Compare GPS accuracy Ionic and Charge 4

[Martie6]

My Ionic and my husband's Charge 4 differ on GPS readings. For example, on walking 5 km (we measured the distance with a measuring wheel), my husband's Charge 4 correctly showed 5 km, whereas my Ionic showed 5.33 km. This type of difference happens all the time. Why the difference? Do they use different GPS technologies? My stride length is as correct as we could get it, in case that is a  factor? Also, we wear our Fitbits on our outside arms when we walk together (my left and his right when I walk on the left side) so that there can be no interference from each other’s devices. 

[LiliyaFitbit]

It’s good to see you in the community, @Martie6.

Thanks for the details shared in your post. I understand your concern and would like to advise that GPS accuracy depends on the signal strength among other factors. For more information, see our help article How accurate is my GPS data captured by my Fitbit device? 

I recommend restarting your watch and reviewing our tips about using GPS in What are some tips for using GPS on my Fitbit device?

Hope this helps. 

[Martie6]

My husband and I walk together. Surely signal strength cannot be a factor?

[LiliyaFitbit]

Thank you for your reply, @Martie6.

I understand your concern and recommend to continue monitoring your device's performance after doing a restart: How do I restart my Fitbit device? Please also note that when you track an activity with GPS, your device calculates your distance using GPS data rather than steps. If you begin moving before you get a GPS signal, your device calculates distance using your steps until GPS connects.

See you around.

[Martie6]

I’m afraid restarting did not help, today the distance the Fitbit gave was 5.27km at the 5km point. That’s 270m out. 

[LiliyaFitbit · Accepted solution]

Thank you for the update, @Martie6.

I am sorry to hear the issue persists, thank you for your efforts. I recommend getting in touch with our Support team so they can look deeper into the issue and help you with this matter. Click here to get connected with them via chat or phone.

See you around.