Altimeter / Floor Counter for Charge 5?

[marcusdeshaun]

Does Charge 5 have an altimeter or some other way to count floors climbed? I bought the Luxe without fully investigating all the specs and want to make sure. 

[SilviaFitbit]

Hi everyone, 

Thank you for sharing comments on the Charge 5 features. While it doesn't have an altimeter to track floors, it has many other features that you can take advantage of. 

I see where your disappointment is coming from. Your feedback and comments help us to continue improving our products. When participating in the forums, let's remember to keep a friendly environment as the Fitbit Community Forums are a place to connect with Fitbit friends and staff in a welcoming environment of support, learning, and inspiration to live a healthier, more active life.

Feel free to check out the Charge 5 Product Manual, to learn all about its features. 

Hope this helps. Have a nice day. 

[MichaelGazeley]

No help at all. Indeed, I purchased two additional Charge 4 units, so I will have replacements when my current Charge 4 fails. The Charge 5 which I purchased, was a complete disappointment. A complete waste of time and money. 

[SilviaFitbit]

@MichaelGazeley Hi there. 

Thank you for sharing your experience with Charge 5. sorry to hear that you returned it. 

I appreciate that you shared how you feel about this. Hope you continue enjoying Charge 4 features. 

Have a nice day. 

[Wibby]

I'm sorry you don't like the 5. 

Just one thing I thought I should warn you about ahead of time.  The batteries in the Fitbits will most likely die over time (even in the boxes).  I'm not sure the best method of ensuring their survival, but it might be worth looking into...

I had the One for 6 years and I loved it!  I bought a spare a few years ago and kept it in the box.  When I finally needed it, it was dead!  I was really shocked and devastated but someone on the One forum warned that that can happen.

The Charge 4s are great, but much more expensive. Definitely look into how to keep a battery alive when unused. I'd hate you to be even more disappointed than I was.

[MichaelGazeley]

You have to charge standby electronics, to keep them healthy. That’s all items, with rechargeable batteries in them, not just FitBits. Maybe one day, technology will solve this. Thanks for mentioning this; it’s good to look out for one another. 

-----------------------------

I didn’t return the Charge 5. I just bought two extra Charge 4 units. I wish FitBit hadn’t done this though, as the Charge 5 with Stairs is exactly want I actually want. (Though with a better dial design, the current Charge 5 designs are horrible.) 

[RogerAuwers]

I expect a top notch company to fix product issues, or at least work to improve them.  Instead you are suggesting that Fitbit just eliminated the feature.  To my way of thinking that is a loser's strategy.  What's next, removing the step tracker?  When I first stand up and start walking my Fitbit pretty routinely misses quite a few steps.  On the flip side, it sometimes gives me steps when. I pet my dog while sitting down.  So I know for a fact that my daily step count is "inaccurate".  Oh, maybe I should not have said that - Fitbit is probably now deciding to remove the step counter from the Charge 6.

[Bj0rn]

Exactly what I thought. I saw it announced and immediately preordered. (Should've done more homework I know, but given that all other Charge's before it have had features ADDED as they moved along it was never on my mind they could be removing something as big as a sensor. I mean, the altimeter was a sensor that the smaller bands didn't have so it was sort of a "feature" to distinct the charge from e.g. the alta).

Fortunately I was able to cancel my pre-order before it was shipped. Still on my "Charge 3 SE" (where the display has stopped working but everything else is being recorded and the app is great) I will eventually go get a Charge 4 I guess.

Fingers crossed there will be a "Charge 5 SE" not too far out with the altimeter returned. Until then the current version is just making me stressed so I'm not getting it just to have my stress levels monitored. hehe

[Rich_Laue]

@RogerAuwers when a user starts to walk, the tracker has a 5 step delay to help with false steps being counted. 

On the sixth step these six steps are added

[temesvar]

Had a Charge 4 and the altimeter was working. Sometimes would walk 5 floors with no show, sometimes would claim i have climbed 40 floors! Was there, but for what use? Charge 5 have tried today the stairclimber!  Went down 5 floors, all i can see is that  burned 3 cals! Isn't that wonderful?

Still, am happier with Charge 5, the display is much, much better than Charge 4.

