Heart Rate abnormally spiking on Charge 5

[rk366]

Hi,

is anyone running into the heart rate sensor abnormally spiking(200+ heart rate) on Charge 5 while sitting at a desk repeatedly over multiple days. One day while sitting at my desk, I was able to notice HR over 180+ on my Charge 5 and I managed to  check with Fitbit Luxe on the other hand and Luxe showed around 80. I am thinking heart rate sensor on my Charge 5 is defective. 

Moderator edit: subject updated for clarity

[kgabelsb]

Today I had the first day without a spike over 200 during walking/jogging!

I have been working with Customer Support (via a ticket and emails).  Again, they suggested trying wearing the Charge 5 on the other wrist.  I resisted that since I had done it before and it didn't make any difference, but did try it Saturday after the first 205 spike and had no further spikes.

So, again today, I wore the Charge 5 on the non-dominant wrist (without changing the app) and got no spikes!

I stand corrected that wearing the Charge5 on the other wrist could make a difference.  I would like to know the science behind that.

I am doing one further test to see if I get a spike to 150 tonight while watching television, which occurred last night with the Charge 5 on my normal dominant hand.

[SallyOz]

Thx Kathy
I’ve not had the problem repeat. I am set up for non-dominant and wear on non-dominant. I have purchased a chest strap for HRV (which is much more accurate for HRV than wrist) but can check heart rate through both devices and my Charge 5 HR aligns well with the more accurate chest strap (but the HRV has no alignment at all). The most valuable use of my Charge 5 (for my purpose) is sleep analysis. It has become an important part of my daily routine.
Cheers Sally

Sent from Mail<> for Windows

[kgabelsb]

Yes, I agree.  The sleep analysis is most valuable to me also.  

[SunsetRunner]

Having a similar problem. Fitbit shows my heart rate at 68/70 at rest - in front of my computer, sat down, no water, no sweat. I have tried adjusting the band, adjusting the position on the wrist .... just always the same inaccurate figure. Using an old fashioned finger on the artery and a watch, my resting heart rate is 47/8 ish - has been for years. Fitbit tech has suggested many things, none of which work, so far - I live in hope tho'. The heart rate goes up if I exercise but it is wholly inaccurate. At my most cynical, I wonder if the thing is just pre-set to the 68/70, which would satisfy the majority because that's a fairly average figure for the population. It gives a suspiciously similar figure if my wife wears it, but then she has a pulse of around 70 at rest. I was tempted to buy the fitbit 5 after a recent TV prog which took one apart but the overall opinion was great.

[kgabelsb]

Vvv123,

If everything is totally inaccurate, then it sounds like you may need a replacement.  Has Fitbit tech offered this as an option or is your Charge 5 too old?

KathyG  

[SunsetRunner]

It's brand new. I only got it yesterday! No, there are no offers of replacement/refund .... yet.

[kgabelsb]

OMG, that is awful.  Yes, you have to work through all the steps before they will offer a replacement.  

When I was having my problems, I did the Chat and after we went through all their steps, they opened a Case and then I just dealt with Fitbit via email.  

They were getting ready to offer a replacement and I decided to try the non-dominant wrist, which I had done before with a previous Charge 5 and it didn't make any difference, but this time it worked.

So, my suggestions would be to go through their process and see what happens.

I was very pleased that they seemed to genuinely want to help.

You have to get used to the Resting Heart Rate being higher than your first thing in the morning resting heart rate.  Many of us have complained to Fitbit about their RHR algorithm which seems to be some sort of average of the daily heart rate.  So far, Fitbit is not willing to change the algorithm.  I have been standing here at the computer off and on for the last two hours and my current heart rate is 97.

If you have Fitbit Premium and look at the Sleep Scores, your Sleeping Heart Rate will probably be closer to what we consider a resting heart rate.  My sleeping heart rate is usually around 58 to 60 and today's Resting Heart Rate is 66.

[SallyOz]

I have found typing is misread as heart beat. I have a RHR about 58 and whilst typing on my keyboard I often see it in the low 70s (which I know is wrong and ignore). I do tend to type rather hard. Vibration in a car is read as steps. We recently had a four hour drive, and evidently I did 3000 steps as a passenger (and never left my seat). Mine is definitely sensitive to movement.

Sent from my iPhone

[JamoC]

I use a Polar H10 chest strap while running. It is not uncommon for the Fitbit Charge 5 to be 10 to 15bpm less than the strap. 

It is also not uncommon for it to have random issues where it will jump to 115 or 120 while lying down, and then randomly climb into cardio/peak. 

This concerned me at first because I thought I might have AFIB, but using a finger and a clock, I could tell my pulse was 60. 

These are watches made for probably $20-$30 dollars and then marked up 600%. 

Take any data it gives you with a huge grain of salt. I spent a lot of money at the cardiologist because of these things. It's not worth the anxiety. Washing the dishes will put you at 200+ bpm. 

Go easy 🙂

[SallyOz]

Hi Jamo I am interested to find another Charge 5 user who also has an H10. I find the discrepancy in HRV and readiness scores between the two devices huge! I think the Fitbit does a great job with sleep analysis and it’s an easy way to keep a sleep and a food diary. It does remind you to keep up your water intake and to regularly step away from the keyboard.  However if you want ECG grade HRV and access to your real PSNS and SNS balance, your Fitbit doesn’t have that capability. 

