Charge 2 accuracy

[beverlyc1989]

Im a custodian and unfortunately alot of the times my wrist is immobile while im pushing trash out in the containers sweeping mopping but im getting steps and my charge 2 doesnt seem to calculate so i put it in my shoe strings on my foot today and it calculated more but says i went 2 floors the school i work at is 1 floor and it also says it was calculating my hr while it was on my shoe strings. I need a better way to calculate steps on my wrist doesnt work because it takes two hands to push trash in the container way out to trash can takes two hands to use a dust mop and regular mop a boost machine etc. 😞 and seems putting it in my shoe strings isnt working as well. Any help would be appreciated.

[Dominique]

Steps may not be the most appropriate metrics for you, but even when your hands are not moving (and you are not getting steps), your Charge 2 should still detect activity (for instance, based on your HR). This should show up in other metrics, like burned calories and active minutes.

As I see it, the purpose of a Fitbit is not to give you an absolutely accurate step count, but rather to motivate you to be more active. Even if your steps counts are "inaccurate", they will be consistent one day to the next. Once you have established a baseline, you can try to improve your results, no matter how "inaccurate" they are.

Of course, this puts you at a disadvantage for things like challenges, but these are just for fun. FWIW, I have been wearing a Surge and a Charge 2 at the same time (each on one arm) for one month. The Surge is connected to my main account, the Charge 2 to a secondary account. The Charge 2 consistently gives me about 2000 more steps everyday. I would do better in challenges if I used it as my main tracker. Anyway, this shows there is no such thing as a 100% accurate step counter.

[MarreFitbit · Accepted solution]

It's nice to see you around the Community @beverlyc1989, welcome aboard!  Great information my friend @Dominique, very helpful! 

Fitbit trackers have a finely tuned algorithm for step counting. The algorithm is designed to look for intensity and motion patterns that are most indicative of people walking and running.  When working at a desk, cooking, or doing other arm movements, a tracker on your wrist can pick up some extra steps if it thinks you're walking. Many of these situations—such as working or cooking—do include a few steps in-between stationary periods so the tracker tries to give you credit for those steps. For the vast majority of customers, the amount of stray steps accumulated is negligible when compared to the entire day. For a more technical explanation, see How does my tracker count steps?

On bumpy trails it's possible that your tracker will register steps but these should be negligible in your overall stats. If you have a tracker with multisport mode, make sure you choose the Bike exercise before starting your workout. If you're relying on SmartTrack to automatically detect your bike ride, make sure the Outdoor Bike exercise is on. (In the app, tap the exercise title and then tap the gear icon in the top right.) If your tracker doesn't offer multisport mode or SmartTrack, we recommend logging your bike ride manually to get the best calorie burn estimation. For more information see How do I track my exercise and activities with Fitbit?

If you're doing something like pushing a stroller or shopping cart, your wrist-based tracker will count your steps but the total may be slightly lower than usual.

Your tracker has been tested against driving, buses, trains, and other public transportation and should not give you extra steps when you’re traveling under normal conditions. On bumpy roads or in a car with a stiff transmission you may get extra steps. Though a few extra steps won't affect your trends, if it bothers you its possible to log a Driving activity and remove the steps from your account totals.

For wrist-based trackers, it's important to specify whether you wear the tracker on your dominant or non-dominant wrist:

• The dominant wrist setting decreases the sensitivity of step counting and should reduce any over counting of steps when your body is not moving.
• The non-dominant wrist setting increases the sensitivity of step counting and should reduce any under counting of steps. Non-dominant is the default.

In addition to dominance (right or left), Fitbit Alta also needs to know which wrist you prefer to wear the tracker on. Tracker location helps orient the screen correctly in addition to adjusting the sensitivity of step detection.

To change your settings, in the Fitbit app go to Account tab and choose your tracker at the top of the screen.

