My Fitbit Versa broke recently. Luckily, Fitbit was able to replace it, but I wanted to share what was happening to my screen in case others are experiencing the same thing. Also, I share why I think this will be my last Fitbit ever:
MY FITBIT HISTORY
I’ve had a lot of Fitbit devices over the last six years. I like the idea of being able to quantify my day including steps, and sleep. I’ve had the Fitbit Flex (I think this was their first Fitbit), the Charge HR, the Alta HR, and now the Fitbit Versa.
FITBIT APP
One of the main reasons I like Fitbit is for their app. It’s super easy to navigate and it shows you all your stats in a clear way. You can visualize your steps, your workouts, heart rate, sleep tracking information, and more all at a glance.
I’ve heard of others who were chosen to use the beta version of the new Fitbit app. Apparently, it changes the app’s dashboard and the interface. There is more data about your heart rate while sleeping, a new sleep score, and new insights about your patterns, but you have to pay for it.
I just got prompted to update to the new dashboard; I haven’t really explored it yet. A lot of people are upset because the new information is behind a paywall; they’re calling it “Fitbit Premium” and it’s $9.99/month which seems outrageously high. Any insights or scores extrapolated from my Fitbit should be free to me; especially since I’m already paying $250 for the device itself.
FITBITS BREAKING + CUSTOMER SERVICE
Every single Fitbit I’ve owned has broken; so frustrating!
Each of my Fitbits broke after about a year. It’s really annoying; especially since they aren’t inexpensive. I had to step away from Fitbit after my Charge HR broke for the second time and I went to Garmin.
Overall, Fitbit customer service has always been really helpful in helping take care of my broken devices. They take a while to respond to your issue initially, but once they do it’s resolved quickly.
Each time my Fitbit broke, the customer service team has replaced it for me which is super great. I just wish their products were more reliable.
FITBIT VERSA
I had my Fitbit Versa for just about a year when the screen started to glitch. I really liked the Versa because it has some smart watch features. It can show notifications, play music, and you can make payments from your wrist with the Special Edition version. I also really liked the screen size and the battery life on the Versa.
SCREEN GLITCH
I had just charged my Versa, so I was surprised that my battery was low one day. I charged my Versa again and wore it overnight with no issue. But the next morning, my Fitbit screen started to flicker. I tried restarting it and re-pairing it to my phone, but the screen was still an issue.
The flickering and glitching started getting stronger until my screen started to get a growing white light on the screen. It was low key scary; I thought the battery might explode on me and burn my wrist (maybe a little dramatic). All that screen activity was definitely burning through my battery though, and the battery died that same day.
It was really weird. I treat my Fitbit very well — I don’t do a ton of workouts; I have always had a screen protector; I keep it charged and updated. The more time when by, the more the screen got worse. The bright white light in the center would still appear, but then quickly dim out and the whole screen became very faint. You could barely see the screen and it was like the display was overlapping with other data.
I reached out to customer service and they were really great. They said that this issue was not covered under the warranty (?), but they made an exception to send me a new Fitbit Versa.
My replacement tracker arrived and I’m so glad to have it back. I didn’t realize how much I use it everyday, and how much I missed seeing my progress in the day.
MY LAST FITBIT
This replacement Versa will definitely be my last Fitbit for the foreseeable future. I can’t keep spending money on a device that barely lasts a year. Even though I’ve always gotten a Fitbit-warranty replacement, it still feels like a lot of money to pay for the quality.
I was hoping that my original Fitbit Versa would last me until the new Apple Watch is announced (hopefully this September), but since it died and I have this new one I might wait a little longer.
Let me know if you’ve had this weird glitchy screen on your Fitbit. I know other people have experienced it and written about it in the Fitbit Community forums…so I’m not sure why they told me it wasn’t covered under warranty. Seems like a known defect.
Anyway, I hope this post helped if you are having this issue, or if you are making a smart watch/fitness tracking purchase.
