Bizzaro GPS route and distance off by 50 percent

[TheSteakman]

This problem has been going on since at least December 2019.  This sounds like a widespread issue. After spending hours trying to fix this I figured I'd start a new post before giving up on Fitbit in the hopes it gets some fresh mod attention.

I've got an S10 and Blaze running firmware 17.8.402.1.

The issue sounds similar to what was described by VERSA users here:

https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Versa-Smartwatches/Distance-on-GPS-map-doesn-t-match-with-exercise-s...

And this issue reported by people comparing Strava to Blaze  https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Blaze/Distance-discrepancy-between-Fitbit-and-Strava/td-p/2721380/pa...

I do the same handful of routes and know the distances well. My 2.9 mile route gets tracked as 1.4 mi with a 39 minute pace. Sometimes there are gaps in the GPS map route and sometimes the route is just bonkers, showing a path that leads into bodies of water or a straight line between the start and end points of the route.

I've done all the previously recommended things I can find:

- clearing cache

- restarting phone and fitbit

- uninstalling and reinstalling the app

- Unpaired and reinstalled the Blaze

- Installing latest system updates on my phone

I took a break during the winter and pandemic and was hoping there would've been an update in the meantime but seems like people are still reporting issues. Any new suggestions to try before I give up?

[TheSteakman]

Talked to chat help a couple times today in case anyone else has this issue.

The first person had me restart the fitbit and my phone then verify my location settings, which I did to check the boxes even though I've done it who knows how many times already. I immediately charged up to near full battery and went for a walk.

As before, my 1 mile walk showed up as 0.4 mi.

Contacted chat again and this time they confirmed this is a known issue. No timeline on a fix. But after dealing with this for half a year I'm going to keep my expectations low and move on.

[TheSteakman]

I think I fixed the problem!

Unfortunately I changed 2 things so I'm not sure which had an impact and need to wait until I can go for a longer walk to validate things. 

1) In the Fitbit app, under Devices I had one for Mobile Track and the only details were "mobile track is linked to another device." I deleted this.

2) I confirmed that Fitbit was configured to NOT be battery optimized. However, I did have Power Mode turned on. So I turned it off.

My last test walk pace / distance / map route looked pretty accurate. 

If I can confirm that the problem is fixed or can narrow down which change made a difference I'll post here for anyone else who might be having problems.

[TheSteakman · Accepted solution]

Good News: I'm about 90% confident turning off the Power Mode system setting on the phone fixed the issue. If you are using a Samsung Galaxy S10 (or other phone with that setting) I recommend turning it off. I forgot that it was still on before I started my walk. I can see on the activity map exactly where I was when I disabled it and the rest of the map readout looks perfect after that point. 

Bad News: About an hour after I got home the Blaze started freaking out. The pulse lights no longer fire and the screen just continuously alternates between off and slightly on with no detail.  Have it on the charger but that's not really doing anything (although the Fitbit logo briefly appeared when I first plugged it in). This had a full charge about 14 hours ago so I'm thinking it just finally gave up. RIP Blaze. 😢

[TheSteakman]

After another round with chat support which involved cleaning the charge contacts, checking the USB cord, and rebooting, they gave me a discount code for a new tracker. I just bought one off Best Buy for cheaper and LITERALLY within 5 minutes of placing my order the Blaze sprang to life with a "clock error" message. I changed the clock face and it is completely fine. My spirit is more broken than the tracker ever was.