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

[Markii]

Can someone explain this dominant, non dominant hand please.
I am right handed and always wear my watch on the right as well just to be awkward lol.
What do I set my tracker to? D or ND

[AndrewFitbit]

@Markii Sure can. Here's the explanation from our help site:

"For wrist-based trackers, its important to specify whether you wear the tracker on your dominant or non-dominant wrist. The dominant wrist setting decreases the sensitivity of step counting and should reduce any over counting of steps when your body is not moving. The non-dominant wrist setting increases the sensitivity of step counting and should reduce any under counting of steps. Non-dominant is the default."

If you're wearing it on your right wrist and you're right handed, you might want to set it to the 'Dominant' setting.

[meme44]

I GOT TEN STEPS JUST FOR SCRATCHING MY HEAD...THIS IS GOING BACK TO STORE...

[Amarand]

Having just bought the Blaze for myself and my partner, I'm curious if you ever got these issues resolved?  I'm not as concerned with the step lag, as I am with the wild inaccuracy. I'm coming from the FitBit One, where the steps are spot-on, super accurate. Then again, I wore that on my hip, and the science out is that hip-measured steps are the most accurate.

Having said that, while steps are cool, I can imagine (and this is why it took me a long time to shift from the One to the Blaze - like I've been thinking about the Blaze since it came out, going back and forth) that having and recording accurate heart-rate and more accurate calorie burn based on HR might be more useful of an intensity indicator than simply counting steps.

I know that, for me, when I don't get my 10,000 steps in per day, I feel icky. But I knew that the Fitbit One was counting things accurately. Then again, it was also counting super-low intensity walking, like back and forth between the kitchen and the livingroom, or livingroom and bedroom. Not really aerobic steps.  🙂  The Fitbit One motivated me to move more, and that's great, but I feel like the Fitbit Blaze motivates me to move more frequently (although why they skipped the hourly RTM [Reminder to Move] feature on the Blaze is beyond me!) and with a higher-quality of movement.

Again, these are all just feelings, because the fact is that I owned my One for many years and was very happy with its step counting ability.  It was always spot-on.  I've owned the Fitbit Blaze for a couple of days now and we are already starting to have buyer's remorse.  And it's not a cheap fitness device!

Fitbit, please listen to your customers: this device seems super inaccurate step-wise.  Even a 10% differential seems wrong, but when you're only seeing 20-something steps per 100? And then you replace the device not once but twice, and it gets worse?  Is there something inherently wrong with this device, or is it just a problem with all wrist-based trackers?

I don't want to feel this way over a $200 device.  😞

[Amarand]

My partner and I saw that over the course of walking a measured half marathon, the Blaze only counted half (HALF!) of the steps, half of the miles, compared to GPS.  That's not cool.  Something is clearly wrong with this tracker.  😞

[NeneLoco]

@AndrewFitbit - so you're saying that the step accuracy is based on the amount of arm movement during movement or activity... what happens when I push a stroller or shopping cart?

I bring it up cause I  was at the safari park for 5 hours and got only 3,000+ steps. I get that many during a normal work day where I sit most of the day. Perhaps this should be taken down as a bug or improvement. If my gps is working, the gps should compensate for the lack of movement that comes from pushing something.

[Fands]

I'm exactly with you Amarand..I owned the One since January2014... it worked great, fitbit actually replaced it twice under warranty when it pooped out due to a firmware *adjustment*.  my current One is still working perfectly for the last 18 months...i think i forgot it 3-4X total to wear when i had it.  i kept it clipped to my bra and it synced regularly with my phone.

if i were you, i would be sure to return the Blaze within the warranty period, i cannot.  The only place that would accept it iback over fitbit's warranty period of 45 days, is the insurance purchase at Best Buy or Costco who is now selling it for $189.00 with 2 standard bands....black and blue. 

if i could return mine i would--and go for the pebble steel, it is selling for $169.00 at Amazon with "thousands of watch face options" and pebble health.  they do not charge extra for the gunmetal bezzle, they also have gold color and the brushed steel/nickel whatever.

