Heart Rate Inaccuracy

[Walkingfordays]

I have tried all the fixes for the hr monitor and have concluded that it is just junk if you actually want to use it to work out. Not only is it terrible inaccurate a good part of the workout, if you sweat, it drops the hr completely. Not happy about spending this much money for a glorified step monitor.

Moderator edit: post content and thread title.

[fudge22]

Keep us posted. It sounds like the Fitbit gods pulled through for you afterall.

[silentium]

Great - that's good news!
What kind of workout did you do?
What did the support say by the way?

When I contacted support about my issues, they just said sorry for the trouble and just send it back. They didn't offer any advice or a replacement. I was very surprised.

[Walkingfordays]

We went through all I had already done and she looked at my recorded info. Had me reset it again, then had me turn the hr to auto, reset again, change arms(had already tried that, I'm left handed now wearing on my right wrist). Was skeptical but I really like the features so I gave it a try. This morning it worked. I treadmill an hour between 3 and 5 miles an hour. Kept up with the chest monitor within a couple of beats or so.. We will see what tomorrow brings😀

[Walkingfordays]

Back to my original opinion. It's odd that while I wear a chest monitor it works and yet I was out working in the pasture without a chest monitor, wearing a backpack sprayer hiking all around nothing was recorded. At all.....

[Walkingfordays · Accepted solution]

Just printed out return for Amazon. Done with it

[ginnyd]

Fitbit Blaze has my resting heartrate at 80. My blood pressure/heart rate medically approved rate is 60 if I'm moving around. It can drop lower if I'm sleeping well. I've just subtracted 20 from the inaccurate beginning rate. The app works well in telling if you've exerted more engery than resting. A work of art in progress......

[AngelaMa]

Hello everyone thanks for taking the time to share your experience. If you are having issues with the accuracy of your Blaze please review this article  @Walkingfordays I'm sorry to hear you returned your tracker. @ginnyd if you have a medical condition please consult your doctor since the Blaze is not intended to provide medical information. 

Let me know if you have any questions! 

[law828]

I had the surge and yes, it was useless.  I called support but after setting things, it still worked only when it wanted to.  More so when I said I was on the treadmill.  I now purchased the charge 2 and what a difference.  It works fantastic for me.  I hated the thought of investing on fitbit again, but I did and happy that I did.  I don't know if I had a "bad" surge or if all the surge models failed on HR.  ???

[bbarrera]

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@law828 wrote:

I don't know if I had a "bad" surge or if all the surge models failed on HR.  ???

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The Surge, despite being the most expensive Fitbit of all time, has failed on many levels. The size and weight caused it to move around and impact HR accuracy. The industrial design has led to a lot of early band failures, even when replaced one or several times during the warranty period. And the Surge hasn't been updated in a year, so its fallen behind the features in cheaper/newer trackers which says a lot about the priorities of the Fitbit management team.

Seriously I don't mind paying top dollar, but I expect the vendor to continuously invest and improve their flagship tracker otherwise I'm just throwing away money and chasing the next big thing and getting burned in the process.

[nickcal]

I have to agree, the heart rate is not accurate at all when working out. I believe it just takes much longer than other devices to get a reading. For normal activities its pretty close, but wwhen I work out its off by 30 to 50 % most all the time. I wear a Polar when I workout so I can get real time readings. I have had my Charge HR for several years and all the suggestions never changed the result. Other than that it works just fine. Maybe the new version does a better job at real time reading, not sure.

[ginnyd]

Yes, the monitor consistently read 20 beats over my resting heart rate. I
ignore the heart rate monitor, it is defective.


--
*Virginia Dean*
*734-546-6130*

[Dougiefreshyes]

I find my Blaze almost always nails my resting heart rate, but it absolute garbage any other time. I did a spin class with my wife the other day and the thing was reading in the 60s when my heart rate was around 150! And before anyone suggests I haven't tried to move it around, tighten it, loosen it, move it up my arm, move it down my arm, etc, I have tried every suggestion and worn this thing for over 200 workouts and the heart rate monitor when very active is useless.

Does anyone has a solution that works consistently?

[nickcal]

I have the same results you do with my PulseHR. Very good for normal day to
day but off by 50% or more when I work out. I think it just needs a lot more
time to get an average. If you run for about 10 to 15 minutes at a constant
rate, then it will finally read close. My solution.. Wear the Polar with the
chest strap. Its real time and very accurate. Maybe the new Fit-Bit models
will be better, I can't speak for them. Other than the real time heart rate
issue, I like my Fit-bit, I hope they address that issue with the new ones.

Nick

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[RatedE]

It's finicky at times, but all in all it works fairly well for me.  Yes it can be inconsistent for weight training (anything that flexes the wrist) but I find it "catches up" after about 10 seconds of being still (ie in between sets). Surprisingly I've had pretty good results with it during HIIT too (see the screen capture). But there are some days where it just decides to not track as well as other days 🙂  Seems like it's hit or miss. 

[Michmich55]

I have had a Polar for many years. I decided to change and for the Fitbit blaze. I too find the heartrate monitor completely inaccurate when exercising. I did spinning today and couldn't get my heartrate to show higher than 139. I'm tempted to go back to polar. I've only had the Fitbit a few months. Very dissapointed

[fastnet]

Hi Angela, the blaze is not intended to give a medical opinion, to be honest it does not even give you a clue as to what your heart rate is unless you are resting. Why does fitbit moderators keep using the unfit for medical opinion excuse. It is a very expensive monitor which fails in doing what it claims to do correctly, so lets be clear its a total piece of rubbish.

[nickcal]

The sample rate on the fit bit is slower. This help the battery but does
create inaccuracies when you have a changing heart rate. At rest your heart
rate does not change quickly and hence, its much more accurate. You need
something like the Garmin and one of the ones that have a strap. They sample
much faster. The fit bit has to choose between accuracy and battery like is
my guess.



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[ginnyd]

Yes...

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*Virginia 

Moderator edit: Removed personal information 

[fastnet]

Hi as I am not a fitness fanatic I still manage to walk 10klm for 6 days a
week and bought the Blaze to monitor my steps and my heart rate. As I am 68
years old and had some minor issues in the past with my heart I felt it was
a good idea to get a rough idea as to how far I could push myself. I knew
these things were not as accurate as medical devices but since I bought it
2 years ago it has given me heart spikes and recently shown I was in the
162 bpm range for 55 minutes. This brisk 5.5klm walk gave me an average
heartbeat of 150bpm which is ridiculous as I was not even mildly out of
breath. I wore the device yesterday and today on my right arm and walking
the same distance in the same time my heart rate never went above 92 bpm.
It is really only good as a pedometer and you can forget the significance
of the heart rate monitoring.

[ginnyd]

Thanks for your response. I don't rely on it as a heart monitor either.

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*Virginia

Moderator edit: Removed personal information