Heart Rate very variable on Ionic

[Soldric]

Hi all,

So i have the Ionic since January and I am really disappointed by one thing the heart Rate is really out of scope< i compare with my old Charger 2 and my wife Alta HR and both read pretty much the same versus the Ionic is always way off , always about 10 to 20 over the 2 others.

what can be done to fix it ? is it due to the one light on Ionic versus 2 on both other device ?

[Loribl]

I have the same issue. I am comparing against the Apple 3series and I prefer absolutely everything with the ionic except for the fact that the heart rate isn’t accurate, which is the main reason Inwear the thing. The harder I exercise, the more inaccurate it is

[Soldric]

Do we have not working so Ionic both you and me?

[Tony.r]

@Soldric I find my Ionic to be quite accurate even under exercise. I also use an independent HRM  chest strap with another device and my Ionic pretty much mirrors that give or take  1-2 BPM.

I would say firstly  you need to give your Ionic a reboot to see if that improves things and take it from there..

[SantiR]

@Soldric @Loribl Welcome to the Fitbit Community! Thanks for reporting the situation you are experiencing with Ionic's heart rate readings.

Just as @Tony.r kindly suggested, please try performing a restart on Ionic. Check if this improves the readings. 

Also, you might like to check this helpful article about heart rate. There are some recommended wrist placements for Fitbit devices to get the most accurate heart rate readings, specially when doing high intensity workouts. Basically, wear Ionic not too tight, but not too loose. Also, wearing it a finger (or two) from your wrist bone will increase its accuracy as some workouts will cause you to bend your wrist frequently which could interfere with the heart rate signal if the watch is lower on your wrist. Check the article for more details about this. 

Hope this helps. Keep me posted! 

[Soldric]

Hi guys

Thanks for answers sadly reboot so not fix it, wearing it at about 1.5 finger from my wrist bones do not fix it either

I have since 1 week on my left arm my old charger 2 and Ionic on my right arm

Even when relax the hr reading is very different

Also I try Alta he from wife same

Not sure what to do now....

[seemebreakthis]

One problem I can reproduce every time with my Ionic is the inaccuracy WHEN the exercise mode ("weights" mode in particular) is activated.

I follow a fixed routine to do my weightlifting once every two days.  Whenever I turn on the exercise "weights" mode to track this activity, the heart rate is consistently 20 - 30 bpm higher than when I just let my watch track my HR during the same activity like usual without activating anything.

Case in point:

Weight lifting WITH exercise mode turned onWeightlifting WITHOUT exercise mode turned on

The difference is pretty obvious right?  Keep in mind I do basically the same thing, and I can reproduce this behavior with the Ionic everytime.

It seems to me that the Ionic tries to interpret the heart rate input, almost to the point where it is not trusting the raw data.  It seems to think "So this guy is now doing some sort of an exercise so his heart rate must be pumped up, therefore I will display a higher number".

No good.  I don't like this.

[Tony.r]

@Soldric I would suggest contacting customer support and logging a case so they can take a look into it @SantiR wondering if it would be worth @Soldric doing a factory reset 1st to see if that helps before contacting customer support?

@seemebreakthis i see what you mean  with the examples.  In exercise mode, I have never experienced a spike like what is showing in your HR data.

One thing I do notice though on both your sample graphs is gaps in your HR trace, is that where you are removing your Ionic for periods or could it be unsync'ed data?

I ocassionally get a problem with unsync'ed HR data and it causes incorrect readings in my HR trace until I have managed to fully sync my Ionic.

[seemebreakthis]

@Tony.rI take off my watch during shower or when I charge it etc.  So I guess that's where the gaps come from.  I don't have a problem with unsync'ed data causing gaps unless when I travel to a different timezone (which I think is normal).

[SantiR]

@Tony.r Thanks for your reply and your suggestions. Yes, I think that if @Soldric keeps experiencing the same after trying the other troubleshooting steps; performing a factory reset could help. To perform a factory reset:

• Open Ionic's settings app.
• Tap About.
• Tap Factory Reset.

@seemebreakthis I hope you're doing well! Thanks for sharing the screen shots showing the situation you are experiencing with heart rate readings while in exercise mode.

Is this only happening with "weights" activity? If you haven't done so already, please try the wrist placement tips that are on that helpful article. It is basically about wearing the watch two fingers from your wrist bone. Many exercises such as weight lifting cause you to bend your wrist frequently, which could interfere with the heart-rate signal if the watch is lower on your wrist.

Keep me posted! 

[Soldric]

Hi all

Factory reset no change....

[Loribl]

I tried everything suggested here and then ended up returning mine for the Apple Watch. Which is unfortunate as I really do like the fitbit better. I’ve juts exeleieneced this problem with the surge for a year and didn’t want to deal with it again. Good luck to you. I hope you are able to work it out

[SantiR]

@Soldric Thanks for your reply and for trying the factory reset. 

I went ahead and created a case with customer support in your behalf. They should get in contact soon. Please keep an eye on your email inbox.

@Loribl Welcome to the Fitbit forums! Thanks for sharing your experience on this thread. I'ts unfortunate to hear that you had to return yours. Hopefully, you will be back with us sometime! 

Keep me posted! 

[seemebreakthis]

@SantiRHello - yes it seems to be happening only with weights activity.  I also use "run" quite often and it doesn't have the same problem.

I don't think wrist placement would help, as I wear my watch the same way in both scenarios and the readings are different anyway.  And like I said, I can consistently reproduce the problem.

[SantiR]

@seemebreakthis Thanks for your reply and for sharing those helpful details.

I will send your reports to our team. I will also let you know once I have any updates about this. Thanks again for your reports!

In the meanwhile, please take a look at the Discussions Board as you will find a lot of interesting things there. Feel free to post on any thread you want. If you are looking for Fitbit friends to compete with on challenges, check this thread to add some! 

Thanks for your patience. Keep me posted!