Fitbit KNOWS there is a big problem, they ADMIT it needs to be fixed, but they have not offered their customers (that paid $200.00 for something that does not work,) any compensation, except to say "they are aware"...welll I am aware too...your customers brought it to your attention, it's not like they came out and made an HONEST statement.

[NeneLoco]

@Fands - Amazon has the same deal as Costco right now, the bonus blue band and they dropped the price to match Costco. I would go with Costco strictly due to their return policy.

Also, the pebble steel is $149.99 on the pebble website with an extra 10% off if you sign up for junk mail. I really like the pebble steel too but it didn't have a HR monitor and that was a deal breaker for me. The Steel also shows notifications for incoming emails not just txt or calls. Actually I like all the features on the Pebble watches, especially that they are water resistant and voice reply.

[Fands]

I believe that Pebble Steel DOES have a HR monitor, according to some reviews.. (pebble time steel), but i don't have time to double check now.

edited:

Pebble Time 2 with HR monitoring and wireless charging comes out in November 2016 (just in time for holidays)

[QuinKong]

I got my blaze yesterday and when i first used it, i noticed the discrepancy straight away. I have a Fitbit one which is very accurate when it comes to steps but when i exercise on my elliptical for an hour, it is reporting a 54kcal burn to mfp, hence i bought the blaze. What i did today was to wear both fitbit during my 65mins elliptical exercise and fitbit used the step count from my fitbit one and recorded the calories burned from my blaze. I am a happy camper.

Another issue i was having with my fitbit one though is the fact that when i exercise first, it gives me the e.g. 54kcals for 60mins exercise and then when i walk later, the calories burned start to increase at an incredible pace and it finally settles at a place where i think "yeah, that now sounds about right" but this only happens after i've reached my 10k steps. It's like fitbit cheats me if i haven't taken my 10k steps on my fitbit one.

[Fands]

i increased my stride length another 1/2 inch to see if this helps.  I am left handed and wear it on my left also (as i have always worn my watch--i prefer this).

see if this helps in the interim.

also, i have noticed in the early morning, the step count seems fairly accurate (i have been tracking on a fitbit since 2014) until i get to my treadmill.  then i notice the discrepancy of ourse, but i get less steps in the afternoon....it's aggravating to keep checking and guessing, but i'l  see if the slight stride length helps.

i actually took out the tape measure again and measured both heel to heel and toe to toe.  if i try to extend my normal walk length, it feels really odd.

hopefully we can expect some real feedback from fitbit on what they need to fix--but they seem to think a new color/increased price is more important.

[Amarand]

In case you were curious, the new color is just as Ina ccurate even with the greater price tag.

[908larry]

Having the same issue with my Blaze.  Off by 3000 steps on a 4 mile walk ( measued against my Iphone) and yesterday on the same walk the blaze counted 0 steps.  This is nuts. I'm going to return it if I don't get a response from FitBit

[hmac5225]

I just got the fitbit blaze a couple of days ago. I am not impressed and am thinking of returning it to the store. I don't want to have to swing my arms all of the time and can't do that when I am carrying my son. Today, I am wearing both the Blaze and my fitbit One. I have been wearing them both all day. The Blaze shows my steps at 4619 and the One shows my steps at 5658. That's a HUGE difference!

[Suga77]

I didnt wear mine to sleep last night. I haven't had it on my wrist since before 8pm the day before. When I awoke to put it on it said I had already burned 530 calories and walked 33 steps!!! Unless a ghost is working out...this thing needs some serious work! It sucks too cause I like it, but the results are untrustworthy. It has never given me notifications from my phone since I purchased it in May. It syncs with my music but that's about it.

[Starman2112]

I think people are over complicating how these things probably work. Ive had a Fitbit for a few years now, several models and many different types of excersize. My opnion is that you can't take "steps" as an actual "this is how many steps I took" but more of a guage of your activity. Its my opnion that the fitbit simply registers a certain type of movement and while that movement is happening it counts like a clock (seconds). This explains why I always get the same number of steps per hour no matter what activity I am doing.