[rk366]

Hi,

as mentioned in the original post Charge 5 HRV sensor is defective, as Fitbit Luxe HRV works fine and Luxe HRV reading matches Apple Watch HRV. Charge 5 HRV is the outlier.  I am not aware that Fitbit Luxe has a ECG grade HRV sensor. 

[SallyOz]

No wrist wearable has an ECG grade sensor. You need a chest strap (such as Polar H10) for that level of accuracy.

Sent from my iPhone

[DavideFitbit]

Hi everyone, I'm sorry to see that some of you are still having this issue with your heart rate. 

If you're new to this thread, please make sure that you've tried all the steps mentioned here earlier for accuracy issues. 

If you continue to have the same problem, please make sure to get in touch with the Customer Support team for further assistance so they can let you know what are the options available for you. You can click here to get connected.

See you around in the Community. 

[Lili-94]

Hi Davide,

I'm new to this thread, but not to Charge 5 issues.  Mine was replaced recently when the screen went permanently black (I swim on a regular basis).  The new Charge 5 is having the spiking issues - in a recent work-out, when I was still talking and laughing, it showed my heart rate peaking at a level that would have justified an ambulance.  And I do have heart issues,  so the situation is not acceptable.  I don't want to bother my cardiologist with false alerts.  If it was consistently too high I could factor that in, but it seems fairly random.  I'll try  wearing it higher on my wrist, and maybe go for a daily reset, but at the moment I have the impression that the Charge 5, which I really liked, is  only useful for counting steps, monitoring sleep (which it seems to do reasonably well), tracking the water I drink, and running the occasional ECG.  The frustrating part is that I would be willing to pay more for a more accurate tracker, I like the Fitbit approach, I enjoy the positive encouragement, but I can't add to my stress levels because my Charge 5 is telling me that my heart rate is going through the roof.

Thanks for the job you do as a Moderator - hope you can feed this back to support.

[kgabelsb]

Hi Lili-94,

Have you tried wearing your Charge 5 on your non-dominant wrist?  That helped a lot with the spikes I was getting.  Now, as long as I don't jog, I don't seem to have the problem.  And, haven't tried jogging lately ...

kgabelsb

(KathyG)

[DavideFitbit]

@Lili-94 Thanks for all your feedback and for sharing that  you've been having a similar problem with your Charge 5. 

Before considering other options, could you please confirm if you already tried all the steps mentioned here earlier? The articles I mentioned include some recommendations to wear your device for batter accuracy and they have been helpful for other people having issues with heart rate accuracy. 

@kgabelsb Thanks for sharing your experience with this as well. 

[CtCfittybit]

Hr spikes into peak during easy long run stable pace...you can see it follows the cardio zone orange line which is where I'd expect it to be. However, randomly it jumps up to peak above my theoretical max heart rate... With no increase in effort nor feeling out of breath. Clearly a glitch. Not sure if it links with when it gets a bit wet underneath off sweat? But if that's the case, it is a bit naff considering it was on the track run exercise where you'd expect most people to sweat a bit.

Had this on a versa 2 as well to a much worse extent, which I returned for a refund. 

Are the only solutions a restart and positioning changes? 

 

[AnOldGuy]

I got the same problem. Sometimes it just doubles my hear rate. I open the stopwatch on my phone and count, get 60 heart beat per minute while fitbit charge 5 claims I am at 120. Other times it is 95 instead of 65. I go for a walk and wow! I get 180 pulse! I guess at times it doesn't count every heart beat twice, but only some of them. 

I believe the hardware is not well calibrate to detect heart beat properly or just it is enable to do what it claims it can do. I have tried all the tricks written here and there, reboot the charge 5, move the watch up the wrist, .. doesn't help. And it happens often usually when my heart rate goes a little above resting. Maybe that laser light doesn't work properly on all skins, maybe I have a thin skin... 🤔

And it's not the only thing that is wrong with it. It cannot differentiate between me lying in bed trying to sleep and light sleep, unless I move. It cannot neither differentiate between REM (dream state) and light sleep. I know I had a dream between (say) 2 and 4 am, because I did wake up both a 2 and 4 am and I know I had a dream in between, but fitbit charge 5 tells me it was light sleep. Well, I don't expect it to be accurate there as it cannot detect brain waves. 

In short, two of the most important functions (sleep and heart rate) are far from function as advertised. Overall it gives great scores, great sleep, great heart rate, ... while I slept like crap, and didn't even move much. And many of the features in that fitbit app are resting on the heart rate and sleep score, so if these too are wrong, all these features and their "score" are useless. Oh I forgot, it can't detect elliptical exercise if you do it too moderately, you have to give it a bit of a "run" at the beginning for it to get register.  I have tried the "weight lifting" exercise but as soon as I start my heart rate (on the charge 5) goes to the sky, while my pulse is normal (70). 

It does give an accurate time, though  😉  

So I am not sure where all the reviews online get their info that it's a great fitness device, well not quite so! 

[kgabelsb]

I did some testing while walking/jogging on my treadmill and found that as long as I held onto the treadmill bar and didn't move my arms, my heart rate stayed within an expected range.  When I speeded up and let go of the bar and swung my arms pretty strongly, I would get a heart rate spike.  I could lower it quickly by holding onto the bar again.  So, I think there is a problem with the arm movement algorithm, but when I asked Fitbit support about it, I didn't get a response.