Blaze step count inaccurate, steps not in real time.

[azrielah]

I have had a couple of fitbits and have been happy with the accuracy. I recently purchased a Blaze and the step count was off so I set the stride as directed and it is better but still not picking up steps without my arms swinging. So the small steps in kitchen or with walking and holding a bottle of water aren’t being picked up. I seem to get about 40 steps at night while I am sleeping. And the step count isn’t in real time on occasion it lags and then a bunch of steps show up. I have written fitbit it’s been 3 days with NO response. I have responded to another forum and Fitbit has been absent there as well. I have purchased 5 of their products and I am feeling like I am entitled to comment from Fitbit. From looking at the forums it appears I am not the only one who deserves a response. Hey Fitbit we are looking to you for assistance. Speak up and please help us "make every step count" after all thats why we purchsed your product.

Thanks

[Rich_Laue]

IAll Fitbit Trackers are designed to not start counting steps until 5 steps are detected, then it adds those 5 and continues to count. IE: walk 4 steps and stop, no steps are counted, walk 6 steps, stop, you get credit for 6 steps.

As for the display, the computer is faster than what the screen is able to draw.  Fitbit says when doing a step test you will need to stop and let the display catch up.

As for needing the arm to be moving, yes that is correct your tracker is mounted on the arm and is looking for arm motions that look like your feet might be moving. They probably are, but put the tracker in your hand, then move the hand at a medium speed up and down 2 inches and steps will be counted. 

[Mckay1985]

I'm having the same problem problem.....it will say like 1245 steps then jump up in twos to 1247 then 1249 etc....is this normal???

[MikeF]

Yes, if you're on the lock screen that's normal. I guess it's easier on the battery than doubling the creek update rate and indicating each step. There's always going to be a bit of processing lag in these devices in any case so this shouldn't be a surprise.

With the Blaze, it can count steps with my hands in my pockets in the same way as any of the other trackers I've used. With my personal gait, arm swinging is never an issue.

[Mckay1985]

I'm just worried I have bought a Fitbit watch that's not calculating my steps and caleries properly....on average I'm burning 2500 caleries according to the dashboard and my steps seen like heaps. Iv restarted the watch and just worried Iv bought a price of equipment that's not accurate

[bcalvanese]

If you start a "Walk" excercise session, you can scroll to steps and watch your steps count on the screen in real time. You can start walking and counting the steps in your head, then raise the watch up every so many steps to see if it is counting them correctly.

I power walk at a fast pace and noticed that at a faste pace it does not count all the steps unless i swing my arms in sort of a running position (arms at a 90 degree angle). i power walk at a 4mph pace or better, so maybe the device somehow sees it as running and looks for the arm swinging to be as it would running.

Its not a problem as power walking I normally swing my arms like I'm running anyway.

[Mckay1985]

Are you finding your blaze accurate in general tho? It also says I burn a lot of caleries too? So when I start an exercise for example it's in real time but when it's just on my watch face its like seconds behind and adds up all of a sudden?

[bcalvanese]

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@Mckay1985 wrote:
Are you finding your blaze accurate in general tho? It also says I burn a lot of caleries too? So when I start an exercise for example it's in real time but when it's just on my watch face its like seconds behind and adds up all of a sudden?

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I find it to be pretty accurate compared to other devices I have owned overall. The calories burned are probably even more accurate as it uses continuous heart rate to determine that.

[dawnierae]

Mine has been inaccurate from day 1.  At first it was only off by about 10%, but then it got more erratic, being off sometimes by 30% or more.  I tested this with my husband and his Charge HR, as we walked a path with a known step count.  He got pretty much the same step count he always gets on that path, and I got more than 1000 steps LESS than he did. I am 8" shorter than him, so I SHOULD get more steps in the same distance...because math.  After doing nearly a dozen 100 step tests trying various things - changing wrists, wearing it tighter, wearing looser, wearing it higher, wearing it lower, etc. and still getting wildly inaccurate counts, I called Fitbit customer service, and they sent me a new one.  It came yesterday.  Unfortunately, the new one is even worse than the first one.  In multiple 100 step tests, the BEST I got was 82.  The worst...26.  Yes, that's 26 steps out of 100 that were counted. I called customer service again, and they are sending one last Blaze.  If that one isn't at least accurate within 10%, all three are going back and I am demanding my $200 back and going back to my Charge HR (which ranged from pretty darn accurate to maybe 10% off).

[Primadana1]

I am on my second Blaze as well.. Step counts are way off compaired to my old charge hr. Arm swinging hasn't changed, but my device has. Very disappointed with the Blaze.

[HurricaneDave]

Again I did a mile on my NordicTrack Freestrider but the Blaze showed I did 0.18 miles. This is way off. And I am moving my arms while exercising. I have restarted the Blaze before I exercised and it still doesn't track correctly.

Next time I'm going to use my pedometer and compare. I like the Blaze, but I can't recommend it to anyone if it's this far off.

[Colinm39]

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@HurricaneDave wrote:

Again I did a mile on my NordicTrack Freestrider but the Blaze showed I did 0.18 miles. This is way off. And I am moving my arms while exercising. I have restarted the Blaze before I exercised and it still doesn't track correctly.

Next time I'm going to use my pedometer and compare. I like the Blaze, but I can't recommend it to anyone if it's this far off.

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@HurricaneDave Welcome and I agree with you there needs to be some fine tuning on the Blaze for step count. I have been a Fitbit user for over 4 years and I did a 20 minute test 2 days ago. The Blaze with the band attached in my jeans pocket, the One clipped on my jeans coin pocket and the Zip and the Ultra were in the coin pocket..

