Blaze issue inaccurate step count

[orgel1975]

The Blaze is not counting my steps while on an elliptical: 86 steps in a half hour. Sometimes it doesn't register steps at all. Other times, during the day, it gives me many more steps than I feel that I made. When I first had it, it was accurate. I have cared for it as the manual dictates. 

[WendyB]

The elliptical is not step based so it will not count steps accurately.

Also you are holding on to bars when one the machine and it needs so see the arms swinging for it to count steps

[FerdinandFitbit]

Welcome to the Fitbit Community @orgel1975! 🙂

As @WendyB says, Fitbit trackers use a 3-axis accelerometer to understand your motions. An accelerometer is a device that turns movement (acceleration) into digital measurements (data) when attached to the body. 

Fitbit trackers have a finely tuned algorithm for step counting. The algorithm is designed to look for motion patterns that are most indicative of people walking. The algorithm determines whether a motion's size is large enough by setting a threshold. If the motion and its subsequent acceleration measurement meet the threshold, the motion will be counted as a step. If the threshold is not met, the motion won’t be counted as a step. Other factors can create enough acceleration to meet our threshold and cause some over counting of steps, such as riding on a bumpy road. Equally, it's possible for the algorithm to undercount (not meet the required acceleration threshold). Examples here include walking on a very soft surface such as a plush carpet.

Be sure to swing your arms as you would normally do when walking as Wendy suggests and see if this makes any difference.

Let us know how it goes!

[Kurt51]

After trying these tips I've noticed slight changes but still way off from what my treadmill indicates. Today it showed I was onthe treadmill for the correct time but the speed and distsnce were off. Treadmill indicated 3.5 mph for 32 minutes at 1.76 miles. Blaze showed 32 minutes at 2.1 mph at 1.1 miles. Can I manually enter these in my Blaze or change the activity peramiters?

Thank you

Kurt

[FerdinandFitbit]

Hi @Kurt51! Great to see you in this thread! 🙂

When it comes to distance and speed, these will not be accurate if used with a treadmill or an elliptical for example because you're not really moving from a point A to a point B. Your tracker should sure count your steps as long as you swing your arms but distance and speed will not work well and currently, there's no way to manually enter this on your Blaze.

Hope this answers your question. Let me know if you need anything else!