I always find this thread whenever I look this topic up, but it really is a poor design choice, and I wouldn't be surprised that Microsoft canned the Band because of the high rate of defect, rather than low popularity (but of course I'm not sure).
So I bought a Band 2 back in January 16, it cracked by about April (I think), then I got a replacement in July because of the battery charging problem, then my third Band had another cracking problem. At that point, they discontinued it and I got a full refund in maybe November 16.
Anyways, I missed the Band 2 so much, I figured I'd deal with a cracking strap and buy one secondhand. I got it in January 17, and it stopped charging first week of February. I've been tinkering with it now and then ever since.
Here are some other ways to check what the problem is with your Band 2:
- If the Cortana button isn't working (meaning, if you try to press it on the home tile and it doesn't cycle through date, calories burned, etc) then your battery isn't connected to the device. That button seems to be related to the battery for some reason.
- While charging, pinch the battery part of your strap (which is the fattest part of the Band) while pressing the Cortana button. Once the Band 2 begins to cycle through the home tile options (date, calories burned, etc) then the battery will start to charge, and you can use the Band 2 as if it were normal.
- Probably shouldn't twist the strap to try to see if it's working, because if you ever want to wear your Band again naturally, you'll only make the damage worse by twisting it. Better to gently press the strap at the base of the battery until something works. It'll more reliably provide a (fragile) connection.
I suspect that if most of us who've owned Band 2's went in for no-hassle replacements, one ~$200 Band cost them hundreds in replacements. That's why the third Band never came out, because they were hemorrhaging money from the replacements.
If they reduced the amount of sensors maybe, and placed all the important connectors INSIDE the watch face (like most other competitors) so that the strap itself is replaceable, then they could've iterated on this device for years.
I love my Band 2 even though it's stuck on life support, and would buy a Band 3 based on the feature set of the Band 2 alone, but they really need to have another team build this thing to avoid all the horrible design choices they made.