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Fitbit Blaze step count inaccurate

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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!

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496 REPLIES 496
Okay thank you very much. I guess it would still need to be synced from my
device right!
*Roselle Mendola Massare*
Rbrockport
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Yep. 🙂

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I have a similar problem with the blaze not alway tracking steps. I have only one fitbit, my new blaze.  Most of the time it works well but it stops tracking several times a day particular if I am in the house or at work.  I am walking around all the time in my job but it does not log one single step.  It does not always notice if I have gone upstairs.

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@Chocoholic13 have you set your stride and reset it. If so you should talk to customer service..
Rbrockport
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Tje easiest way to sync to units to different accounts is to install Fitbit Connect on a computer, this program will sync any fitbit tracker it may find..
But yes if there is just access to a pyone then yes a logout and into the other account would be needed.
But this would only be needed once a day.
It is also possible to settup 2 IFTTT accounts and have both trackers daily data dumped into a google sheets for easy comparison.
I have seen some month totals within 100 steps. While i agree if your only compareing each days total steos, it could be disheartening, i found when compareing the overall week and month, was very pleasing. So much so that i had no reservations of switching the arm unit to my main account.
I still realize there will be periods of time where one or the other tracker is off. Walk across a moss covered field, the Blaze will count fine, but the One will not. Tap my foot, or operate a foot powered device, and the One counts steps but the Blaze wont.
Personally i never thought monitoring arm motions could give an accurate step count, and still don't think it is perfect. Close or should i say i found it way more close enogh to the One for my likeing. Why are arm units selling so well, its convenient, no remembering to move the tracker from shirt to shirt, pants to pants, bra to bra, etc.
For my step count test, i put the tracker into tracking mode. Then go for a walk, while counting in my head every left step. So if i stop at 100, i have taken 200 steps. Usually i go to 200, for a totwl of 400, no stop moving and check the tracker count. You might have to wait for the tracker to catch up. The display on some tend to lah behind.
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Yes I have but indoors I frequently get no steps. It maybe because I am
continually changing direction every few steps even at work 6 in any
direction is likely to be a maximum even though I am walking all day.
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@Rich_Laue

Great input!! I am almost ready to just use my Blaze as I am getting used to the count anyways. I don't want to keep wearing both. At first I just did it for giggles as I was just comparing and now its been 5 days and some days they are close and some days they are not.. So I think in the end it will all even out as you said.. 

Rbrockport
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@Barbara_F wrote:

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.

 


 

Interesting when i search the link provided, the word Impact can not be found. An impact would cause a deceleration to zero real fast, and the speed (velocity) drops to zero. This would be considered negative acceleration.

 

From your link:

An eter at rest on the surface of the Earth will measure an acceleration g= 9.81 m/s2 straight upwards. By contrast, accelerometers in free fall(falling toward the center of the Earth at a rate of about 9.81 m/s2) will measure zero.

 

Velocity is speed, acceleration  is the change in velocity. This can be caused by impact, or simply changing diredtion of travel. A train on a track going around a corner will be changing its foward velocity to a different angle. Some outward force, the rails, had an impact on the trains direction. Yes there was an impact, but it was a smoth impact, causeing a change in direction, a sidways vector or push. there was no bounce,l.

 

The One is not looking at the impact but the up/down motion of the body during a walk. The Blaze is looking at the forward and up/down motion of the arm during the walk.

The accelerometers is seeiing the change in velocity as the tracker switches direction.

Hold the tracker in your hand and move it smothly up/down. Don't make it stop fast at tye top or bottom of the cycle,  their is plenty of velocity changing, with no impact of hitting the ground.

There is still impact but not the impact you are thinking off,  for if your hand or gravity wasn't  their the tracker would keep going in whatever direction it was going in. 

This is what the Blaze sees the smooth changes in direction of the arm while walking..

 

BTW the NFL helmets have had accelerometers in them for a while now. Some high scholols have started using them, and now some elamentary schools are thinking considering their use.

When a head decelerates fast enough, as it would when being stopped by hitting the ground, are being forcibly pushed by another player, the second law of motion steps in, a body in motion tends to stay in motion, and your brain continues move until the skull changes its direction. The btain gets deformed as if it was a ball hitting the pavement.

