Fujifilm X-H2s new firmware issues
Where to begin... I have not even used the camera and I have encountered issues with the firmware. There are some serious problems that need to be resolved. I going to give the camera the benefit of the doubt because it has been out for only a few months and I have not actually used it. It is the first time I have encountered a bricked device while trying to upgrade to the new firmware ver.2.00. I took all the precautions before the firmware upgrade, like having a full battery.
The firmware upgrade happened over the iPhone app. The Bluetooth connection instructions in the app were wrong as they were trying to send me to non-existent menu settings to enable Bluetooth in the device. This should have been a big warning sign that the app was untested with X-H2s, their flagship X camera. Once I found the Bluetooth settings I turned it on and connected the device to the app, and as soon as the connection was made a prompt was made on the app to update the firmware on the device. This is where the issues started to occur. In hindsight, I should have known not to flash the firmware over Bluetooth.
The camera downloaded the firmware and then began the process of flashing. As so as that happened the iPhone app went haywire and started to try and reconnect with the camera, this happened repeatedly like it was stuck in a loop. The flashing on the camera started and then got to the 3rd bar and got stuck. That's when the device got bricked. I waited for a good hour before I knew that it had failed to flash the device. I knew that turning it off could result in a bricked device but the device was already bricked and usually on takes 5mins to flash so I had not much to lose other than wait until the battery drained. But then I could really have a bricked device with no battery power and the only way to charge it was over the camera
The safe bet was to turn it off, which I tried but the camera did not respond. The second option was to take out the battery. I took out the battery and plugged it back in. Only to discover that the camera worked but it had no menu items on the screen and the buttons failed to work. It was not fully bricked but it seemed like the wrong firmware was loaded on the device.
Since it was done over the iPhone app and I was guided through the process, I find this very concerning that the app might have sent the camera the wrong firmware to flash.
To avoid this problem in the future Fujifilm needs two firmware chips in their flagship devices like most motherboard manufacturers, one chip is backup firmware and the second chip is live firmware. Some kind of button to recover the device, like on most modern routers, to return to backup firmware if it fails to flash the live firmware.
Secondly, they need to test extensively with the iPhone app to make sure that their flagship devices actually fully work with the app as the guide to Bluetooth connection was wrong.
digiDirect where I bought the camera was happy enough to exchange it for a new one but Fujifilm could have taken some very simple and cheap precautions so that their users can recover the device in case the firmware failed to flash.
As for now, the new camera is keeping the ver.1.0 firmware until I feel comfortable.