Charge 5 issues with tracking heart rate, GPS and connection to phone

[Manneman]

I have been out on a couple of runs and walks now and my conclusion is. 

If you want Anny accurate heart rate. Keep the band tight. But then you lose both GPS and connection to phone 

If you want GPS wear it losely but then you loose heart rate accuracy

If you but on a sweater you loose connection.

If you were a thin wind jacket you lose connection.

If it is cold outside you lose heart rate accuracy.

So basically... If you wear it like a watch it doesn't work. 

This isn't a fitness tracker. This is a fake designer watch made to look like a fitness tracker.

This watch does not deserve the name charge 5

I feel like this is a case of false advertising. 

Moderator edit: subject for clarity 

[LiliyaFitbit]

It’s good to see you in the community, @Manneman.

I appreciate your participation in the Forums and sharing the difficulties you're experiencing with Charge 5 and your feedback. I understand how you are feeling, our team is always working on improving our devices and user experiences, and your comments are always welcome. I was able to see that you have already contacted our Support team, please continue working with them. I am sure they are doing their best to help you. 

For more information about Fitbit Charge 5, see How do I get started with Fitbit Charge 5?

See you around.

[Manneman]

I'm unfortunately starting to lose faith in Fitbit.... 

The answer is stil basically we know it doesn't work and we can't fix it for now.

I would have thought that this would be a bigger consern for Fitbit, releaseing a product that doesn't do what it is made for.

[Longshot88]

6 years using Fitbit trackers, and I’m with you: upgrade to a 5 and get “more” in the GPS except. . . it interferes with the HR. Huh? Plenty of decent You Tube reviewers indicated this issue from the start. I keep checking online for news of Fitbit addressing this. It IS false to claim features without saying how you wear it will dictate whether you will access the HR or GPS. This indicates Fitbit can make an odd and dumb decision to release a new model with conflicting features. Then add insult to injury with a cut-and-paste sounding reply from the Fitbit rep. My current model is at the end of its cycle and I’m shopping Pulse and Garmin. Never thought I’d switch, but really: Charge 5? Unfortunate. 

[JamoC]

Mate, the C5 is the worst one I have had yet. Always off by 20bpm at least, compared to a Polar chest strap. I thought I was going mad. I'd be sitting on the couch and it would say 51BPM and then 80BPM, and then 65BPM. It's all over the shop.

 

 

[Linge25]

I have the exact same issue but in addition the GPS between my Charge 4 and 5 is completely off! I wore both watches on the same run yesterday and the difference was nearly a km!

[LiJaHi]

Interestingly, my briefly owned Charge 5 did OK with GPS. I didn't loosen it on my runs and the GPS seemed pretty accurate. It did get confused at times about which side of the road I was on, but showed my route much better than I was expecting based on reviewers saying the strap needs to be loosened for the GPS to work. I wonder if proximity of buildings makes a difference. I was running along suburban roads and open bike paths.

[JamoC]

My C5 GPS is the same. It's like a battle of vibration on my wrist whenever I am out.

The heart rate thing is what bothers me most. 20BPM is a huge difference. I need to hover about 160-170 on workouts. So I have to add 20 to whatever I am seeing on my Fitbit.

[mwitmer417]

I have owned a Fitbit since they first came out and loved them. I recently purchased a charge 5. So dissatisfied! The gps is not accurate. And when the gps is turned on, the heart rate measures 20 bpm slow. I started using my new watch without gps turned on and my average hr was 165-170 on my 20 mile run. This week I accidentally turned on my gps and the same exact run was now showing a hr of 140. And then I noticed it was measure 2 miles short on a course I know the distance on and have run for many years. 

how can you not know this?

[RhiF]

Have you had any joy in getting a refund or replacement product? I have been complaining to fitbit from the first weeks I had the charge 5 and I keep going around in circles with tech support troubleshooting and getting absolutely nowhere, now they are giving me the it's past the 45 days policy. I still have the watch but it doesn't track anything, I'm using my old inspire HR linked to my phone which works much better.

The team are not doing everything! I want a refund after months of troubleshooting, i'm being refused this. I literally have a watch I cannot use for the purpose I bought it for. How is this not false advertising?

definitely planning on switching to garmin once I resolve my 'out of pocket' issue with the shockingly inaccurate charge 5.

I did exactly the same comparing the charge 5 with my phone and old watch, my HR was incorrect (obviously influencing my calorie count) and the GPS was out by over 2 miles!

[Manneman]

I have not tried to get a refund because they promised they would fix it. But in hindsight this was a lie. So far nothing has gotten better with the watch. And the Fitbit support is nothing less than a joke.  I'm so disappointed at Fitbit for releasing this product. It is Not a fitness device. 

[TheIronMaiden]

I never had a problem tracking my HR with Ionic. Now that I have a Charger 5, it’s hell! I have to wear the band so tight around my wrist that it cuts the circulations and hurts! But it’s still hit and miss, it decides to stop tracking for no reason. The little green light behind the device barely flashes, if I rub my fingers on it, it gives one or two blinks and turns off.

There is something wrong with the device, Fitbit better fix this. 

[sixpants]

I’ve owned 2.  Both are glorified toys.  Great if you’re walking.  But if you’re sweating, running, going like heck… they’re just a joke.  100% a joke.  Problematic, inconsistent, WILDLY inaccurate on nearly every front except running (if/when the GPS works). 

i do like the iOS app.  I want to love my FitBit.  But it’s genuinely one of the poorest thought-out products I’ve bought.  

[TheIronMaiden]

You’re right, Charge 5 is a toy, at best. Highly frustrating.

I have to admit that Fitbit has been very helpful and determined to make me happy. They tried many ways to fix it, didn’t work so they offered to replace the device with a new one(Charge5) or 50% off of another device. I opted for another device.

i miss my Ionic, it was so solid and accurate…until the battery decided to sh*t the bed.

[Tgraham61]

I hate to have to jump in here. My charge 4 at least mostly worked on gps, even if it showed me starting my exercise a half a block to the side, it mostly figured it out. I e had my C5 for a couple of mo the now and I have yet to get a route trail map from exercise. Walking a measured mile seems to be off up to .25 miles in what it reports. I’ve been through all the troubleshooting tips. Looking at Garmins after about five years in Fitbit’s  

My GPS issue came down to poor ux design. There are individual gps setting for each exercise activity. They are turned OFF by default for non movement exercises. Some genius decided that walking is not worthy of having gps turned on by default. Individual setting per exercise wasn’t mentioned until the third doc that support sent me. 
frustrating no end

[DavideFitbit · Accepted solution]

Hi everyone, thank you for sharing the some of you are still experiencing issues with heart rate and GPS. 

It seems that most of you have already tried all the steps shared in the forums to try to resolve this problem. 

I will go ahead and close this thread. If you're still experiencing any of these issues, please get in touch with the Customer Support team or make sure to continue the communication with them if you already have a case created, so they can provide you with the next steps. 

If you are experiencing an issue with your Charge 5 unrelated to GPS or heart rate, I invite you to start a new topic on the community or find a related topic.

Thanks again for all your feedback and contributions on this thread.