Breath rate on demand

[thomvee]

Is there any way to measure breath rate during day time and not only during sleep? I do meditation with breath work and I assumed the charge 6 could easily track breath rate and Spo2 through the day. It doesn't seem to do either. Both seem to be tracked only during sleep. Even tracking meditation seems difficult. I currently track it as a Yoga activity. Is there any way to enable breath rate and Spo2 tracking during any activity? 

[MattRoxx]

I'm no breath rate algorithm doctor, but from the description in the users' manual it seems like we need to be virtually motionless for an extended time period for the optical sensor to have a chance to take accurate measurements of breathing rate (and SpO2).

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How does my Fitbit device track breathing rate?

Due to healthy, normal fluctuations, the time between heartbeats shortens when you inhale and increases when you exhale. The optical heart-rate sensor on your device tracks the small differences in these intervals while you’re asleep to determine your average breathing rate for the night. In the graph, your latest breathing rate measurement is from the longest sleep period over the past 24 hours. Only sleep periods greater than 3 hours are considered.

[Triletics]

@MattRoxx in Fitbit worlds yes. In other worlds I get BR even during exercise:

BR (RR) is not available for all activities but can be also displayed as a real-time metric. Now, also tracked with optical sensor (before it required chest strap) on my other watch. That shows it's possible and doable.

[MattRoxx]

This reminded me, about 10 years ago I volunteered for a university study on heart health of older endurance athletes, in which breathing rate, Vo2 max, SpO2, HR etc were studied. Getting actual, accurate measurements looks like this, and is not nearly as comfortable as wearing a fitness watch.  

[Triletics]

@MattRoxx this is still being done! 🙂 I take such test (one of perks from my company called "fitness test") from time to time but mostly to establish my VO2Max and lactate threshold. What watches give is usually far from truth (especially, when users don't ever get any near their aerobic capacity yet they get "score", some guesstimate 🙃).

[RiekoC · Accepted solution]

Hello @thomvee 

As you've discovered, Fitbit devices currently track breath rate and SpO2 only during sleep. 

The Product Feedback forum is the place where users can make feature requests. There is a feature request to have access to breath rate and SpO2 (<-- click link) as well as other metrics at anytime. You can either add your vote & comment to this feature request or submit your own. I understand the developers do visit this forum.