Fitbit Blaze step count inaccurate

[OmarLittle]

Hey there,

Today was my first full day rocking my Blaze. I went to an outdoor festival and had some solid step count, however, when I got home and checked my step count I noticed that the blaze tracked about 1/4 the steps I actually took. My iPhone health app logged about 10K and my Fitbit did about a 1/4 of that (2500). Also I noticed it did an auto workout and thought I had rode my bike. I think this is due to my sons stroller I was pushing. Any suggestions on how to calibrate? If I go for a run and use the GPS- will that help? Thanks!

[Rich_Laue]

I'm not sure what is ment by calibrate.  A step is a step.  If you are refferring to distance then, there is to choices,  input your Gender,  weight, and height, then let Fitbit decide.

Second wpuld be to measure your stride. 

But changing the Stride will not affect the step count.

Habe ypu tried a restart of the Blaze yet? 

[OmarLittle]

Hi,

I've got all that infomration programed in already. I haven't done a restart yet so lets see if that helps.

[Bunnybear_05]

If you were pushing the stroller a lot, it's not going to read much of those steps you were taking cause your wrist was stationary. Was your phone on your body ? In a bag or something ?

[OmarLittle]

I think that was the issue. It turned on the auto workout and thought I was doing a bike ride for 40 minutes and only gave me 8 steps. 

I've turned off the auto workout feature to see if it helps.

[RKSH2230]

We have had two Blazes in our household for three days now. Both replaced our Charge HRs. Both are WAY undercounting steps and flights of stairs not only compared to our Charge HRs, but when actually watching the Blaze step count as we walk and climb stairs. I have been wearing both my Charge HR and Blaze on my left wrist at the same time, both are set up exactly (non-dominant, etc) and they are 500+ steps off. As of this morning, the Blaze is already under the Charge HR by 200+ steps. I have the Fitbit app closed so it does not sync and I have restarted the Blaze three times. I can actually look at the step counting while walking and unless my arms are swinging, it does not count steps, but the Charge HR will continue to count these steps. So, I can no longer read my phone or hold my dog's leash while walking because it will not count steps or flights of stairs. Also, the vibration is WAY less than the Charge HR's and I can no longer use it to wake me silently in the morning so I don't disturb others. Who knows if the other measurements are even correct. Finally, I upgraded to the stainless steel band and it is extremely cheap and definitely not worth the $129 I paid for it! So far, I am very disappointed in this product that appears to have been quickly distributed with minimal quality testing. Unless there is a firmware update that is coming soon, I will be returning the Blaze and going to the Apple Watch for just a little more than I paid for this watch and band.

[OmarLittle]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure something is off. Today the iOS health app says I've logged 8831 steps and the Fitbit Blaze says I've logged 7225. Not a huge deal but would be nice if I knew this was something that would be fixed.

[DerrickS]

@OmarLittle I would definitely recommend editing your SmartTrack settings if you haven't already. I personally don't own a bike or use an elliptical, so I turned off those activities on my account.

Also, syncing trouble may be the root cause of your step discrepancy that you were experiencing. Figure an internet connection is required for syncing and music festivals are notorious for having horrible internet. 

The steps mentioned here should help you out!

@RKSH2230 Are your Blaze and Charge HR setup to sync with the same account? If so, it's likely that this could be the cause of your step discrepancy between your Charge HR and Blaze. Please note that wearing multiple Fitbit trackers can cause data to overlap which could influence your account's data accuracy. Click here for more details.

[OmarLittle]

Appreciate the reply but it's not a syncing issue and as I said above I've turned off those settings. I think something is wrong and it's just not being acknowledged atm by Fitbit due to the Blaze just hitting the market. 

Again, thanks for everyone who responded and I'll mark the thread as resolved. 

[AriesG]

You should be able to change your stride via the Fitbit dashboard.  You may also check the sensitivity level of your tracker. 

---

Any suggestions on how to calibrate? If I go for a run and use the GPS- will that help? Thanks!