Here are the results.based on a 20 minute brisk walk on flat pavement, late evening and non stop. Pace average 126 steps/minute for 85% of the walk

Blaze 2,233 steps

One   2,226   "  "

Zip      2,232   "  "

Ultra   2,237   "  "

Based on the figures above, the 3D Accelerometer picks up the steps when you place the Blaze near the torso. In my supermarket trolley steps I always place the Blaze in my pocket and get within 1% of the One step count. I do this because my shopping is typically 1,100 steps. The One and the Ultra have always been my baseline standards.

With the Blaze on earlier walks I have tried the 90o arm bend like a race walker and normal walking and I'm getting a significant loss of step count as I  was getting with the Surge.  I have my HR settings to non-dominant to hopefully pickup maximum step count.

I was hoping the Firmware I'm waiting for may have addressed this issue with some fine tuning.

@ErickFitbit for information

[xmasbaby68]

I completely agree. Tried using their "live chat" Waited 30 minutes for a rep to come online, then called the customer service #. They offered to replace it, but I don't see how a new one is going to improve the acyracy issue I am having when it seems like a gazillion folks are having the same issue. The rep that responded was not a user of English as her first language, so not even completely sure she understood my issue. Offered replacement fitbit quickly. We'll see if new one is bug free. Dear Fitbit, if you have to swing an arm in order for a Fitbit to calculate that step a disclaimer should be printed in all caps on the front of the box. What good is a step tracker that doesn't calculate every step taken while pushing a cart, stroller, or wheelchair? why does it calculate thousands of steps while sleeping or sitting in a chair? would rather have a $9 drug store pedometer that is accurate than a $200 "state of the art" imposter. Very disappointed, and would appreciate a response addressing these issues.

Moderator edit: format

[Mardij72]

I seem to be losing a couple thousand steps a day. When I compare steps taken during my walk on the Blaze vs. my IPhone I am off by 2155 today. I feel like I have to wave my arm back and forth in an unrealistic manner to get a step count. I didn't notice this when I first got the Blaze but about a week ago I noticed that my steps were substantially less for the same workouts from previous weeks and I started to do some comparisons. I am very frustrated!!!

[ahefner33]

Should we wait it out and see if the updates help it over time? Or is this a hardware issue. I liked my charge hr but i like the look and display of the blaze. But the inaccuracies make it pointless

[AndrewFitbit]

Hey everyone, just want to chime in here.

There's a lot of factors that contribute to getting an accurate step count for wrist-based trackers. Some essentials things to consider:

- Make sure your personal info is accurate and up to date.

- Non-dominant or dominant hand? Make sure your device settings match the arm you're using.

- The amount of arm movement during movement or activity.

- Make sure to wear only one tracker at a time if you have multiple trackers.

- Setting stride length only affects distance, it does not affect steps.

- Poor GPS connectivity may have a negative impact on your data.

You can find additional information about tracker accuracy here. 

If you feel that your tracker is consistently being inaccurate after checking the above, then you might want to consider reaching out to Customer Support so they can investigate.

Hope this helps. 

[Mardij72]

Thank you for the informaiton.  All of these have been taken into consideration. This is my third fitbit and I have been using them for 3.5 years.  I have been very happy with them.  My new bit bit blaze tracker was fairly accurate compared to my previous HR until just over a week ago and then all of a sudden the same walks were substantially less steps (over 2000) than previous walks of the same distance etc.  I have started wearing my tracker on my ankle and findig it to be almost exact.  I did just receive the update a couple days agobut have not yet tested the tracker back on my wrist since then.    

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@AndrewFitbit wrote:

Hey everyone, just want to chime in here.

There's a lot of factors that contribute to getting an accurate step count for wrist-based trackers. Some essentials things to consider:

- Make sure your personal info is accurate and up to date.

- Non-dominant or dominant hand? Make sure your device settings match the arm you're using.

- The amount of arm movement during movement or activity.

- Make sure to wear only one tracker at a time if you have multiple trackers.

- Setting stride length only affects distance, it does not affect steps.

You can find additional information about tracker accuracy here. 

If you feel that your tracker is consistently being inaccurate after checking the above, then you might want to consider reaching out to Customer Support so they can investigate.

Hope this helps. 

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[ahefner33]

Hey Andrew,

All thats been accounted for. Ive read alot of other posts and blogs of the same issue. Seems that the device sensing isnt as par as other models

[Chiefrock]

@HurricaneDave the same just started happening to me. I ran 3 miles yesterday and the Blaze said I only ran 0.84

[Lordrobs]

I've noticed a lot of these posts and while it is slightly concerning I do wonder where the reference point comes from? If you have a device that you are confident is more accurate than your Blaze then why not simply use that?

I've had a slightly unlucky run with activity trackers so in the last year I've used various trackers, I'm not sure on the rules of naming competitors so I'll just say that one was a Fitbit and two were other brands. Two were wrist based and one hip based. They all read lower than my iPhone on a decent length walk, does that mean the iPhone was wrong or the trackers? Who knows but the real issue is... who cares? If I walked more they all read higher than if I was sat on the sofa and at the end of the day that is what these devices are all about. I think consistency is by far the most important thing and for that there is a reason I've gone back to a Fitbit...

So what if when you drive to work you clock up 30 steps. On a 10000 step target for the day that is 0.3% of your goal. Enjoy being prompted to stay active and focus on the trends rather than the actual numbers IMO.