Inspire 3 recording heart rate when not wearing

[l1efler]

I’m new to Fitbit — I recently got an Inspire 3 and it’s been working well; the readings generally make sense.

A few times, though, it’s logged a heart rate when I wasn’t wearing it. Once it was in my pocket and later in my backpack, so I assumed motion could explain that.

Last night, however, it was in another room and not on me, yet it still recorded random heart rates overnight — an 108 at 4:00 AM and an 83 at 7:00 AM, along with a couple of others. No one could’ve touched it (pretty sure the house isn’t haunted!), so is this just a minor glitch? My RHR is around 56/57 so nowhere near what mine would have been asleep.

Obviously not a big deal, but I was curious.

Moderator edit - updated subject for clarity

[alexthecat]

@l1efler the green light on the back of your Fitbit is used to measure heat rate. When your Fitbit is in your pocket or backpack, that light is blocked and the Fitbit thinks it's reading a heart rate. If you set your Fitbit facing upwards on a surface, the same things can happen. When I had my first Fitbit, I would take it off and put it in the pocket of my robe while I showered. That have me all kinds of weird heart rate readings. 

If you're not wearing your Fitbit and you want to leave it on a table or shelf, be sure to place it face down. If you need to put it in a pocket or backpack, it might be a good idea to turn off heart rate detection, so you don't get those erroneous readings.