New Charge 6 step count ridiculously inaccurate

[GTP20]

I just received a new Charge 6 two days ago and I'm very frustrated with the inaccurate step count.

Yesterday I wore it all day with the fitness tracker it is replacing, after 4 hours, old device was at 1286, Charge 6 was at 5680 steps.

Today I'm wearing both Charge 6 and an old Charge 2.  After 4 hours, Charge 2 is at 1332, Charge 6 is at 6670.

I can't find any options to calibrate this thing and have no idea why its so sensitive (it has added 46 steps while sitting at my desk typing this).

Support chat told me to set the stride length, which is not a solution.  Should I just return this?  I have not been checking the other metrics, I don't think I can trust this device at all.

[AC2008]

Having the exact same issue!  Please share your final solution. 

[GTP20]

I didn’t see any suggestions from the community, and the support chat had no solutions either, other than to set the stride distance.

I returned it.  I didn’t buy the Charge 5 due to the GPS issues, I guess this years version has its own issues.  I still don’t understand how it can be so inaccurate and no other posts about it.

[Thomasincali]

Same thing. I have an Apple Watch Ultra. Accurate as hell. Bought this because I love regular watches and have a collection of them. So I wear the Charge with either the Ultra Watch or a regular watch. Had it for three days. 
I average around 9k steps a day and the Charge is saying over 15k. WTF? 
That’s not the worst part. I didn’t wear it today and it gave me 15k. Double WTF? 
Hesrt rate matches my Ultra Watch, haven’t really cared about GPS so I haven’t verified there. 
I know when I set it up, I also set up my iPhone to the account.  I wonder if it’s taking that data and merging it with the Fitbit data?

But that wouldn’t account for today as I don’t wear it, I had 8670 steps with the Ultra Watch and still gave me 15k in the Fitbit app. 

Fitbit/Google got some ‘plaining to do 

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How do you check the stride length. Is it in the Fitbit itself or the app? I see nothing in the app

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I’m aggravated about it but as most new things, there maybe some bugs. I’m thinking there’s a data merge issue or something buggy. I’m going to give it a few days and see if there’s an update or fix 

i really want this to work as I love wearing my regular watches and be able to track health 

[NicoleBru]

Just got mine yesterday for Christmas, same issue and calorie counter also out of whack. 

It logged 2 days of activity before opening the box! The box was sealed until Dec 25, but I have data for Dec 23 + 24. 

It logged 276 steps and over 500 calories burned overnight when I was in bed and all I did was get up once.  Samsung Health on my phone logged 36 steps and 1 calorie burned.  

Wondering if this was worth it 

[Fitzbit72]

Same issue here, I was sitting most of the day crocheting..Fitbit tells me I did over 6,000 steps. Im fuming tbh, I can ill afford to be buying watches that basically don't work. In this day and age, it's unacceptable. Im returning it. 

[TheMegan]

I had this same stupid problem, except my steps are grossly underestimated. Not sure if anyone already replied to this about the stride length. It's in the app, in Fitbit Settings (top right corner of main page) -> Activity & Wellness -> Exercise. Scroll down to the very bottom, and you can manually edit your stride length.

[bobdob]

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@NicoleBru wrote:

Just got mine yesterday for Christmas, same issue and calorie counter also out of whack. 

It logged 2 days of activity before opening the box! The box was sealed until Dec 25, but I have data for Dec 23 + 24. 

It logged 276 steps and over 500 calories burned overnight when I was in bed and all I did was get up once.  Samsung Health on my phone logged 36 steps and 1 calorie burned.  

Wondering if this was worth it 

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You could have a bad one. My step count is consistent with the Inspire HR the Charge 6 replaced, including overnight, so I don't feel the Charge 6 is just typically terribly inaccurate. I have read a couple articles where someone carried around a clicker all day to count their steps and compared a few fitness trackers. The Charge 6 was maybe 200 steps high out of somewhere over 5000. It wouldn't hurt to contact support if you're seeing big inconsistency or much more inaccuracy than that.

