Issues with GPS Accuracy on Blaze

[loungesong]

I thought I would throw one more Hail Mary before throwing out FitBit like my wife did years ago...

I use my Blaze with a Samsung S8+.  Before I go for a run I reset my phone and the Blaze like a good boy.

Then I turn off Wifi.

Then I start my Exercise, Run and hit the "Play" button.

Then I turn on my Plantronics bluetooth headphones and start a spotify playlist (which has previously been downloaded).  Then I start running!  I keep the phone in a waist strap

About 50% of the time at some point I get the dreaded phone with a slash through it and lose connection.  Sometimes I have to start the entire process over, other times it starts working by itself.  This was enough to make my wife switch to an Apple Watch...but I don't have an iPhone.  Plus I dragged at least 8 other people into the FitBit world...and want to continue competing against them.

The latest problem I've been having for the past week is completely inaccurate distances recorded.  I've been noticing my pace is way too slow.  I usually run a 9:30 pace but even downhill it's showing me a 13:00.  Sure enough I went for a run I know is 8 miles this morning but the FitBit showed 5.5 miles.  The map also represented this in the app.

I was able to exactly map one of the miles from the app on google maps...sure enough the app shows it as 1 mile, but in reality it's 1.22 miles. What gives?  This has been going on for a while now. (2 weeks at least).

I went on the chat and this is what the rep told me (important parts only):

"Me:could i have a problem with the stride length? I thougt it was using the GPS?
lpala:I am actually confirming that this is a general issue and that I will make sure is on our engineers hands.
lpala:We are aware of the problem and are working to resolve it as quickly as possible.
Me:really?
Me:is it a firmware issue?
lpala:According to my system, the firmware for your Blaze is updated already.
Me:can i downgrade?
Me:to one that works? i didn't really have this problem before
lpala:This issue just happened, it is not your tracker or phone, is something else, but as I said, I will report it to our system technicians.
Me:do they have an ETA for the fix?
lpala:Not that I have ans ETA. I will suggest you check back with us in the next 24 hours.
Me:is there somewhere i can check online for an update?
lpala:Your case will be handled internally with the technicians".

Am I crazy?  The response is so weird that I believe it, but with no more details...

I don't know why this is my 4th fitbit.  This stuff was normal when I was an early adopter but my $400 Garmin Forerunner from 13 years ago was always accurate and worked great...just not "social".

Am I just a glutton for punnishment or is this not a legit training watch?

Moderator edit: Clarified subject

[FerdinandFitbit]

Hi there @loungesong. Welcome to the Fitbit Community Forums! 🙂

I'm sorry to hear that your tracker seems to disconnect several times while you're on a run. Thanks a lot for all that you've tried to get this solved!

At the moment, it seems like there is a known problem about this and we don't have an estimate on when this will be resolved. I'd just like to know a few things...

Do you by any chance see a ""Check Fitbit App" message on your phone when this happens? Are you making sure not to force close the Fitbit app when you go out for a run and your tracker connects to your phone? Keep in mind that force quitting the app while you're running or while your tracker is connected to your phone will cause the connection to end.

There's something else I would recommend. It's to turn on the notification widget in settings. For that, do the following:
- Go to the Fitbit app and tap on the Blaze icon at the top left corner of the dashboard.
- Scroll down to the bottom and enable "Keep-live widget"

Turning on the widget prevents Android from shutting off the connection between the phone and tracker so you could give that a try and see if this helps.

If you need anything else, let me know!

[loungesong]

Was hoping someone at fitbit could either update the status of this known bug or give me some kind of update...I'm really struggling and need to decide if I should cut bait.

[kenn0]

I have a similar issue and have posted about it here, have you checked the maps that are produced, zoom in on the maps and check the route round any turns you can see why the distance is off it looks like the gps tracking is way off

[Rach1802]

The same thing is happening to me, too. Unfortunately because my Blaze is using this data to track my fitness it is also dropping my fitness level when it tracks a run poorly, which I find really disheartening. 

