Charge 6 not counting stairs

[MikeD25]

My new charge 6 is not counting stairs how do I fix this or do I just need to return the device for being faulty?

[Odyssey13 · Accepted solution]

Hi @MikeD25 the Charge 6 can't count those stairs because it doesn't have an altimeter. Without it, the Fitbit can't recognize elevation.

[ChrisFrohlich]

You're not alone in feeling disappointed @MikeD25: https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Charge-6/Will-the-Charge-6-track-floors/td-p/5458414

Seems this was a deliberate choice by FitBit/Google.  Thanks for raising the point

[BarbYar]

I'm disappointed that this version of fitbit doesn't count stairs as I'm running up and down stairs all the times.

[PenelopeR]

I thought I'd be sorry to lose the 'stairs' function but I don't miss it a bit. I'm more interested in the number of steps I take than whether they're up, down or on the flat.  

Penny🙂

[BarbYar]

No, the 6 tracker does not count stairs but it counts the steps going up and down the stairs.  I didn't like it at first but I'm used to it now.  If I'm climbing 25 stairs it counts it as steps rather than 1 stairs

[mikey_pdx]

Every tracker I've ever had that tracked stairs was terrible at it. I don't miss it either.

Hey moderators - can we pin this topic on this forum so we don't keep seeing new threads for this? Also maybe tell the people writing the documentation that not saying it has an altimeter isn't the same thing as saying it doesn't have an altimeter. 

[BarbYar]

I know, but I have gotten used to it now. It counts your steps both up and
down stairs now.

[Jordie24]

A very seldom comment online, but I researched the Fitbit charge. 6 before buying and one of the deciding factors was that it counted the floors I climbed. Not a good start. 

[Odyssey13]

Hi @Jordie24  the last one with the altimeter was the Charge 4. Not sure where you saw the Charge 6 had one.

[Donal.OM]

When I first started using my Charge 6 it was counting the floors, as evidenced in my records. But it seemed to stop recognising the changes in elevation for some reason and I cannot get it to recognise the changes. I assumed it was using GoogleMaps to recognise the contours of my routes to determine the changes in altitude (I do a lot of hillwalking). I don’t understand why it stopped and wonder if it was a change in a software update.

[PenelopeR]

My Charge 6 has never shown stairs as there is no altimeter on board. I've had the 6 since its release.

Penny

[Donal.OM]

Hi,

If that’s true, then how come the Charge 6 did record how many floors I climbed when I first got it? (Please see the screenshot.)

[PenelopeR]

My stats show how many stairs I've climbed but that was a record if my Charge 2 activity that did have an altimeter.  The 6 never has had one.

Penny

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*of my Charge 2.   There were complaints on this forum about the lack of an altimeter in the Charge 6 but personally I'm more interested in the number of steps I fit into my day.

[JohnFBOne]

Nonsense.  All my previous fitbits recorded stairs without an altimeter, and quite accurately.  They did so using its accelerometers.  It seems that somehow they've screwed up the algorithm that differentiates stairs from walking or running.

[LZeeW]

@JohnFBOne   No, the floor counter is a relative altimeter, a small piece of hardware.  It is different from the accelerometer.

[Robbbo]

Yep, mine definitely did too... just stopped recently. 

[YELLIN4U]

Disappointed! No altimeter is a real loss of functionality. My previous Fitbit had this, why cheap out? Altimeter is an important feature. It should have been noted it's been omitted when I recently purchased a new Fitbit!

[Elynn]

Very lame. Stairs are important, as a relative comparison when the number is high, or not. So disappointing. It was a great piece of data and I found it accurate for stairs activity, for example, when moving or renovating or doing something strenuous that you don’t do every day. Rewarding to see all those flights of stairs you actually did - Not just steps. 

I’ve been a user for 13 years, hate that I was forced to move to a Google address. What a mess.