Not reading heart rate correctly on new Inspire 3

[Carrienb]

I just bought a Inspire 3 last week and the heart rate feature is way off. My older fitbit luxe is showing my heart rate at 74 while the new inspire 3 shows it at 46. What could possibly be wrong here? Ive tried restarting it, making sure it was clean, turning the heart rate function on and off. Nothing is working.

[YojanaFitbit · Accepted solution]

Hi there, @Carrienb. Welcome to the Community Forums.

Thanks for sharing the details about the inconvenience with your Inspire 3 and for trying to troubleshoot it before reaching out.

If you feel that your Inspire 3 is not tracking accurately your heart rate, please check these tips on wrist placement and how to wear your Fitbit device for best heart-rate tracking results. See our help article: How do I improve the accuracy of a heart-rate reading?

You can also try moving your device to your other wrist. To resolve common issues, see our troubleshooting steps here: What factors can affect my heart-rate reading on my Fitbit device?

Note that you might notice slight variations between your heart-rate reading on your new Fitbit devices compared with your old ones due to improvements in the heart rate sensor and algorithm. 

Hope this helps.

[SunsetRunner]

As it turns out I had a stress test today on the treadmill. I got all the way up to 144 on my heart rate. The inspire 3 never got out of the '60s. I thought maybe it had recorded a higher rate on the app but it didn't. Does the inspire 3 use the same heart rate sensor as the new watches? I'm thinking of returning it because it really should just work out of the box. It seems like so many people are having so many issues.

[YojanaFitbit]

Hi there, @SunsetRunner. Nice to see you in the Community Forums, welcome.

Thanks for sharing this information with us. I'd like to mention that differences between heart-rate readings on your device and on exercise equipment are likely due to wrist or hand position. Make sure the back of your device is in contact with your wrist and that your band is snug.

To better assist you, would you mind providing more details about the issue you're experiencing with the heart rate monitor? In the meantime, please see this helpful article: What factors can affect heart rate?

You can also restart your Inspire 3 and try again to see if this helps to calibrate heart rate readings.

See you around. 

[SunsetRunner]

It wasn't "exercise equipment" it was at the cardiologist so their equipment was not a problem at all. My band was snug and I've read your instructions. I would like to know however as I ask in my original post if it's the same sensor that's in the watches or even in the charge five. Someone posted about pure pulse and I wondered what that is. Thank you so much.

[YojanaFitbit]

@SunsetRunner Thank you for confirming this information. I understand where you're coming from.

I'd like to mention that all Fitbit devices track heart rate in the same way, to determine your heart rate, the optical heart-rate sensor in your Fitbit device flashes its green LEDs many times per second and uses light-sensitive photodiodes to detect these volume changes in the capillaries above your wrist. Then your device calculates how many times your heart beats per minute (bpm).

We use green LEDS because they maximize the signal detected from the capillaries near the surface of the skin. The optical heart-rate sensor also uses infrared light to determine when the device is on your wrist to improve the accuracy of your heart-rate data. Fitbit launched the first automatic, continuous wrist-based heart rate technology in 2014 with PurePulse.

In the meantime, please confirm that you've restarted your Fitbit device as instructed here How do I restart my Fitbit device? I also would like to know if you're having the same issue with different type of workouts.

Have a good day.