Distance is inaccurate while walking.

[Walker1836]

I checked my reported Blaze walking distance and found it about 33% low.  I am concerned about this.  My cheap single axis pedometer is much more accurate.  I know my walking stride length is correct.

What I did to check the Blaze was to use Google maps to find an address on my usual walking route exactly 1.5 miles away.  Then I walked to it and checked the change in step count and distance.  Just for reference I checked it with various other instruments.  I used the same stride length (28 inches) with both the Fitbit and the Pedometer.  Units below in miles:

Fitbit GPS app:  1.54 miles

Single Axis Pedometer:    1.44 miles

Garmin GPS:    1.48 miles

Fitbit Blaze:   (2524 steps X 28in) / (12in/ft *5280 ft/mi) = 1.11 miles

I think the Blaze might be using my running stride length when I am walking. My walking speed is 3.2 mph.  How can I fix this?

 Moderator edit: Updated title for clarity

[Kbkat]

Why would it matter if you run or walk..the goes distance is the same

[Walker1836]

Is possible that the accelerometer / counting algorithm takes some time to determine the proper threshold for counting when new or after a step length change?  I am a new user also, 1 week.  My Blaze seemed to get progressively better until yesterday.

Thanks

[Kbkat]

No idea. What no one can tell me is why it worked for months, accurately
recording miles snd now it wont. I've changed nothing. If someone can
tell me that, maybe my problem can be resolved

[FerdinandFitbit]

Hi everyone! Good to have you all in the Fitbit Community Forums! 🙂

I'm sorry to hear that you guys are having problems with the distance on your trackers not being accurate. Thank you for anything you've already tried to get it to be more accurate. I'd like to share some general suggestions to improve the accuracy.

First, make sure that your personal information is correct. Mainly, height. It's a common mistake that the height is incorrectly entered and this causes distance to be inaccurate if it's set to automatic.

If you're customizing your stride length, make sure you're measuring it correctly. For more information on how to calculate it, click here.

Now, if you're going out for a run and you'd like to track that activity specifically and you'd like it to be more accurate, you can do it either from the Fitbit app by using Mobile Run which will use GPS to track your distance which should be more accurate. For more info on this, click here.

 Hope you find this helpful. If you need more help, let me know and I'll be happy to take a look.

[Kbkat]

All of that is nice but support never answers why it wor mik s accurately
for months and then doesnt unless I'm holding my phone with the Fitbit app
open

[Walker1836]

Kbkat,

My Blaze is accurately reporting my walking distances now.  It has been quite accurate (5%) my last three walks.  The one day I had a low distance (i.e. low step count also), I had a 16 oz water bottle dangling from my other wrist.  Apparently that changed my movement enough that the watch missed about a third of my steps.  My $5  pedometer, mounted on my belt, accurately counted steps and distance throughout.  

I believe it must be technically tricky to count steps using accelerometers on your wrist.  It must not take much to mess it up.  Are you wearing or doing anything differently?

[Kbkat]

Doing nothing differently. Wearing it the same. Even doing the same walk

[Rich_Laue]

@Walker1836 yes while walking your hip tends to move in a predictable way, the hip also doesn't move up/down much whole not walking.

The arms, however seem to be able to move even when the legs are not moving, they also do not necessarily move  when the legs are moving. Therefore yes trying to count steps through arm motions is an interesting complicated idea. Spock may even say that this is illogical

[Walker1836]

I really try not to move my hips in an oreduxtsbke way.  People find in disturbing.

I had another low (30%) stepcount/distance during my 1.8 mile lunchtime walk today.  No water bottle.  My last previous exercise was a 10 mile bike ride over a pretty bumpy route.  I neglected to tell the Tracker I was biking.  I may have broken something or perhaps confused the accelerometer algorithm completely.  If the firmware is constantly searching and adjusting for an amplitude and frequency to use for step counting, there might be a lag when I went back to walking before it corrects.  Just a theory. 

KbKat are you biking or doing some other exercise between walks?

[Kbkat]

Walking. On a fairly flat trail.. roadbed

[Rich_Laue]

Your not going to break anything that would affect the internal hardware.

As for booking Fitbit has a way to detect this without manually putting the tracker into it's booked mode.

The tracker does not need calibration not does it adjust itself to a user therefore a user does not have to wait to correct itself.

Since we are talking about an arm based tracker, hop movements will not affect the trackers algorithm.

[FerdinandFitbit]

Hi there everyone! Good to see you all around!

For more detailed information on how accurate your Fitbit tracker is, you can check this article.

If you have more questions, be sure to let us know!

[Kbkat]

I'd still like an answer to my original question. Why did fitbit work
perfectly for months and then stop working accurately.

[FerdinandFitbit]

Thanks for getting back @Kbkat!

In this situation, since there's nothing else I can think that could be affecting your tracker, I've gone ahead and escalated your case to our Support Team for them to help you out with this. Please, keep an eye on your inbox for more instructions and if you need more help, feel free to let me know!

[Adfernz]

My Blaze stopped working and Fitbit offered me a 25% discount on a new one.  Thanks but no thanks.

Should have gone Apple.  It's no wonder the Blaze was discontinued.

[Kbkat]

I'll go with something else when I have money mb. The customer support is
lacking