I'm doing the C25K and finding it easier now I'm coming to the end of it so I know I'm getting fitter, however because of poor run tracking my fitness level on the app has dropped by several points - even with a reduced resting heart rate which is what my previous Charge 2 used to measure fitness.

I don't know if it disconnects from my phone during a run because I try not to look at it too much (dog attached) but it does buzz often so that may be why.

I bought the Blaze for two reasons - the run tracking/fitness feature and the music control and I don't seem to be able to use music control when a specific exercise function is running. I'm getting pretty fed up with it to be honest.

I will try the 'keep alive' switch and see if that works on my next run.

[Blaze662016]

I have similar issues, it's really frustating to see your stats went down when you know you condition is really improving. On my case, sometimes my exercise status run suddenly stops. I am very sure I did not press the stop on my blaze screen. I wonder if this also cause by the gps connection.

I've been using blaze since June 2016 and I experienced this bugs some time in July 2017. I hope you give us more credible solution on such cases.

[MarkMM]

How is this affecting your fitness level? I've had the Blaze lose Bluetooth connection during bike rides. It's still in Bike mode and monitoring heart rate, so calories and activity are still counting. I've manually deleted botched bike rides and entered the correct distance, only to have overall calories drop, because now I lost the heart rate factor doing the manual add. IMO, all you lose really is a correct map. 

[Rach1802]

It is so frustrating! Mine also stops but I thought it might have been my sleeve or the dog lead knocking it.

It drops my fitness level because the Blaze calculates fitness based on a GPS-enabled run. So even if you have heartrate based data, if you go for a GPS-enabled run it will override that data with what it thinks you did. For example, my last run (I'm a beginner so don't judge!) was 3.2 miles in 38 minutes or so and the Blaze logged that as 1.8 miles in 38 mins with a split pace of 21 mins so dropped my fitness from the top end of average right down to borderline poor.

The map cuts across random land, doesn't follow roads at all and just generally makes no sense. I got a reply from support last night and they have suggested that high buildings or my phone's wi-fi might interfere but I run in a rural town in Suffolk, UK - there would be little or no wi-fi that could interfere and certainly no tall buildings.

Tomorrow is my next run so I will see if the 'keep alive' fix works and I'll also turn off my wi-fi and avoid any skycrapers that might have popped up overnight!

[kenn0]

Good luck on your run, I tried those things fixes yesterday and it just stopped recording mid run for me at 3.97km while I ran a total of 6km, nothing touched the watch during this time. Also the map data that it produced only tracks the run for about 2km

I understand the there are some discrepancies in the GPS due to the environment and nature of the GPS system, however the the accuracy is really bad, I ran round the green area in the picture. 

I tried using the Strava app as a comparison and found that it was very accurate and while there were some inaccuracies in general during the route they were not as bad as the fitbit equivalent, and provided a fairly accurate measurement of the overall distance.

So while I can track my runs using other apps the fact that the fitbit data is wrong is annoying as I'd like to track my heart rates during the runs.

[Rach1802]

How frustrating! I don't think I'd be so bothered if it weren't the over-riding way the Blaze kept track of your fitness level. 

I understand the Blaze doesn't have a GPS of its own and uses the one on your phone (as support were keen to point out to me) but if other apps running at the same time can track accurately that doesn't explain the Fitbit inaccuracies. 

Here, the line is so far out it's cut across a wasteland, train line and a river when I actually followed a road at the top right of the map then the one above the small pond. I then crossed over the main road and followed the smaller road along the grey area bottom left, which isn't where the Blaze goes at all:

 

[Blaze662016]

hi Mark MM. I usually monitor my average pace. Without the actual gps map, it is not accurate anymore. I normally run in my routine for 5km. When the gps has been disconnected, sometimes It only shows like 4.4km - 4.9km.

I totally agree with the other blaze users.That is exactly my issue too. It suddenly stops in the middle of my run. I really hope fitbit can resolve this with a software update.  

[seangregory]

I too have issues with the assisted gps. I have noticed that even the latest ionic, with built in gps has the same issues. What is the point of this product if it cannot get the basics right? It is a sports watch, that cannot track a run even remotely accurately. I am using mine to track my park run, which is definitely a 5km run, and the fitbit results are shocking. I can't wait for my watch to be old enough to justify getting a different make of smart watch.