[JeniP]

I just got a Fitbit Blaze & set it up about a week ago.  I have not had any fitness trackers before.  I first tried it out at work, where I walk a lot--I'm up & walking around most of the time.  From time to time, I checked the step count.  It seemed to be pretty accurate.  I also paid attention to my arm swinging, as I had thought I was an arm swinger.  It turns out that at work, I don't swing my arms that much.

Anyway, I go fitness walking on Saturday mornings--for 5 miles.  I measured the distance years ago with my car.  I have been wearing 1 lb weighted gloves when I walk.  I swing my arms much more than when I'm at work.  The Fitbit said I walked only 2.5 miles.  I did a test walk to try to see if my stride length was different than the one in the app.  I didn't use handweights, but I did swing my arms (it's just natural to me), & again the Blaze was way off.

I had noticed a young man jogging when I went for my 5 mile walk.  He was particularly noticeable because he (had formidable legs! &) was jogging with his arms straight down at his sides.  I saw he had a watch or something on his right wrist, & he tapped it--maybe he has a fitness tracker that is only accurate if he doesn't swing his arms?

Anyway, (sorry this is so long) I was thinking, after doing some hit & run research of this forum & other help pages, that I would experiment with different "exercise" options to see if I could get something more accurate.  I am thinking in particular of using the "run" option while I"m walking, as it seems the "run" option might accept bigger arm swinging movements.  I have already changed the stride length to match my walk stride length, & I hope to experiment sometime today & also Saturday.  Does anyone think this might help?  I really like the Blaze, but if it isn't accurate, it's just an overpriced, cute watch.

[JeniP]

Okay, I did some testing today.  I repeated my test with me walking normally, which for me is with arms swinging by my sides--no severe bend at the elbow, but not completely straight.  Blaze was way off on steps & distance as before.  I then tried using "run" mode with my arms bent but still swinging.  Blaze was still way off.  I then tried with no exercise mode but with my arms bent at right angles, no swinging.  The Blaze finally came through with an accurate count.  However, I cannot celebrate that as I was really uncomfortable the whole time I walked like that.  Finally, I tried the "workout" mode, but there were no steps recorded or something.  It's too hot to test anymore today.  I will have to try again on Saturday morning.

[JeniP]

Well, when I did my testing, I figured out that my stride length was longer when power walking as opposed to regular walking around the house or at work.  So, I adjusted the stride length, synced my Blaze & went for my 5 mile walk.  I looked down periodically to see if it was counting my steps.  It seemed to be counting fine.  I even counted off steps to make sure my arm swinging was screwing it up, but it seemed fine there also.  Well, I knew at the halfway point it wasn't counting steps or calculating my distance properly, & when I had finished my 5 mile walk, it said I had only walked 3. something miles.  It also said I had done 5 floors or something--were these the floors it didn't count yesterday?  I'm thinking of trying a restart.  If that doesn't help, I have to decide whether to take it back or try either the charge hr (cahrge hr was my original choice until I saw the display of the Blaze on QVC) &/or the One.  It seems a lot of people are happy with the accuracy of the One.  I actually would like one to wear on my wrist & the One for work--but only if I can get one to work correctly on my wrist.

Sorry I couldn't come up with any new solutions.  Next week, I might try workout mode or something on my 5 mile walk.  I don't know.

[JimboHiker]

My Blaze fitbit was significantly undercounting my steps (typically counting only 70 out of 100 steps) on my non-dominant arm, so I started experimenting.  The step count is almost perfect when I switch the Blaze to my dominant arm (did not change the setting for "dominant arm") and it is slightly undercounting if I strap the Blaze to my belt.  I've tried changing locations on my arms - lower and higher on the wrist - with no significant impact.  I also haven't noticed a significant change in step count when I've altered my arm swing, which is good because I use hiking poles in the mountains.

I've replicated the dominant/non-dominant step count difference on four separate occasions over the same one mile course, so I don't think it is a fluke.

My workaround will be to wear it on my dominant arm.  While this works for me, I have no idea why it isn't working on my non-dominant arm.