 

Here is an interesting video on walking, with many shots of the body, head and arm movements. 

The three axis accelerometer means that it is able to see changes in speed on the X,Y,an Z access. Their definately is an impact when your foot hours the ground, but their is none ehen gavity pulls the body down. While the arm has an impact on the movement of the Blaze it is not an impact as if the arm came in comtact with a stationary object.

 

As for why an object at rest on the surface of the Earth will measure an acceleration g= 9.81 m/s2 straight upwards. This can be explained in this video or web page. Gravity is the arm holding you on to the earth.

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My blaze is counting too many steps. I logged 200 steps while taking a quick shower. Compared to my AW, I'm averaging about 2000+ steps per day more on my Blaze.
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@Chocoholic13, for step counting, 5 is the minimum Fitbit says. 

Take 4 steos and stop, no steps counted,  take 5 steps,  then you'll get credit for 5. That said it is possible for a step to be missed, then 6 will be needed. 

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@Rich_Laue

 

Thats very interesting!! So it counts in 5 step increments. 

Rbrockport
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Oh boy... here I go. I purchased a Blaze the beginning of March. I immediately noticed within a day or two that it was tracking approximately 60-70% of my steps, but no more than that. I tried changing stride length, resetting, etc. It was to no avail. I immediately contacted Fibit assuming I had a defective device. I have a Charge HR, and my step totals were very accurate, without ever changing stride length or anything else. They shipped a new one, and to my dismay... MORE OF THE SAME! I wore my Charge today, and my Blaze tracked about 2,500 steps less. What is going on here? I just might lose my mind! 😞

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I returned the original and the replacement. They really need to go back
to the drawing board on this one. It's a shame too, is otherwise really
nice.
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Looks like I may be doing the same. I'm extremely disappointed. I love everything about it, except for the fact that it can't manage the most basic function it was intended to do. I expect much more from Fitbit. Disappointed.

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I was so disappointed too. Also check your heart rate, I think that is
off too. My regular run or bike for had very little cardio & peak where I
usually averaged at least 30 minutes in those zones. It really doesn't do
what is intended to do.
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I'm seeing so many similar comments so I feel better not being the only one who noticed such a big gap between the Blaze and Charge HR, but I really think it's actually the Charge HR that's mostly overcounting rather than the Blaze undercounting. It's mostly a bit of both - that the Charge HR is overcounting and the Blaze is also undercounting. However, knowing that neither are completely accurate and that it's much harder to get the 10k goal with the Blaze, this has only motivated me to work harder and be more intentional about walking frequently and longer. I personally am loving the Blaze despite its supposed undercounting. I adjusted my goal to 9k and feel really good about reaching this goal which is still hard - but even better if I get above 10k! The reason why I think the Charge HR is the one overcounting is because my husband has it and is a driver (not a lot of walking happens on a regular work day for him). Logically it's impossible for him to have the actual amount of steps his Charge HR tells him he has. We live in a small apartment in NYC but somehow he manages several thousand steps in an evening where he's only walking between the kitchen and bedroom (I assure you they're not far apart!) So we figured that was way off even before I got the Blaze. But now that I do have the Blaze - we compare our FitBit's and I think the Blaze is much more accurate than the Charge - or at least his specific one. I'm guessing FitBit is in a bad position either way because they have to own up to the fact that one of their devices is way off.
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@Rbrockport it doesnt count in 5 step increments, it warriors to see 5 steps before it will acknowledge that your walking. It give you credit for all 5 steps, plus what you choose ontonue to do.
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@BlazeRunner Thats exactly what I am doing now.. I am just working a little bit harder as my other device the one is sometimes close and sometimes isn't.. I just know that i love the blaze.. I am sure it will get better with updates.
Rbrockport
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This is probably my problem. I only do a few steps in each direction when
doing housework or at work. When out walking it tracks fine. Thanks
everyone.
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I also am having problems with my blaze tracking my steps. I will watch my blaze and walk around, and no steps will be recorded.

Is there a fix to this?

 

And where do I change my stride in dashboard?

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