Blaze consistently undercounts steps by 30% to 50%

[ellochka]

This has been happenning while I exercise, and at first I was confused because the symptom of this condition was the fact that my Blaze was traking the distance that was way off. As I was trying to figure it out, I realized that the problem was much bigger - Blaze is undercounting my steps by as much as 50%.

I am not tracking closely enought to say definitevely whether it undercounts steps in everyday activity, since it is harder to track, but what is happenenning under closely monitored condition of exercise is quite evident that I am not getting the number of steps I do when I either power walk or run.

I contacted FitBit Support and got one of those maddenning responses, along the lines of "fitbit is not designed to measure distance". Yeah, so you mean my stride is 50" (I am 5'3")?

This is not really a question. My regret is that I have not been able to figure this out before the return policy on this piece of junk run out.

Comment to the snapshots:

Health App counted 4,004 steps between 4:15 and 4:45 pm.

Blaze counted 2,857 (71% of actual).

Here is the difference in dinstance between FitBit estimate based on foulty step count and GPS.

[Lordrobs]

Just playing devils advocate here but... are you sure the iPhone step count is accurate?

There is a lot of talk of the Blaze undercounting steps but since buying a Fitbit One (so I can wear a different watch for work) and I find that they seem remarkably similar and consistent.

[ellochka]

1. Never had the same issue with Zip.

2. OK, I will bite. For that whole workout, FitBit shows 4,181 steps. The correct distance is 3.18 mi (based on GPS, which is consistent with mile marks on the trail, which I incidentally ran thousands of times over the last 9 years). So 3.18 * 63,360 inches in a mile / 4,181 steps = 48 inch stride. I am 5' 3". Does that sound plausible to you?

3. Health App shows ~ 6,634 steps. Same calculation - 30 inch stride length. Given that I try to have a high turnover, this sounds close enough.

[SarahlouK]

I am having a similar issue, I became suspicious of my blaze undercounting as I consistently loose challenges despite knowing I have been on longer runs or much busier than friends in them. I started looking at my wrist more while I walk and counting 100 steps myself and then checking how many have added...if I'm looking at it while walking its counting but if I mentally count it and check its regularly out by 30-40 steps, I've been known to move around the house for literally hours doing housework and only counted a couple of hundred, yet my mum doing similar on a cheap tracker clocks a couple of thousand!! It also doesn't count floors properly, deliberately climbing a floor and checking and it doesn't move...i'm sooooo annoyed and hoping there's some fix for this glitch?

[bbarrera]

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@ellochka wrote:

48 inch stride. I am 5' 3". Does that sound plausible to you?

3. Health App shows ~ 6,634 steps. Same calculation - 30 inch stride length. Given that I try to have a high turnover, this sounds close enough.

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No. A 48 inch stride sounds impossible. Fitbit Blaze is definitely not accurate counting steps on that walk/run.

[SunsetRunner]

I am having the same problem with my Blaze. I have lost so many points that I am getting ready to buy a Garmin. I did 4miles first thing this morning and I know that the miles are correct as I drove it first with my Truck and my Map my run says it was four miles. The Blaze says I did 2.77 all day. I had over 10,000. on one day and it says I had only 2,997 when synced. What to do. I first signed out of the fitbit and then signed back in. Downloaded the updates and still, it is way under miles. The Garmin is looking better but I paid so much for this Blaze that I need to try to fix it first.

[Lordrobs]

OK you'll bite?! Not everyone here is looking for a fight. It was also difficult to try and piece together what you were trying to show with the screen shots when they were from different months and show a walk when it turns out you were talking about running.

Anyway, you've done your maths and are happy with your conclusion. For what it's worth 30" sounds low to me for a running stride length.

[Eileen23]

I agree. Steps are very off. I use the blaze then have 2 other apps going to confirm my distance and blaze is at least a mile less then my runtastic app and charity miles app which show the same distance as each other only Fitbit shows less. Hope they figure this out

[MT_Griz]

The blaze is underreporting in a big way.  I have done the manual counts in my head and when I count out 100 steps, the Blaze reports around 50-60.  Also, I measured my stride length at 26 inches.  That is ~2400 steps/mile.  The Blaze reports ~1500.  I get having up to a 5% inaccuracy, but 40-50%?

[ellochka]

I'll bite (American) - I will answer the question [in a thoughtful way].

I currently run anywhere between 7 and 12 minutes out of every 45 min -1 hour workout. The options available to me are either walk or run. I tried them both, and they don't make much difference in the end result, though.

[ellochka]

Yes, that's what I am going to do next. This is really frustrating. I want my zip back.

[SunsetRunner]

Got up this morning ready for a run and thought I would try out the Blaze for one more run, I then thought I would clean the underside of the Blaze and see if that helps. I used, eye glass cleaner on a soft towel to clean it and it worked great until my arm filled with sweat and then it went crazy off again. During the run I  took the blaze off my arm and wiped away the sweat from under the blaze and it did fine. How do you keep the Blaze dry when you sweat so bad on a run? So, just keep the underside of the Blaze dry and it works well. 

[bbarrera]

@SunsetRunner that has been reported as a fix to increase accuracy of heart rate tracking. Haven't heard anyone suggest it will fix step counting or mileage while using Blaze's Walk/Run exercise tracking mode (with Connected GPS).

[ellochka]

@SunsetRunner Having the same problem with sweating. I have just strapped my Polar H7 back on. Interestingly, while the spot actuals are as far as 40 bpm off between H7 and Blaze, the averages for the workout are within 3-5 bpms. I think Blaze HRM is fine for the calory tracking, but not if you need to know bpm on the spot.

[kcruz01]

how tight is your tracker?  I noticed that when mine is on tight, it doesn't catch all the steps.  Give a little bit of wiggle room.  See if that works.  It did for me

[SunsetRunner]

How is the Polar for running? Do you have any problems with the GPS
connecting?

[gfindley]

I agree with you!  Apple phone says one thing, fitbit flex is close and blaze is way off.  I wish I never wasted the money.

[SunsetRunner]

I don't wear the fitbit Blaze tight. I have plenty of room and I think it
is a sweat problem as I now take it off while running and wipe it dry and
it starts counting correct again. Its a pain but, It will help keep it
counting.

[MikeS1971]

Sweat should have no effect on step counting. It's most likely the action of removing then putting the Blaze back on that triggered it to start counting.

[ellochka]

@MikeS1971 @SunsetRunner @gfindley @kcruz01 @bbarrera

Testing Results.

Power-walking, with my arm at 90 degrees, per 100 steps:

57

66

69

59

64

66

Tested both in the office and on the trail.

Running, per 100 steps: 102, 101, 102.

Walking casually (parking lot): 99, 101, 102

The problem is when I power-walk, which is the bulk of my workout.