Charge 5: epic dissapointment

[SunsetRunner]

Got a Charge 5 a few months ago and I'm not liking it at all.  It doesn't track my sleep or SpO2 with any regularity, it doesn't accurately track my heart rate during workouts, the app syncs awkwardly to MyFitnessPal, anyone else having this experience? I'll check my HR at the carotid and it's 130ish, Fitbit says 75 and dropping. This happens primarily during rowing machine sessions.  I assume it's not sitting flush against my wrist, but moving it up my forearm isn't an option, I have tattoos and it will not read over top of them (would have been great to know before I bought the thing). I've tried ace bandaging it to my thigh and ankle, neither is accurate.  Works fairly well when I run other than a big lag between the start of my run and when the fitbit starts tracking.  Overall really disappointed, anyone else have similar experiences?

[SunsetRunner]

Charge 5 Update: The Disappointment Continues...

"Spoke" to online customer service yesterday after my original post, was run through the usual questions (what band am I using? Have I tried moving it up my forearm?) then told to try the universal computer fix of restarting it.  Was also told to change my sleep setting to more sensitive.  Unfortunately none of this worked.  Set sleep to sensitive and tightened my band, still didn't track my sleep.  Worked out this morning and was overjoyed to see it tracking my HR in a relatively accurate manner, until about 10 minutes in when it started dropping again.  Again I measured my HR at the carotid and got around 130, Charge 5 said it was 95 and dropping. If I sat still for a couple of minutes (kind of defeating the point of a cardio workout) it would spike up to a reasonable HR around 120 then immediately start dropping to land around 85. I know I'm improving my cardio health but I really doubt I'm good enough that my HR would drop 35 points WHILE I'm working out. I'm out of ideas, do I get too flushed when I work out and the pink hue of my skin interferes with the sensor? IDK.  I'm now looking into return options, this thing is not living up to what I thought were reasonable expectations.  Should have bought a Garmin like my wife. I'm curious if anyone at FitBit will read this, let me know if you do.

[SunsetRunner · Accepted solution]

Charge 5: The Final Update

Yep, I'm returning it, I found enough posts in the forums to support that the Charge 5 is inaccurate with any kind of higher intensity workout, not to mention it seems to only like lily white skin. Likely going for a Polar of some kind, they sound like the work better on tattooed skin anyway.  Bye FitBit, it's been...fun?

[SunsetRunner]

Hi @SunsetRunner - Sorry you’re encountering so many problems. You state you are curious if anyone at Fitbit will read this. Please understand, this is a community forum where Fitbit users try to help other Fitbit users. Unfortunately, there’s nothing we can do to resolve your issues. You will have to continue to work with Fitbit Support. They should be able to explain your return options. You can also tap Return & Warranty at the bottom of the page. 

[SunsetRunner]

lol Sorry Carol just curious if anyone else had a similar experience.

[Billyyee]

Yes.  I am encountering a myriad of problems also .  I spoke with CS three times.  I really loathe to send this watch back

[Dawn2007]

All these issues started after Fitbit merged with Google. I didn't have a problem with my tracker until then.