Blaze not tracking my steps

[AnnAnders]

My blaze doesn't count all my steps. I notice when I have my phone on me it will track several hundred steps more than my fitbit will. But I don't carry my phone often which was why I bought a fitbit in in the first place. 

I have also noticed that when I am pushing a stroller or shopping cart my steps aren't being counted at all. Hours of walking and nothing. Even when I am carrying my baby around. No steps.

I was walking laps around a track and walked three laps and noticed it only counted one lap (the distance was wrong).

It doesn't count flights of stairs I walk. I live in a two story house and walk up and down stairs many times a day and it will only track it once or twice. 

I have gotten up when my hourly 250 steps reminder goes off. I will walk around the house for ten minutes and it will count maybe 20 steps. I've stopped responding to the reminders.

I have restarted my fitbit many times. Sometimes that helps but not often. location is enabled. I have changed the way I wear it on my wrist. I am seriously questioning why I spent all that money. Step counting was a huge point of buying this and it isn't even doing that. I even convinced family members to buy one too but they had to return theirs because it wasn't working. I thought I could figure mine out but I am starting to regret that. I could have bought a cheap plastic one and it could have managed better than this. 

Has anyone has similar issues? Any NEW advice?

[Rich_Laue]

I would first look at the step FAQ at: https://help.fitbit.com/articles/en_US/Help_article/1136/ 

Then a quick search will bring up many posts on strollers carts prisms and pushers. 

Basically your tracker is on your arm and looking at the arm motions that normally happen while the feet are walking. Pushing a cart tends to limit arm movements thus steps may be missed. 

As for stairs, Fitbit only looks for these while it sees steps being taken. So if no steps where counted while walking up the stairs then no stairs sill be counted. 

Some people simply put the tracker on their pocket while pushing a stroller. 

Or as you point out the Fitbit Zip mounted to the core of the body will count these steps. Since it is not on the wrist it is looking for the natural movement of the bodies core which isn't affected while pushing a stroller. 

There would be no problems adding a zip to your account. You might even have a friend with an unused Zip or One that you could borrow until the stroller phase has past. 

[Nj_sheets]

I'm also having trouble with my Blaze counting steps correctly.... I was told to restart... no good.... walk 4 miles each morning on counted track.... registers 2 miles!!! 4 miles is 10,000 steps right there!!!!

[Rich_Laue]

I'm not understanding you @nj_sheet

You walked walked 4 miles .ok how many steps was recorded, what is your real stride .

Telling us that Fitbit recorded 2 miles tells us nothing. On an indoor track, the Fitbit tracker can not messure distance, but counts the steps and takes an educated guess based on the stride setting .

So if your stride setting is off. even if the the step count is correct, your distance will be off. 

Have you tried a step count test? 

Walk 100 steps. counting them off, stop, wait for tyettracker to catch up and compare. 

Do it again with 200 and 500 steps. 

[Kiimberly]

 I am constantly having the same problem and I am constantly restarting my Blaze. It just doesn’t seem to fix it. I have only had this thing for six months, and  I am very frustrated. My advice to anyone wiouls be not to waste your money on a Fitbit Blaze!

[Rich_Laue]

@Kiimberly not sure what problems yur having.  Have you taken a walk while counting the steps in your head. 

[RochelleLo]

I am at this moment having the same issue and it's very frustrating. Just did 10 mins on the treadmill and looked down total steps zero on my fitbit what the heck?!?!? My blaze is a year old. How can something a year old already have issues. I'm about ready to throw this crap away and not buy anymore fitbit products.

[pet1700]

I am with you, my fitbit blaze just recently stopped counting steps all together.  I tried resetting many times, and nothing.

The wrist to awake screen no longer works either.

Very disappointing considering the watch is only 18 months old.  What is worse, fitbit won't help at this point, and only offers a 25% discount to purchase a new fitbit device.

[cmarieferg]

Wow! I wish I'd checked out the forums before purchasing my Blaze. I have a One that works fine, but I liked all of the bells and whistles on the Blaze. But the step count stinks. I walked 60 min. at 3mph and it only showed just over 300 steps.  I discovered it doesn't record steps if the arm it is on isn't swinging. And it sometimes records steps when I am sitting still if I move my arm just right.Since I don't walk around all day swinging my arms I am not getting anywhere near an accurate count. Fortunately, I purchased mine from QVC and will be able to return it. Guess I'll stick with my One.

[Nj_sheets]

TY.... mine isn’t tracking when my arms swing either... I power walk do arms are always swinging

Sent from my iPhone

[Rich_Laue]

I did a walk yesterday of 4.2 miles, at one point I counted off 1000 steps, the blaze only counted 972 steps. This is within the ranted 5%

Yes the tracker on the arm is looking for arm motions that should happen when the feet are walking.it is still looking at arm motions. 

[cmarieferg]

Mine was way off and during my regular daily routine my arms apparently aren't doing enough swinging for it to count steps because I went about my normal household routine(for over an hour)

and it only gave me 10 steps. I did 30 min. on the treadmill with the Blaze and only got 400 steps. I then did it with the One (and counted myself for a few minutes) and got over 1,000 steps. My One is much more accurate, so the Blaze is being returned and I am going back to my One, even though it lacks the bells and whistles of the Blaze. Those were nice, but if I'm not getting an accurate step/calorie count it is pretty worthless.


Sent from Outlook

[Rich_Laue]

Of course the one will be more accurate, your body moves in relation to the strps

[Nj_sheets]

I power walk.... arms always moving!!! I’ve adjusted height and stride... did 2 restarts... and an update... still way off on steps on four miles by 1800 steps.... miles aren’t registering either!!!!

Sent from my iPhone

[Rich_Laue]

Sorry @Nj_sheets you know I wasn't answering you.

Your stride will not affect step count accuracy. 

Have you tested your blaze's ability to count steps? Let's say a walk of 200 steps, counted by you, shows as how many on the Blaze? 

As for stride, setting the age, height, etc will let Fitbit figure out a stride based on the average user. Please remember unless you fall right where the one average user is, then Fitbit will calculate the stride wrong. However, this still will not affect step counting. 

[cmarieferg]

It just won't count steps unless the arm it is on is swinging. Since I don't walk around all day swinging my arms I am not getting an accurate count. I returned it and will just stick with my One. I have checked my One for accuracy and it is spot on. I just liked the extra stuff the Blaze was set up to do, but I can live without it.


Sent from Outlook

[Nj_sheets]

I power walk 4 miles daily.... always have arms bent pumping... registers 1800 steps shy of 8000... doesn’t register miles at all!!!

Sent from my iPhone

[AlejandraFitbit]

Hello all, I hope you are doing fine.

Thanks for troubleshooting this by yourselves. If your trackers aren't registering your steps, I recommend restarting your units and do the following:

1. Put your device on your wrist.

2. Walk 100 steps, making sure to count a step each time one of your feet hits the ground.

3. Pause, then check your device to see your step count.

If your devices counted more or less than 100 steps, feel free to get in touch directly with our support team, for a faster response you can contact them via chat.

Let me know the outcome. 

[pet1700]

I did that, contacted support, and was told to buy a new tracker since mine
was 18 months old and past warranty. Disappointing.

Thanks,
Peter

[cmarieferg]

I tried that. The issue is that it only seems to track if the arm it is on is actively swinging. Since I don't go through my day swinging my arm, I don't get an accurate step or calorie count. It would be nice to have something like the One that has the features of the watch models. My One is very accurate. I just liked the bells and whistles of the Blaze.

Colleen