Charge 5 is not tracking my distance accurately

[LongtimeFBUser]

I have been hiking with two other people for several years. Each of us has a different device for measuring steps. My fitbit used to give me more steps than the other two, but not so different that it was a problem. Within the last month, there has been a change, but I do not know what to attribute the change to. My fitbit is tracking a mile behind the other two people - on an 8 mile hike! I can understand some deviation, but this is way too much. I was very upset when I "upgraded" from a charge 4 to a charge 5 and lost the floors climbed feature. Now, the accuracy of step counts is way off. What happened to the fitbit that is causing it to lose steps and what can I do about it?

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[MarreFitbit]

Hi there, @LongtimeFBUser. Thanks for stopping by in the Fitbit Community Forums. I'm sorry to hear that your Charge 5 started tracking your distance wrongly. I understand where your concern is coming from and how you must be feeling. I will do my best to help you with this! 

If you feel that your step count and distance are inaccurate, confirm that the following are set correctly in the Fitbit app:

• Your wrist settings (For more information, see Does the wrist I wear my device on affect accuracy?)
• Your height (For more information, see How do I manage my Fitbit profile?)

Fitbit devices calculate distance by multiplying your walking steps by your walking stride length and multiplying your running steps by your running stride length. We estimate your stride lengths using your height and sex. Track one or more runs using on-board or connected GPS, we evaluate that data to automatically update your running stride length. For best results, run at a comfortable pace for at least 10 minutes.

However, if you prefer to measure your walking and running stride lengths yourself and enter them manually, see How do I measure and adjust my stride length?

Note that when you're tracking an activity with GPS, Fitbit calculates your distance using GPS data rather than steps. If you begin moving before you get a GPS signal, the tracker will calculate distance using steps and stride length as described above until a GPS signal is found.

[KLLok]

I have the same problem with the Charge 5 distance tracking, both running and swimming.
The swim record shows 2x the length I swam - eg. swim for 700m and shows 1350m

The running record shows 7.34km where I ran for 5km

Contacted for chat support and was asked to do all sort of things, from removing my Iphone from the app, to updating of software but to no avail

Latest advise is to turn off the auto-recognize function

[LongtimeFBUser]

Thanks for the response. Here is my question - I have not changed anything with the settings on my fitbit. I have not changed my stride and I have not changed the wrist that I wear the watch on. Why has the fitbit changed how it is tracking? 

[KLLok]

That is what I cannot understand - was using Fitbit Light previously without any of such problem, will FITbit give a replacement device if I do all this setting changes and still fail?

[LongtimeFBUser]

My fitbit was showing more mileage than i was doing, just as yours is. But then recently, it has changed. I have not made any changes that I am aware of. Now it is working the other way. I would rather have it read over than under. I would feel better about how many steps I did. 

[Rowra123]

I used my Fitbit in a swim for the first time last night. I swam much less than I usually do as I was too busy talking but the Fitbit recorded 1700m when the maximum I ever do is 1000m. Have you managed to resolve your issue? 

[KLLok]

No - I 1st reported the issue 3 weeks ago, was advise to remove my Iphone from the app and manually edit the distance for swimming and monitor.

Reported it again on following week and was advise to update software and monitor

this week, reported it again and was asked to turn off auto-recognize function on the app and monitor.

Wonder what they will ask me to do next