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!

[ChrissyA]

@Rbrockport After I did the reboot, added my stride information, changed back to my left hand and the accuracy is 98.2% in comparison to my one. Now my worry is that it won’t be that good once they do a firmware update LOL.

[Rbrockport]

@Chrissa Who knows when that will happen though? Its so new I guess we will
cross that path when we get there.


*Roselle Mendola Massare*

[Barbara_F]

I have an issue with setting stride to get step counts correct. Stride only measures distance. It shouldn't be required to get an accurate step count.

And my One had an automatic stride setting (which I thought was actually for ME, not the One), based on my height. It was relatively accurate. When did an automatic stride setting disappear?

I'd LOVE to get an answer to this.

On a side note, my Blaze was replaced and as far as I can tell, I'm getting a relatively accurate step count. I managed 20K yesterday and it seemed on-point with my actual walking.

[ChrissyA]

@Barbara_F the automatic stride has not gone away. if you dont manually enter the information then it will be calculated for you. We are just trying eveything under the moon to getthe count right 🙂

[brianwsargent]

@EmersonFitbit Android 6.0.1 Samsung Note 5.  

[Barbara_F]

Yep, I get trying everything to get the count straight, but when I changed devices, my automatic stride disappeared. That was why I comment. But I appreciate the feedback. I'm trying to get it to be as effortless as my One. 🙂

[Alyusha]

I just tested my step count with my blaze and it was pretty dead on. I took 20 steps, it added about 20. If anything if was over. I took 50 steps walking like a zombie with my arms straight out (like I was pushing a shopping cart), and it counted 52. I also logged 75 steps while sitting down doing my daughters hair. I also had 66 mystery steps when I work up the other day from a motionless sleep. So maybe this has to do with sensitivity settings. I have never doubted my step count really. It is distance tracked.

This morning I did 2.03 miles on an elliptical, and it only logged 1.09 miles. This makes me very mad. Last Thursday I did 1 mile and it logged .83 miles. Better, but still not acceptable. The only difference between then and now?? I reset and I put in my stride info. So maybe the stride info is off and or causing it all to be off.

Now for some math.. I have my stride set to 25 inches. This morning during my 2.03 mile "run" I took 2712 steps. 2,712 x 25 = 68,700 inches. 68,700 inches in miles is.... 1.07, and my fitbit recorded 1.09.  

But in order to get the correct milage according to my step count, I would have to have a stride of 47.4 inches running.

128620.8 inches in 2.03 miles / 2712 steps in 2.03 miles = 47.4

Is this possible? I am only 5 foot 9.

So I guess this is a stride issue for me. I do not have my running stride set, so I guess it goes to walking stride??

EDIT: Errors.

[Rich_Laue]

@Alyusha habe you set both your running amd walking stride settings?

[Alyusha]

@Rich_Laue No just walking. I have not yet had a good chance to set either really. But walking is much easier to measure. I do need to set running. I just wonder if it defaults to walking since that is the only one set.

[Rich_Laue]

While running out should use your height and gender to calculate an average stride while running.

[DavS]

I'm having trouble with the Blaze step count as well.  I've tried resets, which seems to help for a bit but then the step count gets off again. The picture below (forgive my poor drawing skills!) shows two walks I took today, and the step discrepancies between them.  This was the same 1 mile walk, but the second walk only logged 1291 steps vs. the 1918 steps logged during the first.  The only difference between the two are that I walked at a faster pace for the second walk.  For the first walk, the 1918 steps at my stride of 2.6 feet yields a distance of 0.94 miles, which is very close to the actual.  The 1291 steps for the second walk only yields 0.635 miles.  I realize that my stride probably increased a bit while picking up the pace, but it was definitely not at 4 feet (calcuated using 1 mile and 1291 steps).

I hope this gets resolved soon, as I am being shorted steps in most cases.  By the way, I am wearing the Blaze on my non-dominant wrist, with the settings matching that configuration.  I have a Samsung Galaxy S6 running Android 5.1.1.

