Wildly inaccurate stats

[Stuckyville]

Just got my new Inspire 3 this last weekend - my first experience with a Fitbit.

That said, I see two wildly inaccurate readings on it. 

1) Sleep.  On Sunday, April 14, the first day of use, it reported 1 hour 5 minutes of sleep.  On Monday (yesterday) it reports "no data".. And this morning it reports 3h 16min.  I know I'm getting more sleep than that.  I go to bed at 10:30 pm and get up around 7:00 am.  I go to sleep almost as soon as my head hits the pillow.  Admittedly, I get up 2 or 3 times during the night to go to the bathroom, but am up for just a couple of minutes each and always fall right back to sleep.  Given that sleep is really a matter of brain wave activity, how is the FitBit determining "sleep"?

2) Active zone minutes.  Yesterday I had three exercise activities.  First, 30 minutes at the gym, in the weight room.  No aerobic activity, and it recorded no time "Active Zone Minutes".  An hour later I was in an hour long mixed exercise class that had some short periods of light aerobics. Still, little to no time "in the zone".  Later I went for a bicycle ride, where I really try to push myself.  This was definately time spent "in the zone"..  The ride lasted 45 to 50 minues, but when I next checked my stats, it reports 100 minutes "in the zone -- twice as much as was possible.

[lmacmil]

If you are in the "peak" or "cardio" range for heart rate, each minute counts double.

[Stuckyville]

"If you are in the "peak" or "cardio" range for heart rate, each minute counts double."

That squares with what I'm seeing.  However, I fail to understand the reasoning behind that.  Can you explain?  Also, I don't recall seeing that "counterintuitive" calculation mentioned in the user manual.

[lmacmil]

 I assume it's because from a heart health standpoint, 10 minutes of vigorous exercise is as good as 20 minutes of leisurely exercise.

[AZErin]

My activity time is right but calories are insane!  I did not burn 3200 calories today.  I went on a walk this morning and my total steps were about 11,500 for the day.  I never had this problem with my Zips, Alta or the other one I had (can’t recall the model). This massive overreach of calories started with the Inspire.  So, when it’s connected to My Fitness Pal, it converts over as my being able to eat a TON of food.  I thought at first it was a problem with MFP, so I rejoined weight watchers and the same thing is happening…

[lmacmil]

I think in general, people are putting too much emphasis on the "data" (in quotes because much of it is questionable) they get from their fitness tracker, regardless of brand.  Before you (and I'm not speaking about you individually but as the population of Fitbit users) got a fitness tracker did you know or care about how many calories you burned in a day?  If you weren't gaining weight then your intake was about the same as your expenditure.  If you woke up tired then you probably didn't get enough sleep or didn't sleep well.  Do you need a tracker to tell you that? 

For me, the only important data the tracker gives me is my total step count and my heart rate during and the duration of my exercise.  I tried the sleep tracker but I felt pretty much the same whether my sleep was fair or good.  Likewise, the readiness score didn't give me any useful information.  I haven't even bothered with all the other information available because I question its accuracy and/or usefulness.  If one has genuine medical issues or health concerns they should be seeing a doctor not using a fitness tracker to make decisions.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it! 😁

[AZErin]

Thank you for telling me why you like your tracker. I spent a good amount of change on my Inspire. It shouldn’t matter if I use some features more than others, I expect all of it to work correctly especially given the fact that the earlier models were more accurate.

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[Stuckyville]

Imacmi - 

We're pretty much in agreement on the practical use of the device.  My primary purpose in getting it was to track how much time I spend in the "cardio zone".  Of secondary interest (not concern, just curiosity) was the 'sleep time', as I have sleep apnea and use a CPAP.  (Along that line, I'd be curious to know what sensor it is useing to track sleep).  But when those numbers are so wildly inaccurate, I was hoping someone here could offer some technical explanation about the inner workings of the FB.

I also have questions about the documentation, but will save that for another time.