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

[samij86]

Yes! I have a two story home and it will say I've only done 3 floors when I've been up and down the stairs tons of times, but somehow I did 10 floors at work by only taking 10 stairs?

I'm seriously disappointed in this device and fitbit in general. 

[68Yenko]

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@samij86 wrote:

I got the blaze for Christmas to replace a polar a300. Overall, I'm really not thrilled with the device. The step count is nowhere near accurate. For every hundred steps I take, it counts maybe half of them. And that's with my arms moving. (I placed my watch face inside my sock and it was spot on...but obviously not practical)

Distance traveled during recorded exercise on the treadmill is generally .25 miles below what I actually walked. For higher intensity workouts, my HR will read in the 130s when I know it's in the 150s-160s. Which I sort of expected. Optical hr is just not as good as the chest strap.

I'm sending mine back. 😕

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Yeah, the heart rate during exercise with both my charge hr and the blaze is off by 30-50 beats per minute.  Mine was a gift, so fitbit basically told me I'm SOL.  If I could, I'd send it back.  

[Cavalierlover2]

I am currently still in dicussion with Fitbit regarding the Blaze. My biggest issue is not inaccuracy in the steps but the distance covered and stride length.

I did the following calculation to work out my steps per mile and stride length.

Firstly take your steps for the day and divide this by the distance covered.

Now divide this by 63360 (this is the amount of inches in a mile)

This now gives you your stride length.

e.g. 12328 steps divided by 4.52 miles = 2727 steps per mile.

Divide this by 63360 by 2727 = 23.2343234323 this is your stride length in inches.

I am finding this stride length to be too low. Using Auto stride length my stride is set at 25.5 which appears to be correct but if I calculate it out it comes out lower that what Fitbit ate stating.

However, if I use my Fitbit One the auto setting works spot on and if I use the above calculation at the end of a day it comes out the same as the auto settings. If however, I use my Blaze on auto setting and do the same calculation at the end of the day the auto stride length says is is 25.5 but it actually works out lower at 23.234. This then has a knock on effect in the amount of steps needed to reach a mile.

Is anyone else is experiencing this issue? Can your try and calculate your daily steps and compare against your auto stride settings please to see if they are the same.

I would appreciate feedback before I speak to the Fitbit team again.

Many thanks

[Colinm39]

I have had those issues and the 2 months of testing data is with Fitbit Support and the case closed without a solution

I found all of my other trackers were accurate for distance. The 2 x Blazes, I found to be under by about 20% on domestics but on a planned walk at exercise speed they were fairly accurate.

I have changed my walking stride +20% and for the last few weeks I haven't had a problem. My running strides is the same as my walking because I can't run.

I did everything asked of me by Support, which like you included Auto, GPS and measured stride to no avail.

I'm nearly tempted to buy the Charge HR 2 and add it to my stable of Fitbits and compare that and provide Support with those results.

[Cavalierlover2]

Thanks for your reply Colinm39,

I currently own the Blaze and the One but I did own a Charge 2 for a short while. During the small amount of time that I used the Charge 2 and the One the results were consitantly accurate. It is onl;y since buying the Blaze I have noticed that my distance to be out. 

I have also increased my stride length to try and compensate for this error but I am not quite there yet. I have a planned telephone conversation with the Fitbit Team so I will update if I get any futher information.

Kind regards.

[TJ77]

I have the same problem. Lived my Charge HR, but have neen disappointed with the Blaze's performance. My steps are way off. I have looke at my Blaze taken 100 steps looked at it again and it only counted about 16. I guess it really wants me to get that extra workout in to meet my goal. Personally, I prefer it to be accurate and up my goal instead.

[Dap415]

I totally agree with those comment the Fitbit Blaze count accurate , i feel discouraged while my friends wearing other fitbit but their steps are far more than mine even we experienced the same walking for the day. 

I could not believe it's the most expensive model but turn out to be the worst one. 

if there is a chance to change to other model? 

[Alienduck]

I'm right there with everyone else. I've been walking all day at Universal Studios. Step count on blaze 4397. Step count on iPhone 8486. Wow, quite a disparity. 

[NicsLEGS]

I agree with all the messages on here about the Blaze.  I had the old style charge HR and upgraded to the Blaze.  I love the different things that you can do with it, but so disappointed with the step accuracy.  If I walk at pace I lose 30 steps in every 100.  I wouldn't mind if it was just me.  But the main thing I love about the FITBIT is the challenges and obviously they're not fair!!!!!

FITBIT are you going to acknowledge that there is a problem with the Blaze.  We can't all be wrong!

I've just managed to arrange a replacement.  Let's see if it's any better......

[CookieLytle]

Just got a new one and it counts steps in twos. Not a good sign.