[JOHNNYBlaze]

My blaze is the worst fit bit ever. 😞

I have reset my blaze several times, updated and measured my stride, and 10,000 steps = less than 2 miles. On my fitbit surge which seems to be 2,000 or more steps ahead of my blaze and measures 10,000 steps as 5 miles, this is a terrible device - the blaze.

Additionally, an intense cardio and weight work out of 90 minutes on the surge = 1,200 caloreis burnt and on the blaze equals 700, plus HR is 20 -30 beats off most times between each unit

surge is adjusted and worn on on the non-dominatn hand, and the blaze on the dominant hand.

have no idea what's accurate and what's not anymore.  😞

Spoiler

[Rbrockport]

@JOHNNYBlaze I know what your saying. Some days when I compare it to my One
its good other times its off a 1000 or more steps... I just know that this
makes me work harder so maybe now I can see some results... That's how I am
looking at it now until they send out an update...

*Roselle Mendola Massare*

[ChrissyA]

@JOHNNYBlaze, i think that for an accurate comparison in regards to HR, the best method of testing it would be with a chest strap. So far, mine has been very accurate by beat. I tested it with my Runtastic Heart Rate app and there was no difference. but now you are making me wonder so i will test it with my chest strap and post the results here.

[Barbara_F]

For the most part, I'm just trying to keep to the 10K+ a day schedule. I don't put a whole lot of faith in stride, which is why I'm still distressed it's being used to get an accurate step count.

Stride is simply distance. If you're worried about distance, just use a GPS to accurately measure. If you're on a treadmill, let it measure. It's most likely not accurate on a treadmill, but the point is activity, yes? And while, yes, for a "normal" person, 10,000 steps is 5 miles; for me, it takes 12,000 steps to walk approximately 5 miles. And it used to be that 4k steps was 1 mile. As I got healthier, my stride improved.

As I said, I don't pay much attention to stride. When my stride was reset, my badges were reset too... which is kinda frustrating, but oh well...

[Rbrockport]

@Barbara_F YES EXACTLY!! Like I mentioned earlier now I am just trying harder to get my steps and over the past few months I have been exceeding my 10k daily without any results or weight loss so now its just a redo and restart so that I may see some results now. Love seeing all the stats and how my heart rate is effected by my daily activities!! 

[Rich_Laue]

Please remember that the One is looking at movement of youf body core, amd the Blaze is looking at arm motions. Neither is looking at the leg movements. Therefore they both should be accurate during a normal walk, i ask that toy do a 100 -200 step count test.
During the normal total daily steps the two most likely will not agree, some days yhe Blaze will be mkre, other days less.
I suggest wroth 2 trackers setup a second acvount, then friend them both, keep both on for at least a month. You'll be able to monitor the two units on the leaderboard.

It is that step count test that will tell you more than anything else.

[Barbara_F]

Please, dont' start that "arm movement/body movement" thing again.

Accelerometers measure velocity (speed) or vibration, not movement. This is why my One measured my steps on the bicycle, and my Blaze doesn't. There's less impact (vibration), and the Blaze has a different algorhythm But none of that is predicated on movement. It's velocity or vibration, not movement.

and I'll repeat, since people keep harping back to this arm movement thing, that most state of the art accelerometers use a triple-axis accelerometer, which measures three different axes to determine movement/impact.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accelerometer
from the article: "It has been suggested to build football helmets with accelerometers in order to measure the impact of head collisions.[25]"

See the word "IMPACT"?

The Blaze is attached to your arm, so it does tend to make arm movements a factor. it's one of the reasons I got the One when I did. I wanted to avoid the limitations of a device that would subjected to random movements based on my arm motions. The One could be placed in a body neutral location. The Blaze cannot. But I upgraded because I wanted the heart rate, like I assume many others did.

[Rbrockport]

@Rich_Laue @Barbara_F

Thats a great idea @Rich_Laue How would I be able to sync both devices if I set up another account for my One!! I will have to keep logging out and switching back and forth correct? 

[Barbara_F]

To follow Rich's advice, just have the two accounts logged in on different browsers. Use one on a Chrome browser, and the other could use Firefox (for example).