If you feel that your step count and distance are inaccurate, first make sure the wrist placement settings are correct. Next, double check that you entered your height correctly. Since we use height to estimate your walking and running stride lengths, you may want to measure and manually adjust these values if your legs are longer or shorter than average. For more information, see How do I measure and adjust my stride length?

[Qzie]

Charge 2 accuracy frustration continued.  I just got my Charge 2 because my Charge HR literally fell apart. Was considering replacing it with a Gramin. But was offered 25% off on a new one. So I thought that I would give FitBit another try. ..... Hoping that the accuracy would be a bit closer than the Charge HR was.  NOT..... What really frustrates me and pisses me off is FitBit offers these challenges and I don't see how they can be fair with the step counts are OFF by 2000 to 3000 steps!!!!!!  I have friends that have the Garmin and they do NOT have this serious of issues with accuracy. I realize that it is not going to be 100% accurate I can understand it being off a couple hundred steps but not 1000's of steps.

[USAF-Larry]

It would interesting to learn why your Charge 2 is off so much on the step count, @Qzie, when most are not having that problem. What is happening when it is adding false counts? What type of arm movement would causing the steps to be counted?  How have you counted your actual steps so you know the number it is off by?

[Qzie]

USAF-Larry it is not adding false steps. The step difference is on the
minus side. Not counting enough steps. I did figure out my stride step when
I had the Charge HR. I did a reset so I will see how accurate it is
tomorrow when I do my 5 miles. Thanks for you input.

[USAF-Larry]

I hope you are able to determine why it is not counting accurately.  FWIW, I did a test walk on Oct 5th.  I wear my Charge 2 on my left arm, and I carried my LG Tablet with the Pedometer app in my right hand.  I walked a 6.5 mile trail to test the accuracy of the Charge 2 with Connected GPS against the Google Maps Pedometer.  The Charge 2 counted 14,872 steps on the walk, while the Pedometer app on the LG tablet 14,868 steps.  I believe my Charge 2 tested to be highly accurate on counting steps.  The Charge 2 was 0.16 mile off on distance, but the steps were spot on.

[hayleymay1]

Hi i got my charge 2 a few days ago and it adds so many steps on its crazy yesterday it says i did 19,985 steps lol also i woke up this morning and it said iv done 80 steps! well i hadn't even got out of bed! I put on tbe settings that its on my right wrist and handed is right so i don't know what to do. I  can't find on my app a setting for dominant and non dominant can anyone help thanks x

[MarreFitbit]

Morning my friend @hayleymay1! See what @Julia_G says here about those steps you're seeing upon waking up. 

Also, on your Fitbit App, tap the picture of your tracker at the top of the app. You will then see the options "Handedness" and "Wrist". Don't forget to sync after making the changes. 

Have a good one! 

[hayleymay1]

Iv read what she says! And my settings for handedness are on my right hand
and right wrist but im wearing on my left thats non dominant arm so i was
hoping that was going to make a difference. I was in a changing room today
try on lots i looked at my steps id done just over 300 steps and when i do
my make up in the morning that adds on 100 + steps cooking dinner it adds
crazy amounts of steps. I just feel like it so out x

[MarreFitbit]

Halo @hayleymay1! Have you tried what I suggested here? Besides that, please try restarting your Charge 2 by doing these steps:

• Plug the charging cable into the USB port on your computer or any UL-certified USB wall charger.
• Clip the other end of the charging cable to the port on the back of the tracker. The pins on the charging cable must lock securely with the port.
• Make sure the button on your tracker is aligned with the button opening on the charging cable. You’ll know the connection is secure when the tracker vibrates and you see a battery icon on your tracker’s display. Your Charge 2 will begin charging.
• Press and hold the button on your tracker for four seconds. When you see the Fitbit logo and the tracker vibrates, this means the tracker has restarted.
• Unplug your tracker from the charging cable.

Share me the outcome! 

