Inaccurate step counting on My BLAZE

[Pakita]

I received my Blaze yesterday...

And it has been counting steps anytime i move my arm while sitting onthe couch.

Last night before bed it addedover 300 steps while sitting on couch for half an hour..

Today driving to work 10minutes, it added almost 500 steps for nothing, i didn't walk.

Please help before i return this Blaze right back to Fitbit.   I was so hoping for motivation for steps and having me work for my steps not just sit and get free steps.  

I work at my desk for 12hours at work dispatching and dont want free steps.

Anyone help me how to make this better, its on my non-dominant hand.  

thank you 

Pakita

[sandi8668]

I just sync'd my watch at 9:47 am.  I get up and 6am and I have not done anything different than normal.  Usually about this time I have about 1500 to 2000 steps.  Today it is saying I have 5400.  If I go to the dashboard and look it calculated to about 1322 if I manually add up the steps reflected there, but the watch, my app show 5400 and the number needed to match yesterdays step also state it is about 5400.  I know there is no way I have 5400 steps.  I have had a variety of fitbits from the one all the way to my blaze, but I have never had the step count do this.  Is this a result of the update yesterday?

[Destroyerrhys]

What hand do you wear your fitbit on? This can effect the steps if you wear it on your dominant hand (the hand you use to write and eat). If so, make sure the settings are set to dominant hand, if not, Non Dominant-Hand. If that doesn't work I'd try checking your tracked is running version 17.8.301.4, you can see this in Settings>Version Number. If that is up to date turn it off and on again before you sleep and then when you wake up in the morning see if it is at 0, then about 1 hour into the day check the step count. If it is still very high about 5000, try contacting Fitbit support.

[Corvettekid]

Andrew, what about the Steps and Distance problems ?  Were these addressed ?

[Corvettekid]

"the Blaze smartwatch - my favorite fitness tracker in the last four years!!!!"

Peter, you find the Steps and Distance accuracy OK ?  Not seeing it off 20-30% ?

Have you ever walked around a 1/4 mile track and measured using the Blaze ?

[meresydotes]

@Corvettekid Unfortunately, the only bug fix listed in the release notes at the top of the thread is some problem with the backlight being too dim.

[Corvettekid]

I haven't updated to the new firmware yet....should I do so, or wait until the Clock Faces bugs and other things get ironed out ?

[Corvettekid]

@Corvettekid Unfortunately, the only bug fix listed in the release notes at the top of the thread is some problem with the backlight being too dim.

That's just great...so post-after-post here and numerous threads complaining about the Steps and Distance accuracy and they give us new Clock faces ?

We were told REPEATEDLY by the Mods here that the Tech and IT folks at FitBit were aware of the Steps/Distance problems and were working on a fix.

Now this ?????????????????

[mcrmama]

@Corvettekid, my Blaze steps are not out by the 20-30% that other people have experienced. Whenever I have tested it, it has been withing a few steps. When I have used connected GPS, it has agreed to within 0.1km with google maps if I map it out and also other apps I have tried. I have not tested the distance without connected GPS.

[SanFit]

>>>- The update is currently at 5% of randomly selected Blaze users. Region is not a factor.

Getting the update invitation is like getting a lottery prize... LOL

>>>- New clock faces have been turned off for everyone, even if you have the latest firmware update. The new clocks will be turned back on soon when the update reaches 100% of users.

How could we assure that ALL users will make an update? When will the last user will connect the tracker for an update? If not, then we will not getting the new face clocks which are demanded by most of users? How long will it be?

[Revlee]

at this rate -- about 3 months.  5% in 3 days -- 20 x 3 = 60 days, but I am not optimistic, so I added a month.  Pathetic roll out.  another reason I am dumping my fitbit.  

[The_Lion]

After 60 days the users who got that update first will get the watch faces back.

[AndrewFitbit]

Hey guys, I've moved this conversation out of the firmware thread and into its own thread. I'd like to try and keep these conversations more organized so that they're easier to follow. Thanks! 

