Disappointed with Charge 5. Walking distance severely under estimated. GPS on.

[SunsetRunner]

I’m losing tens of km count when using the Charge 5. A 5km walk only records 2 km. GPS is on and the walk is recorded /tracked on the map.
Customer service is responsive but no helpful reply, giving the standard recommendation how to properly connect to GPS etc. I’ll reiterate that GPS IS connected and the walk was FULLY tracked. It’s mind boggling how the distance can be so severely under recorded.

I’m giving up on Fitbit after using on several long walks. I liked the rest of the functions (sleep tracking, etc) but disappointed that Fitbit as a long established fitness tracker manufacturer  can’t get such a fundamental function right. 

[Wibby]

Hello @SunsetRunner 

I'm sorry to hear you're having such a hard time with your new Charge 5.

This is a bit silly, but might be worth checking.  Is you height correctly entered in your profile on the App?  Distances are calculated based on stride length, that is estimated from your height.  You can adjust both if you want/need to.

From the App on your phone, tap on your profile picture, then your name, View your Profile.  Tap on Personal and then see if your height is correct. If it isn't, tap on it to change it.  Then save and sync your Charge 5.

I hope that helps.  If it doesn't, I'm sorry.

[MJSQ]

Why is distance not calculated use GPS? Step

length should only be used to calculate number of steps and not total distance. Correct?

[blueeagle]

Definitely look into @Wibby 's suggestion and apologies if I have misunderstood, but if you are forcing your watch to use GPS then satellites require line of sight; is your Fitbit covered by a sleeve maybe? Satellite microwave signals are extremely weak and your little GPS chip has to receive these from 22,000 miles away without the aid of a dish. I haven't used one for many years, but even my TV signal used to break up in heavy cloud when I did have satellite TV with a big dish on the side of my house!

I think I read that Fitbit recommends to loosen your watch a little to receive a better signal as the receiver is around the base of the watch (there is a lot of tech crammed into a small space so I guess they have to fit things in where they can).

It might be best to have GPS set to 'Dynamic' so that if you have your phone with you it can use its GPS (which has a bigger aerial/receiver and more power). This has the added benefit of saving a great deal of battery power in your tracker too.

[SunsetRunner]

Thanks for your post. I wear my Fitbit uncovered, already did all the suggestions… loosen up etc etc. GPS is dynamic. I do walks in the open paths. There is no problem with getting a GPS signal at my area. 

[SunsetRunner]

Exactly!

[SunsetRunner]

This is what I wrote few days ago how i use the GPS on my Charge 4 that shares the same distance algorithm with Charge 5