[anicole-30]

I have had the same problem with my Fitbit as well. I just recently figured out that I had to leave the app running in the background while exercising. I am used to closing all my apps besides music to save my battery so after I left my music and the Fitbit app open it started to calculate more accurately. 

[Arisz4832]

I am only going to comment on the Fitbit Blaze because that is the only Fitbit I've ever used.

When I bought the Blaze it had just came out about April 2016. The accuracy of the step count is extremely off. I mean there were days were I barely took any steps, being that I don't walk around while I work and I didn't take much steps from the car to the house and so on. But the device would record steps in the thousands. Now I don't see how me walking around the house a few steps and getting into my car and going to work (were I don't move around much) and going back home, the step counter calculated over 1500 steps. Now I don't go around counting my steps but that sounds really inaccurate to me. 

As for the calories burnt I am not sure but it also seem off. I've now owned two of these and they both give the same result. So I'm done wasting my money on a device that's so pricy and dosent even do the basics of what it's ment for.

[Laurenberry80]

Than you for this message. Im in a global fitness challenge at work and I noticed that it's not only inaccurate in counts but on treadmill and elipitical which are supposed to b OK to use with the blaze, my miles are like half of actual. It's crap. ; (

[Deviousin10tion]

I went for a 130 mile ride on my Harley and got off with 26,000 steps and 183 floors.  Vibrations are apparently not the Blazes' friend.

[AgendaRage]

Instead of making arm movements the way of counting steps make the phone app the step counting medium I'm a painter and work mostly in a boom truck in which I have maybe 5 ft total to move around in but I record like 10,000 steps while my LG health and my walk logger show like 1000 steps maybe the fact I show 800 steps but haven't moved more than 10 feet should set off a red flag somhow

[VicC]

Your original message mentioned "setting your stride", which I never did. I downloaded the full PDF manual for the Fitbit Blaze. I could not find a match for the word "stride" in the entire manual. I did a quick visual scan of the manual and did not find a viable alternative. Does anyone know where this subject is covered in the Fitbit Blaze PDF manual?

[Cavalierlover2]

Hi VicC,

Stride length is not covered in the Fitbit PDF manual. What I did was work out what Fitbit said my stride length was. To do this you need to know that there are 63360 inches in a mile. Check your Fitbit app and see how many miles you have walked in a day and multiply this by 63360, this gives the amount of inches you have walked in a day. Divide this answer by the steps you have walked in a day and the answer gives you your stride length in inches.

I you then go to advanced settings in the Fitbit app, then stride length you will be able to view what Fitbit has your stride length set as. If you wish you can then adjust it manually.

I have found that my stride length calculates out at 25 although the Fitbit says my stride length is 28 but that is not how if calculates. Check your calculation before setting manually. I have left mine on auto (28) but I know for a fact the results are 25. 

Hope this helps.

[Colinm39]

@CookieLytle.  Maybe 2 steps is correct because Fitbit counts successive  steps as the left foot advancing then the right foot advancing.  A few years ago some earlier devotees of Fitbbit were expecting steps to be like the cadence on a bicycle ... two revolutions = 1 step.

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@CookieLytle wrote:

Just got a new one and it counts steps in twos. Not a good sign.

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[Colinm39]

@Cavalierlover2Thanks for the well thought out approach to your stride length. Here is a link from the Fitbit Help which can be accessed at the end of any view, plus many more issues that are not in the manuals.

Many of us have found the most accurate way is to walk a measured distance at the pace you would walk for your exercise.  Even a domestic walk like in a mall. I used Google Earth or http://www.mappedometer.com/ to map out a measured area around my streets.along the pavement,

I have found that if I walk domestically my distance is down by 10%, at exercise speed it is accurate.  Your post has you at 10% down as well, probably the average over the day of planned walks and domestic.  Fitbit has probably made its calculation from some of your 10 minute walks if you were using GPS .. I have done exactly as you, and I used Exercise Tracking or MapMyRun then confirmed it with a measured walking track at my Athletic ground.  Always on flat terrain...

I counted the "real" steps because of the under reporting of steps within Fitbits +/- 5% tolerance

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@Cavalierlover2 wrote:

Hi VicC,

Stride length is not covered in the Fitbit PDF manual. What I did was work out what Fitbit said my stride length was. To do this you need to know that there are 63360 inches in a mile. Check your Fitbit app and see how many miles you have walked in a day and multiply this by 63360, this gives the amount of inches you have walked in a day. Divide this answer by the steps you have walked in a day and the answer gives you your stride length in inches.

I you then go to advanced settings in the Fitbit app, then stride length you will be able to view what Fitbit has your stride length set as. If you wish you can then adjust it manually.

I have found that my stride length calculates out at 25 although the Fitbit says my stride length is 28 but that is not how if calculates. Check your calculation before setting manually. I have left mine on auto (28) but I know for a fact the results are 25. 

Hope this helps.

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