Charge 5 not tracking distance and number of steps accurately

[GaryMooney]

On walks of about 5.5 km, I'm finding that, on Fitbit, the distance recorded (GPS / phone) is about 5% too low and steps are 22% too low.

I have the distance measured both on a map and with a Garmin vivosmart 4, and steps calculated based on my measured stride on this route of 79 cm. Fitbit gives a stride of 96 cm, which equates to an NBA player of height 7'8".

There's something clearly wrong with my Charge 5. Has anyone else experienced similar problems.

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[DebbieKnits]

Have you set up your height in your profile?

[temesvar]

Hight is irrelevant, inseam is!

[DebbieKnits]

In the same menu that you add your height, you can customize your stride length....

[GaryMooney]

Hi, Debbie. I have previously set my height and stride length. But Fitbit calculates number of steps using its accelerometer only.

[GaryMooney]

That's true, but all of the stride length calculators that I found online use height.

[SilviaFitbit]

@DebbieKnits and @temesvar Thanks for your input. 

@GaryMooney Hi there. Thanks for the details mentioned. 

If you feel that your step count and distance are inaccurate, confirm the following are correct 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?)

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 does my Fitbit device calculate my daily activity?

Sometimes, when you start walking, your steps may not update on your device right away. After about 10-15 continuous steps, you'll notice the steps catch up and start updating in real time with each step you take.

Note that all devices with GPS sensors require a direct path to GPS satellites to calculate location. A weak GPS signal might affect the accuracy of your route and other activity data. Your device uses your step count to calculate distance until it finds a signal, so the total distance calculated for a workout may be slightly less accurate when GPS isn't available for the entire time.

Learn more about it by checking this article How accurate are Fitbit devices? 

Hope this helps. 

[GaryMooney]

Based on several measurements, my walking stride length varies between 79 and 82 cm for my 174 cm height. m

Based on several walks, Fitbit using iPhone GPS gives 87 to 100 cm. 

[Kimw526]

I am having the same problem

[SilviaFitbit]

@GaryMooney Thanks for the information shared. 

@Kimw526 Welcome to the Fitbit Community. 

We recommend the following when tracking an activity with GPS: 

- You're in an open sky and moderate trees

- Adjust how you wear your tracker when using GPS 

- Make sure location in your phone settings is set to Always or All the time for the Fitbit app 

Hope this helps.