Heart rate accuracy

[JamesMucklow]

I have an ionic, but when I run with GPS the heart rate can be 40 beats higher than my chest strap  the average was ten beats higher. The first few runs were ok but it recently seems to have developed the problem. Anybody else seen this

[JamesMucklow]

I have an ionic, but when I run with GPS the heart rate can be 40 beats higher than my chest strap  the average was ten beats higher. The first few runs were ok but it recently seems to have developed the problem. 

[Bree11]

I have the same problem. It's like 30-40 bmp higher than it should be

[Bree11]

Actually it's higher even out of GPS mode

[shipo]

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@JamesMucklow wrote:

I have an ionic, but when I run with GPS the heart rate can be 40 beats higher than my chest strap  the average was ten beats higher. The first few runs were ok but it recently seems to have developed the problem. Anybody else seen this

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Yes, this is frequently reported issue; I expect a firmware update will correct it.

[Cyclelynx]

I received my Ionic for Christmas. I’m a former international level cyclist. Now 48 and retired, I train at the gym 6 days a week and do cardio sessions on an exercise bike 5 times a week. I’m very comfortable about my knowledge of my fitness level. 

For the first three or four days of use, both heart rate and calorie burn between my Ionic and the Life Fitness exercise bike were identical. I was thrilled with my gift!

A week later and the heart rate varies by more than 40 bpm (bike 145 bpm - Ionic 100 bpm) and the calorie burn is out by almost 100 in a 60 minute session. 

On top of this, my heart rate reading is ‘all over the shop’ throughout the day. I hit 175 bpm sitting in my car at a red light. And it frequently cant read my pulse at all. 

Ive done a factory reset. I’ve tried a bunch of different wrist positions and strap tensions. I’ve tried wearing it on my other arm and I’ve experimented with the ‘dominant wrist’. 

It seems there are plenty of people with these issues - but I haven’t been able to find any suggestions or solutions from Fitbit. 

Do I just take it back and look for something else??

[Nettuno]

I sent this screen to technical support showing the comparison between Polar and Fitbit ionic on 5 Round, where Polar corresponds to my fatigue and Fitbit from random heart values.
The most serious thing is that they replied that PurePulse technology works well ...
Ie if my Cardio is 180bpm but Fitbit Ionic says 140bpm, I can feel comfortable that I'm not close to dying

....

[bbarrera]

@Cyclelynx optical HRM on the wrist generally works well at detecting resting HR, so I'm a bit surprised about your issue in the car at a red light. Where optical HRM doesn't do well is in the gym (free weights) and outside on the bike (due to road vibrations). I still use chest strap for cycling. The problem with Fitbit is they don't support chest straps (or upper arm HRM like Scosche Rhythm+). You might want to exchange your Ionic for another one, and I'd consider widening the search and look at Garmin 935, Apple Watch, or Samsung Gear. Keep in mind that Fitbit won't connect with bike sensors like power meter, cadence, speed, etc.

[MikeA054]

I am guessing it won't be fixed any time in the near future.  On a typical recovery run (breathing through my nose)  I get as high as 200+ bpm with Fitbit Ionic.  Considering I'm sixty four years old and in reasonable shape, that would indicate a serious health issue.  My Garmin optical HR monitor places me at between 135 and 150 bpm, which makes more sense for the perceived effort I experience.  Compared to my most accurate HR device (fingers on an artery), the Garmin is pretty accurate.  Sadly, Fitbit fails miserably at this.

[Nettuno]

NO COMMENT...

[MikeR417]

I had the same issue, both running and on the elliptical.  I seemed to have solved it by wearing it a little higher and tightening the strap.  My Surge would never slip once on, but I find the Ionic band will slip a little.

Mike

[MikeR417]

Well, I will backtrack on my comment above.  As I was ending my elliptical workout this afternoon and cooling off my HR started to decrease, but then increased and leveled off.  My Polar H10 was reading 92 and the Ionic read 112!

Mike

[beniaris]

You are correct about the average heart rate.  I have logged 588 runs over the past couple of years, and some time during the third week of July 2018 my average heart rate per run jumped from between 135 and 145 BPM to between 155 and 165 BPM.  I seriously doubt that my conditioning dropped 15% over night.  I contacted FitBit support yesterday and had a lengthy online chat, during which time they had me restart my watch (not sure why), and then proceeded to tell me many factors can affect heart rate such as caffeine, alcohol, stress, etc.  I then told them to review my statistics which they have access to, and after a long delay they replied with:

"After looking in the system I was able to see that were currently having some issues with the heart rate, we’re aware of it, but may not be able to provide a fix in the immediate future. We'll continue to monitor the situation, and keep our team informed of the impact to you and other customers."