---

[szidlon]

...

[szidlon]

---

@RKSH2230 wrote:
We have had two Blazes in our household for three days now. Both replaced our Charge HRs. Both are WAY undercounting steps and flights of stairs not only compared to our Charge HRs, but when actually watching the Blaze step count as we walk and climb stairs. I have been wearing both my Charge HR and Blaze on my left wrist at the same time, both are set up exactly (non-dominant, etc) and they are 500+ steps off. As of this morning, the Blaze is already under the Charge HR by 200+ steps. I have the Fitbit app closed so it does not sync and I have restarted the Blaze three times. I can actually look at the step counting while walking and unless my arms are swinging, it does not count steps, but the Charge HR will continue to count these steps. So, I can no longer read my phone or hold my dog's leash while walking because it will not count steps or flights of stairs. Also, the vibration is WAY less than the Charge HR's and I can no longer use it to wake me silently in the morning so I don't disturb others. Who knows if the other measurements are even correct. Finally, I upgraded to the stainless steel band and it is extremely cheap and definitely not worth the $129 I paid for it! So far, I am very disappointed in this product that appears to have been quickly distributed with minimal quality testing. Unless there is a firmware update that is coming soon, I will be returning the Blaze and going to the Apple Watch for just a little more than I paid for this watch and band.

---

Call me dumb, but I thought I saw on FitBit somewhere to not try to wear two trackers at the same time?  I would try testing them independently rather than wearing both at once, unless I misunderstood your post.

[RKSH2230]

Yes, they use the same account. No, they are not syncing as I said I have closed the app completely and neither Fitbit is syncing. It should not matter that they are on the same arm at the same time as they are not syncing. And, even if this was the case, as I also stated, I can physically watch the Blaze not count steps or flights of stairs while the Charge HR DOES count them. And, even if THIS is not the case, the other person in my household is having the same exact issue with his and he is not wearing both at the same time. I am fairly certain it is an issue with the Blaze and not a stride issue or syncing issue.

[Koshka]

The Blaze does seem to be undercounting.  When I am doing an actual purposeful walk for exercise it is fine.  But it is missing many steps here in my house.  I spent about 15 minutes in my kitchen doing various tasks.  This is a fairly large kitchen and I was walking across the room so 10 or more steps at a time.  None of the steps were counted.

[Job_Travler]

From the Fitbit Dashboard  - There is a stride setting.  Use Settings - Body Info - and there are two entries, Stride Length and Running Stride length. 

[Rich_Laue]

@RKSH2230 the correct way to compare trackers would be to put them on seperate accounts. When they are on the same account everytime they sync,  the Fitbit server and both trackets will be synced, data processed them all the are put into sync with each other. They will all have tje same data displayed. 

@Job_Travler welcome,  but the stride will not affect or alter the step count,  only the distance

[runwithnewmedia]

My Blaze just logged 1800 steps while it was charging. First thing in the morning and while I was in the shower. Weird. Any way I can remove them? 

[Rich_Laue]

http://help.fitbit.com/articles/en_US/Help_article/Can-I-delete-data/

[MuzDownUnder]

This morning my Blaze gave me 200 steps when I took 50 and threw in a flight of stairs when there was none as a bonus. Lets hope they sort this and the distance measuring problems asap.

[RealBlaze]

Blaze Meet Blaze 🙂  I had to buy the Watch cause I'm the Real Blaze.  That being said (And True) I have a Samsung Gear S.  It often reads incorrectly.  But one thing I have found that works best when say pushing a cart or walking the dog.

Put the Watch in your pocket.  The constant pounding on the ground should shock the (I assume Mercury switches) into recording correctly.  I would have thought this thing with a built in GPS would record distance better.  Now inside a store might not work so well.

Also these watches count on your arm moving.  But if your carrying a baby or pushing a cart your arm is not moving.  So put the thing in your pocket.  It works for my Gear S.

Now being outside and if it does have GPS and does not rely on your phones GPS then it could be losing GPS Sync.