As for the calorie count, remember you are always burning calories for basic body functions, even while you sleep and fitbit always includes your "base metabolic rate" in any calorie counts it shows you. So waking up with a few hundred calories burned is normal. Just make sure you have configured your age, sex, weight, and height in the app (select the "You" tab at the bottom, then the top panel with your name) so that it can estimate your BMR properly. 500 is actually about spot-on for an average 25-year old male which could actually be what it uses by default!

[CVNP]

I have a similar issue.  My tracker says 12,000 steps and the app say 22,000 steps.  I have only had the tracker less than a week.  I had a chat with a Fitbit rep and they told me to restart the device by pushing the button on the side three times and wait one second between pushes.  Than wait 10 seconds or until the Fitbit logo comes up.  I have done this twice and it works but I had to go through the steps several times.  It might be that I have no patience or I am frustrated with the new tracker but it took several attempts over several minutes for the steps on the app to be the same as the tracker.  It only seems to happen when I walk a lot of step (+10,000) or more.  I hope this is a software bug and it will get fixed soon.  Still haven't decided if I will keep it or not.  My charge 4 worked great until I pulled the strap out of the tracker.   

[Angelia21]

I find it a bit disingenuous that there are so many questions here and no support replies?  - my steps are greatly overestimated if I can’t get it sorted it out I am returning it to the store. I had a cheap tracker previously that was miles better! Disappointing for the price! 

[CVNP]

I share in your frustration. Here is what I do to sync up my tracker with my app. I first try hitting the back arrow to go to Yesterday and then back to Today. Sometimes that works. If that doesn't work I do the restart which consists of plugging the tracker into the charger then pressing the button on the side three times waiting a second between pushes. Then I wait ten seconds and if the app hasn't corrected itself i go back to Yesterday and Today. I know thats a bunch a BS but it seems to work.

[NicoleBru]

If you open the app on your phone, then pull down the "today" screen, it
syncs as long as bluey is on.

[Margaret1552]

I agree with you, my fitbit 6 is exactly the same and not tracking my steps. My phone is doing it better 😁

[Angelia21]

Oops

[Angelia21]

I got onto Fitbit support chat about my Fitbit 6 over counting the steps -this is what I was told -  if you have your stride length set correctly the next thing you need to do is go to phone app select today then click the little icon on the top left corner select your watch then change the setting from dominant to non-dominant wrist - I was told to monitor the watch for a few day to see if that sorts it.

[CVNP]

I loaded Fitbits latest version of software 4.08 for the app.  It seems to have fixed the problem.  Although you do have to go back and forth from "Today to Yesterday" for it to sync.  I am very disappointed in Fitbit and Google for buying Fitbit and ignoring this problem  Heck he are on a Fitbit web site and they don't have the curtesy to monitor the site and this issue.  They also could have told us what the bug fixes where.  I wish Google had not bought Fitbit they have made a mess of thing like they did with Nest.  Oh well done venting looks like they fixed the problem until the band breaks.

[Olivia70]

Hi! 
Did that solve your problem? Having the same issue here. 😕

[CVNP]

It seems to have. I still have to sync the app to get the latest update but that seems a normal thing to do. But I haven’t taken a longer hike since I updated the app. So we will see. I’ll let you know.
Sent from my iPhone

[Waterlilymd]

I have the same issue. Just using a hand mixer makes my steps jump! Very inaccurate. Watching for a solution. 

[Pickleballgirl1]

Mannnn....I've got 30 pounds to go....I've had mine for a month, WOW-- I've been laughing at it! It thinks I'm exercising, and stepping while I'm eating... I didn't see a way to calibrate it either! It's crazy!! Vibrations telling me, "good job" -- doing nothing!! Well thanks for the compliment. I hope they can fix this!