[Wibby]

You raise a good point.  The stair count was never very accurate, especially on windy days.  I had the One and the Charge 4 and have similar experiences where I would get ridiculously high stair counts, or it wouldn't register.  I live in an apartment building and our staircase is on the outside.  The number of times I found myself going up the same 2 or 3 flights of stairs repeatedly, just before bed, to try to get it to recognize just one floor so I could make my goal for the day...

Losing the stair count made me a bit concerned, but after nearly 2 weeks, I'm still going out of my way to find stairs to climb (as I think it's important for my health).  I think the conditioning over the years is enough to keep that habit going, even without a goal on my app, or an altimeter.  I understand others feel very differently though.  Now I have a tracker with a heart rate, I'm much more concerned with the zones and active minutes and calories burned than floors or steps.

[temesvar]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts! 

[nihahi]

If the reason Fitbit removed the altimeter was "inaccuracy"...then there is no reason why they continue to have GPS. I have a Charge 4, and the GPS has been inaccurate, unreliable or just plain non-functioning for MONTHS. 

Fitbit's response has been:

1. Must have been a tree, building or a cloud somewhere...

or

2. Fitbit is aware and is working on it.

The Charge 5 is marketed to have GPS...there's absolutely NO indication that they have resolved the many issues with it.

That and the reliability of the "band to device" connection are why I am holding off on buying a Charge 5 until there is user feedback and the "coming soon" features can actually be accessed and reviewed.

[temesvar]

Had a Charge 4 and GPS was good, compared to Mapquest. Now Charge 5 GPS is same, never an issue with it.So far, does what it is supposed to do. 

[fionac]

I did a run yesterday tracked using a Garmin and the Fitbit; the Garmin registered 5K at 6.41m/km and the Fitbit 5.04K at 6.33/km so fairly comparable.  This was with connected GPS (I only really track with the Fitbit just in case the Garmin crashes or I accidentally delete the data and I prefer to conserve the battery).  

The stair count on the 4 was hideously inaccurate - I often got many more flights than I actually climbed.  A slight puff of wind and I'd end up with 50 flights (and the UK is often windy).  

As far as I'm concerned the 5's benefits far outweigh any negatives - I'm unmoved by the loss of stair counts, the GPS is accurate enough for a social runner and I love that I can actually read the screen in daylight.

[vcalle02]

I couldn't agree more!  I (stupidly) didn't realise they had dropped stair count/elevation gain for the Charge 5 - I wouldn't have bought it if I had.  I also don't understand, given in has GPS, why they are not incorporating stair/elevation - my understanding is a fairly simple software upgrade could do it.  The health metrics that are gathered are skewed without including elevation gain into the equation.  The Charge 5 initially seems good but I am definitely disappointed that there is not stair/elevation included.

--------------------

That is my understanding too.  GPS provides this information, Fitbit just need to do a software upgrade to utilise it.  Disappointing.

[nihahi]

I'm glad that you are satisfied with the GPS on your Fitbit. No matter what GPS setting I use, Fitbit seems to believe I run/hike in exactly straight lines, across rivers, through buildings or across major highways. (I do NONE of that), or it fails to connect or disconnects during the outing. I am not the only one who has these issues. Inconsistency with product reliability is not exactly a strong endorsement, in my opinion.

[Bj0rn]

But GPS doesn't work indoors and it wouldn't count all the stairs I'm climbing at the office instead of taking the elevators. Great motivator for me NOT to use the elevators.

[Gloria65]

Amen to that!  I took a 4.18 mile walk this morning and have 11 floors registered with my Charge 4.  Most of the walk was pretty flat ground.  Only slightly breezy this morning.  Sometimes I will come back from the same walk with over 50 floors.  The altimeter hasn't worked on any of my Fitbits since the Charge 2.  The step counter hasn't been accurate since my Fitbit One that I wore on the flap of my pants pocket.  Still, it's overall good exercise motivation.

[fionac]

@nihahi  I had that with the 4 but the 5 seems to work OK.  Mapping runs with the 4 was interesting - it would give me roughly the right distance and pace but in a straight line that bore no resemblance to the circular routes I invariably take.

[MichaelGazeley]

It’s so strange of FitBit (Google) to remove ‘floors’ from their latest Charge 5 fitness tracker, after using this feature to motivate users for so many years, up to, and including today, as long as you stick to their old Charge models. Progress? I don’t think so.