GPS tracked distance is is 40-60% wrong

[kakemonstre]

when i track exersise with my Fitbit Blaze using my phone GPS it reports between 40-60% to long distance.

Have my Fitbit account connected to Strava and there it seems to be the correct distance ,even if it's traced by my fitbit.

Strava(left) vs Fitbit(right)

On the last ride the difference is 1.6 with coinsidently is the differense between 1mile and 1km...maybe theres something wrong with the metric mode on the fitbit?

2 last rided tracked by Fitbit Blaze /w Phone GPS ,synced to Strava.

Fitbit: 37,35km Distance, 1.42.05 Time, Avg Speed 22km/h

Strava: 23,2km Distance,1.35.06 Moving Time ,Avg Speed 14,7 km/h

Fitbit: 57.12km ,1.37.23  Time, Avg Speed 35,2 km/h

Strava: 39km, 1:37.24 Moving Time, Avg Speed 24,1 km/h

[Rich_Laue]

@kakemonstre I will assume that with the ablaze you where using the connected GPS in Walk or Hike mode? Next time put the Blaze in tun mode and let us know what happens. 

[kakemonstre]

Was using the Blaze in Bike Mode

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@Rich_Laue wrote:

@kakemonstre I will assume that with the ablaze you where using the connected GPS in Walk or Hike mode? Next time put the Blaze in tun mode and let us know what happens. 

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[bbarrera]

@kakemonstre there are widespread reports of issues with Connected GPS. Your 1.6x difference is very bad, the worst I've seen. Very strange.

How is the accuracy of elevation, Strava vs Fitbit?

[kakemonstre]

Altitude seems OK.

It's a bit hard to read on Fitbit since it only a thumbnail in the bottom right corner of the map ,but it's in the ballpark of what strava reports. 

It's very strange problem. The tracking must be OK since it sends correct data to Strava. 

[AlejandraFitbit]

Welcome to the Community @kakemonstre, @bbarrera and @Rich_Laue thanks for stopping by!  If your GPS is not being accurate, I recommend checking our How do I use GPS? article, where you will be able to find some tips to get a more accurate result.

Let me know the outcome. 

[TexasTommy]

I am a runner not a biker but see small diffrences in what my fitbit distance on the blaze displays and then what gets syced to strava. The other night I ran 2 miles and shut off the workout on my blaze. It uploaded to strava as only running 1.99 miles. Very small discrepencies but just wanted to share my exprience.

[OleMarius]

I would like to apply this post also here even tho i did it on another topic.

Since the Blaze is useless with pair GPS on the mather of distance i was thinking of doing a test this time. I compared the actuel GPS distance data from google map log and took my previus runs and made an average stride lenght to see if the distance would give me more acurate lenght.

As seen on the photo under i undid the automatic stride lengt option.

I then had a run as seen under. But tho, still same problem. it has 5,95 km over the actuel lenght.
WTF fitbit do suck.

[AngelaMa]

Hello @TexasTommy and @OleMarius! It's great to have you here. @TexasTommy thanks for taking the time to share your experience. 🙂 @OleMarius thanks for your report about this our team is aware of this and any update will be posted on this thread.. 

Catch you later! 🙂 

[kakemonstre]

Glad I'm not the only one having this problem.

Easiest way to test this(if you don't sync to strava or similar) is to use http://www.mygpsfiles.com/app/ ,just download your tcx file from fitbit and upload them to mygpsfiles. 

The funny thing is that the GPS data is correct ,upload them to any other application(strava ,runkeeper ,mygpsfiles) and the data tracked by fitbit is correct ,but the data it displays is very wrong.

Since these are tracked in "bike mode" so stride lenght does not come into play. Steps are not tracked in bike mode. So it must be somthing with the GPS Data. 

Did a few test runs on my bike. tried changing the units on my fitbit to miles and/or changing my phone to use miles ,but no differense.

1. Round ,kept my standard settings (km)  

Fitbit 6.01km (3.73 miles)

Strava 3,4km (2.1miles)

2. Round ,changed Fitbit to miles

Fitbit 6.09km  (3.79 miles)

Strava 3,4km (2.1miles)

3. Round ,changed iPhone Maps to miles

Fitbit 5,89km  (3.66 miles)

Strava 3,4km (2.1miles)

[OleMarius]

I am really glad it can be documented that more people have the very same problem with distant error. For now I do hope so that fitbit get a software update on either app or clock to fix this. I do like the basic of this clock and long batterylife, tho the upcoming polar watch seems worth to deliver my blaze back for a refund and spend extra money for the polar smart watch...

[MikeS1971]

Whats funny is that this issue is documented in the Blaze Help 101 guide within the app. Under the "Track Your Route" section of the guide, it shows a route that was tracked via Connected GPS. It says the route was 4.2 miles done in 42:33 at a 8'28" pace. First, 4.2 miles at a 8'28" pace would take 35:42. But then if you go to Google Maps and measure the same route on the connected GPS map, its not close to 4.2 miles. Its actually closer to 1.3 miles.

The map in the help guide looks like its very close to the FitBit address in San Francisco. The route actually chose to track starts and stops a couple blocks east of their San Francisco address.

If the image in the guide is just artwork and not actual connected GPS mapping, then they should of at least made the numbers shown acurate. Or if it is in fact an actual conected GPS map, they didnt even try to edit the image to make the numbers correct.