Heart rate monitor not working properly

[Ffej]

I noticed when I go on a walk my ionic shows my heart rate at 130 to 155 at times. It usually shows me 110 if it's not spiking up which is also high when walking. I used a polar chest strap with my phone and I never saw above 85. I tried resetting it but it doesn't make a difference.

[emman30]

I think the heart rate on my fitbit ionic is also high.  I did an interval run today and my heart rate top off at 175.  Doing the same intervals I am normally in the low 160's.  This is very disappointing.

[Ronin4740]

I agree.  I see spikes at over 180 bpm from mine.  I'm 51 - if I'm legitimately at 180+ bpm my heart is likely to explode...

[Daigle]

my fitbit is also inacurate.  when i used my fitbit blaze, my resting heart rate is 55 which is good. im really in good physical shape.  with the ionic, im at 70 which is ridiculous.  Currently my heart is at 71.. if i count it manually for 60 seconds, im at 58.... 

i really believe i will bring the watch back

[MonteC]

I had the same issue until I tightened it up.  

I was getting crazy 190+ readings until I did that.  Now it seems pretty good.

[Jorix]

Same here; I just did a comparison because I got a reading of 70bpm while sitting at my desk and my normal resting heart rate is somewhere around 47bpm.

So, for comparison:

- Garmin Fenix 3 with HRM-RUN: 49bpm (chest strap, always accurate)

- Jabra Sport Elite: 50bpm (optical in-ear)

- HeartRateFree app on iPhone: 48bpm (optically through flash + camera)

- Fitbit Ionic: 70bpm

As you can see, all devices seem to be very close to each other, except for the fitbit. It's more accurate when I'm running btw, after a few minutes it's almost the same as my Garmin shows.

Also, I noticed the Fitbit app shows an elevated resting heart rate for the last days; climbed to 53, while I don't feel less fit. Maybe the last (dev) firmware update caused the OHR to misbehave?

[Jorix]

Quick update; I've restarted my Ionic and the heart rate readings immediately went down 10-15bpm... this seems to indicate a software issue indeed

[MarreFitbit]

Hey guys, it's great to see you here! I'd like to start saying that your tracker can have difficulty finding a signal, typically due to the tracker's fit. For example, wearing your band tightly may constrict blood flow in your wrist and affect the signal. We recommend experimenting with how high you place the tracker on your wrist. When you're not exercising, wearing the tracker just above the wrist bone--as you would a watch--typically works fine. However, moving the tracker up a couple inches can be helpful during high-intensity exercises or exercises that cause you to bend your wrist frequently. If you haven't already done so, please review our recommendations for wear and other tips shared by @SantiFitbit. 

If you're wearing the tracker correctly and the heart rate setting isn't turned off, try changing the setting (either Auto to On or On to Auto) and then syncing your tracker. The change won't take affect until you sync. If heart rate still doesn't appear after the sync, try restarting your tracker and wait at least 60 seconds before checking heart rate again.

Give this a shot and let me know how your heart rate goes! 

[Nickfit86]

I’ve done all of those things, tried wearing it in different places on my wrist on my other wrist, I’ve reset it over and over again changed up the HR settings and it still reads crazy high. Was doing some moderate weight lifting and it said my HR was 188 and I checked it myself and was only 92 

[Edslittleworld]

My situation is the opposite.  I was trailrunning in the mtns, yesterday and my average pulse was 113?  Normally, I'm above 140 while doing this.  Even my biologist GF said that was nuts.  Then, it's over 100 bpm laying bed?  No way!

[Twinz]

There is another thread on this subject that has more input, but this seems to bee a known issue. I assume Fitbit is working on a firmware update to fix it.

I read a review on the Fitbit Blaze last year where it was criticized for not reponding to quick changes in heart rate. I never cared because it worked well for my use, (Running) but I can't help but think the current software is trying to too hard "catch" quick changes in HR and exaggerating wildly in the process. 

I use a data-logger for motorsports that reports what the car is doing as it is driven around a track. It uses algorithms to "smooth out" the raw information from various sensors but it will display raw data when told to do so....the Ionic HR data looks a lot like the crazy stuff my car's data-logger spits out when asked for raw, unfiltered data.

The two scenarios my be apples and oranges, but seeing how good software can turn wild raw data into useful and accurate information gives me hope that Fitbit can, and will, fix this with software.

[Edslittleworld]

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@Twinz wrote:

There is another thread on this subject that has more input, but this seems to bee a known issue. I assume Fitbit is working on a firmware update to fix it.

I read a review on the Fitbit Blaze last year where it was criticized for not reponding to quick changes in heart rate. I never cared because it worked well for my use, (Running) but I can't help but think the current software is trying to too hard "catch" quick changes in HR and exaggerating wildly in the process. 

I use a data-logger for motorsports that reports what the car is doing as it is driven around a track. It uses algorithms to "smooth out" the raw information from various sensors but it will display raw data when told to do so....the Ionic HR data looks a lot like the crazy stuff my car's data-logger spits out when asked for raw, unfiltered data.

The two scenarios my be apples and oranges, but seeing how good software can turn wild raw data into useful and accurate information gives me hope that Fitbit can, and will, fix this with software.

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Really good answer.  Thanks!  Yeah, I've noticed these little spikes...largely from rapid arm movements.