enable and use, but there are things users can do to maximize the battery life of their Alta HR. Here are some tips to help you squeeze every bit of juice out of Fitbit’s newest tracker:

• Turn off All-Day Sync and Always Connected. The Fitbit Alta HR syncs with your phone or tablet every time you open the app, so syncing throughout the day isn’t really necessary. Always Connected only applies to Android devices, but it’s similar to All-Day Sync. This feature improves Bluetooth connectivity, syncing, and the reliability of notifications, but the Alta HR performs just fine without it enabled.
• Disable heart rate if you don’t use it. This feature has three settings — on, off, and auto — but auto is the most battery efficient if you want heart rate enabled. Heart rate settings are available through the device icon in the upper right corner of the app.
• Turn off Quick View. If you don’t want the Alta HR to light up when you turn your wrist toward you, then disable it. This will help prolong battery life. Users have the option to “show clock” or to completely turn this setting off.
• Set fewer silent alarms. Each alarm you add reduces the battery life of your device, so consider having just one or two alarms at a time.
• Manage the frequency of other reminders. Reminders to move, bedtime reminders, and notifications are all optional. If you to receive any of these less often, or not at all, you can manage all of them through in the app’s device settings.
• Don’t charge in extreme heat or cold. Extreme temperatures are known to negatively impact battery life.
• Charge your device fully each time. Since you can’t turn off the Fitbit Alta HR, recharging it fully helps you reach that seven-day threshold. A solid battery icon appears when your tracker is fully charged.

Fitbit Zip Battery Life

Unlike other Fitbit devices, the Fitbit Zip uses a coin battery. It's designed to clip onto your clothing and track your steps, calories burned, active minutes, and distance.

The Zip lasts for a whopping four to six months, depending on use. Since it doesn’t use a rechargeable battery, you don’t have to worry about a charging cable. Instead, you have to replace the battery using a battery door tool, which is included in your Fitbit Zip’s box.

Fitbit Zip Battery Size

The Fitbit Zip uses a 3V coin battery, CR2025. You can find this battery type at most places where batteries are sold.

Here’s how you can maximize your Fitbit Zip battery life:

• Update your tracker. Some Zip trackers show a low battery icon within their first month of use. Update your tracker in the Fitbit app by checking for a pink arrow next to your tracker’s name.
• Don’t tap your tracker all the time. Of course you want to check on your stats — but tapping your Zip’s screen can reduce battery life.

What do you do to extend the life of your Fitbit? Tell us about it in the comments!