[rmathes]

I just got a Charge 2 and it's consistently undercounting steps by 20-30%. I'm right handed, have it on my left wrist and have enabled the proper settings in the app to specify this. I just did 4 tests where I walked and counted steps and then compared to what the Charge 2 says I just did.

Walked 156 steps, Charge 2 reports 121

Walked 133 steps, Charge 2 reports 101

Walked 120 steps, Charge 2 reports 94

Walked 340 steps, Charge 2 reports 194

I don't expect it to be perfect, but this is absurd. This is a high end device where one of its primary functions is to count steps and it's consistently off by a SIGNIFICANT amount. I've tried changing my reported height in my profile to see if that has an impact but so far I'm not seeing any change there.

If there's something I can do to get this closer, then great. Otherwise, I have no choice but to return this device. Counting steps is one of the primary things I want this device to do for me, and at this point it appears incapable of doing this even remotely accurately. I'm very disappointed.

[MarreFitbit]

Hey you @rmathes, how's your day? Well, have you updated the firmware of your Charge 2 recently or during the day you saw such a discrepancy? Sometimes customers see an inaccurate step count during the next day of the update. 

I you haven't try it yet, please do a restart at least 3 times in a row by doing the following:

1. Plug the charging cable into the USB port on your computer or any UL-certified USB wall charger.
2. Clip the other end of the charging cable to the port on the back of the tracker. The pins on the charging cable must lock securely with the port.
3. Make sure the button on your tracker is aligned with the button opening on the charging cable. You’ll know the connection is secure when the tracker vibrates and you see a battery icon on your tracker’s display. Your Charge 2 will begin charging.
4. Press and hold the button on your tracker for four seconds. When you see the Fitbit logo and the tracker vibrates, this means the tracker has restarted.
5. Unplug your tracker from the charging cable.

Don't lose the hope, let me now the outcome of this test! 

[rmathes]

Thanks for the reply. I may have solved the issue, although at a functional cost. I changed the sleep setting to "sensitive" and that appears to effect more than just how the device behaves when the wearer is sleeping. It's no longer undercounting steps, which is great. But, it's so sensitive that every move I make while I sleep is being interpreted as me being awake, so even if I get 7 hours of good sleep it's thinking I got 3, which pretty much makes that functionality worthless. Steps are more important to me than the sleep functionality, but it bums me out I can't use both.

[rmathes]

and yes, it's running the latest firmware and has been restarted multiple times.

[MarreFitbit]

If the discrepancy is huge, please contact Fitbit Customer Support so they can do a deeper investigation and see where the issue is coming from. Just don't forget to mention the steps you've done so far to avoid getting the same ones. 

Share with us the outcome @rmathes! 

[hayleymay1]

Hi im taking mine back tomorrow i used it for a week! Iv tried re boosting
it 3 times but it still added steps on! Im a hairdressers every time i
shampoo iv added 80-90 steps and when im drying hair its about 300 steps
and i do that all day so at the end of the day im 18000 + steps i don't do
that many lol i dont think this is great for people that work with there
arms! and it adds steps on when im folding towels, taking my make up off
etc when i do take my dog for a walk it counts steps correct but not good
for day to day its not worth £129 thats for sure x

[decimus28UMO]

Having the same issue with mine. It says 18k+ steps, my guess is about 6k taken.  Getting 400 steps in a few minutes while moving a few feet.

[Ingrid63]

Hi All, I just got off chat with FitBit tech.  She suggested that if you do a lot of arm movements, the tracker picks up on that as steps.  I have had my charge 2 for two days, and it will add over a thousand steps just walking to my car, driving to an appt, and sitting talking with someone for an hour.  She suggested that I take off the charge2 unless I am tracking a walk, or run, or ? Seriously?  That is nuts!  Why pay so much to take the unit off and on all day?  I am turning it in for a new one, wish me luck!

Moderator edit: format

[Rich_Laue]

He)o @Ingrid63 no a walk of that short distance sho I ld nit gibe that many steps. Have you done a restart, 3 tomes, of your trscker?