[Corvettekid]

Andrew, most of the problems concerning The Blaze surrounded Distance/Steps accuracy, not lack of watch faces.

Now you tell us if we have a problem or need, create a thread on it.  Which is what we have been doing for the last 5 months since April (or earlier).

How the h*** can the IT and Tech guys not have addressed the issue, or at least told those of us who are seeing persistent 20-30% undercounting that it is a bad hardware/chip/CPU/whatever problem that will be fixed with a replacement ?

How many threads do I need to create and how many 1/4 mile high school track tests do I need to post here before we get a simple answer from FitBit ???

[Yaakovchaim]

@AndrewFitbit - I've already downloaded the latest version to my watch. The problem with the distance when using the GPS (mall walking) is still off by 25%.  This should have been one of the highest priority fixes.  The additional information that I receive when I use the GPS is useful to me when I chart my progress.  The information when using the GPS of the mile breakdown gives me certain stats that I find useful in achieving some personal goals.  Based on what I noticed, the step count was accurate, but not the distance.

It's bad enough that we had to wait 5 months for this latest patch, but to not fix one of the core issues is beyond belief.  Never in 30+ years of IT have I ever not delivered fixes to defects timely.  Especially critical ones.  My faith in Fitbit is basically gone.

[Rich_Laue]

@Pakita purchasing a step counter that gets mounted to an arm has its drawbacks, one of which is it is only able to monitor arm motions.. Therefore if the arm is moving in a way that the step counter thinks your walking, well you get the picture. 

Fitbit has a few tricks up its sleeve, it looks for at least 5 steps before it believes the user is walking.. Walk four steps stop no steps counted, walk 6 steps stop 6 steps are counted. 

Changing the setting to dominant will make the Blaze less sensitive to false steps. 

Now about the car, any car that has a bouncing ride will have the possibility to give dteps, simply because of the way the tracker is moving, and its in the top complaint of every tracker on the market.. Fitbit allows you to log the time as driving, or there is an app called drivebit to help here. 

[The_Lion]

Oh yes... Driving on the highways from Munich to Bremen caused thousands of steps! It was a Charge HR but I think my new Blaze will do the same.

[herget]

Dear @Corvettekid,

Good afternoon! Yes, I have tested my Blaze along side the new Fitbit Charge 2, the Fitbit One, and the Flex. And here is a summary of my results:

1. A waist-worn tracker like the One is great! It appears to take much movement that the smoothness of an arm or wrist do not
2. The Flex is the most sensitive acquiring up to 500 or 1,000 more per day than the Blaze. This amount as based on a 20,000 step movement day, which is roughly 5% percent difference.
3. I began using my Charge 2 on Friday, switching wrists between the Blaze. Over the last nearly five-full days here’s a screenshot of the steps. The different is between 5% and 15% depending upon the day. The greater the distance the smaller the margin in my testing. I should have more data over the next 14 days of testing.
4. The difference of heart-rate data was vastly different. I feel the Blaze does a better job in gathering my heart beats. My resting HR is much higher with the Charge 2. So, after doing health research I discovered when a wrist-worn HR device is worn on the right wrist your HR is nearly always higher. Over the past week, for me at least, it is 3 or 4 beats per minute. I switched the device yesterday, 09/13/2016, and now the resting HR for the Charge 2 is dropping, while the Blaze resting HR is increasing. Fascinating, right? I’ll post more results on my blog - http://hergets.blogspot.com/2016/05/fitbit-blaze-battery-test-7.html

[meresydotes]

@Yaakovchaim If the step count is correct, you probably don't have an accuracy problem, you just need to set your stride length. Distance is just based on steps times stride length. Lots of people have a problem where there Blaze undercounts steps. This is a problem, as step count is where most of the other information comes from.

[meresydotes]

@herget Is that right wrist thing really *dominant* wrist? So, if I'm, say, left handed, it would be higher if I wear it on my left wrist?