[seangregory]

If the gps tracking is so rubbish, what evidence is there that the heart rate tracking is any better??

[Workoutgranny]

Same problem not accurate on any run or walk.  Husband was wearing my old Garmin.   Results showed the fit bit blaze off by 25%  really disappointed with this tracker 

[davibes]

I am no expert but I purchased a Blaze today after returning a Nokia Steel 40 which refused to work with my Samsung 7 Edge and was erratic.  I have just checked all the connections between the device and the phone with the exception of music control and incoming call alerts and they appear to be working fine. What I would add is that the Blaze offers a fantastic amount more than the Nokia product for £20 less eg wide range of clock faces, tricks such as switching on with an arm lift, much better (and variable size availability of) strap; stair detection etc etc. I would remind users that there is a "check connection" facility available on the dashboard after clicking on the Blaze icon which is useful and the rather obvious problem that Samsung "settings" are so numerous and inter-related that you have to be very thorough to ensure that all permissions are in fact granted.  Hope this helps. 

[MarkMM]

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@davibes wrote:

I am no expert but I purchased a Blaze today after returning a Nokia Steel 40 which refused to work with my Samsung 7 Edge and was erratic.  I have just checked all the connections between the device and the phone with the exception of music control and incoming call alerts and they appear to be working fine. What I would add is that the Blaze offers a fantastic amount more than the Nokia product for £20 less eg wide range of clock faces, tricks such as switching on with an arm lift, much better (and variable size availability of) strap; stair detection etc etc. I would remind users that there is a "check connection" facility available on the dashboard after clicking on the Blaze icon which is useful and the rather obvious problem that Samsung "settings" are so numerous and inter-related that you have to be very thorough to ensure that all permissions are in fact granted.  Hope this helps. 

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@davibes That's nice that you bought a (discontinued by Fitbit) Blaze today and are very happy with it.

This thread is about connected GPS, which you obviously would have no experience with. Mine was fine for two years, but in like the last 6-7 weeks, looses Bluetooth connection with the phone during bike rides. And apparently, I'm not alone.

What's this check connection option you speak of? I'm on Samsung too, and only see sync now. Of course, people who know how to use connected GPS would already be syncing before starting that activity.

[davibes]

OK. Im a sucker. I just went Dashboard/Blaze icon/notifications/ tap top right options/send test communication. Sorry if this seems naiive. Just glad you didnt buy the Nokia. 


Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.

[MarkMM]

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@Blaze662016 wrote:

hi Mark MM. I usually monitor my average pace. Without the actual gps map, it is not accurate anymore. I normally run in my routine for 5km. When the gps has been disconnected, sometimes It only shows like 4.4km - 4.9km.

I totally agree with the other blaze users.That is exactly my issue too. It suddenly stops in the middle of my run. I really hope fitbit can resolve this with a software update.  

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That's too bad. I can imagine how frustrating that would be if you depend on your average pace.

I noticed in the android app update last week, there is now a non removable connected GPS notification when you start a GPS activity. Far as I can tell, this just tries to reconnect you after a fail. Before the notification, you'd just get the not connected exclamation mark and be done. That's why people have broken up or messed up maps I guess? There was a gap where it wasn't connected. I can feel the vibration notification when the connection is lost, so I see what's happening. I suppose you don't feel that while running?

[MarkMM]

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@davibes wrote:
OK. Im a sucker. I just went Dashboard/Blaze icon/notifications/ tap top right options/send test communication. Sorry if this seems naiive. Just glad you didnt buy the Nokia. 


Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.

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All that is, is sending a test notification that you can receive text/call notifications. Nothing to do with the thread topic.

No, you're not a sucker. Unless you thought the Blaze was a current product with many updates coming. haha. In all seriousness, I hope it works out for you. Mine is roughly 25 Months old and I'd be lost without it. And my screen never even mysteriously cracked while I was sleeping. 

[davibes]

Doh! Smart watches, dumb buyers? I have 35 days to return mine. Think I should?