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Inaccurate Low Heart Rate

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‎04-10-2019 04:49

‎04-10-2019 04:49

I have begun to notice that my Ionic isn't accurately reflecting my HR. On my past 2 hikes, on the incline up to two mountains, I have noticed that my HR is reading 68 or similar...I can assure you after many minutes of incline and height gained my HR was definitely not 68bpm! When I played around with it, changing wrists, wiping it down, making sure it wasn't too tight/loose etc, it eventually read a more accurate reading but it took some time to do so. Then it repeats the problem.

 

Today on doing a Fitbit Coach workout I have noticed the same, I am out of breath and working hard yet it says my HR is only 80bpm. These HR readings are inaccurate and therefore lead to inaccurate calorie burn and inaccurate stats to train off. 

Any ideas? I love my Ionic, I've had it around 16 months now but I'm disappointed that it has started to do this when I am just getting to use it a little more than I could before!

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4 REPLIES 4

‎04-10-2019 05:49

‎04-10-2019 05:49

Same here. HR readings are lower than real ones. Simple solution - chest strap for more intense workouts and accuracy + any watch that can pair with it and has OHR that is good enough for low intensity stuff. OHR will always be affected by wrist movements hence in some cases the chest strap may be a great improvement. Also it is good that I can take the watch off my wrist during exercise ( especially when there is a risk of damaging it ) and it still reads my HR. When hiking OHR is good enough compared to the strap ( in my case Ionic registers too high HR during low intensity activity ). Found my setup made of two different brands and none of it starts with F. Worked for me and I am happy with results I get. With Ionic HR I went through customer support, I received very same troubleshooting as I have seen here many times and it got me nowhere so it was pointless to speak of the subject any longer. Fitbit is more invested into things like Bitmoji and turning their product into a toy rather than a serious device for athletes.

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‎04-10-2019 06:54

In response to SunsetRunner

‎04-10-2019 06:54

What strap are you using? Can you transfer the data and calories from that to Fitbit?
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‎04-10-2019 07:32 - edited ‎04-10-2019 07:48

In response to SophiLou

‎04-10-2019 07:32 - edited ‎04-10-2019 07:48

I use PolarH10 strap. Unfortunately, there's no way to transfer data to Fitbit. I use a strap with Suunto Spartan watch that pairs with the strap, so I can see the strap readings on the watch display. If I go hiking I can always use optical HR so I'm always given a choice ( strap or wrist HR ). I think there was a feature suggestion to make possible to pair Fitbit devices with the external sensors but it's very unlikely it will ever happen ( maybe when Fitbit will develop own external sensors ). It's pity, because if I had the option to use external sensor then 1) I get accurate data 2) when I'm rock climbing I could take off the watch which already got scratches because of the contact with holds. That's just one of the use-cases. If the readings on my Ionic are way off ( and this usually affects calories ), then I delete tracked exercise and log one manually using data from the other watch (yes, I wear two watches but Ionic is just supporting). Then I can adjust calories. If there's a case the activity uses GPS then I don't want to delete it as it contains a map. In such a case, I log "parallel" activity with custom calories. It overrides the tracked one and adjusts calorie counter. The downside is that I end up with two Bike exercises instead of one ( one, tracked with GPS, and one manually logged overriding calories ).

 

Edit: just one thing. You don't need another watch to use the strap. Your mobile phone can be used as a recorder. Later you can use recorded data when logging activity manually into Fitbit.

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‎04-10-2019 16:55

‎04-10-2019 16:55

Same problem here. Heart beat is way lower on the Fitbit. I have done the same workout on the peloton for three days , burning the exact same amount of calories and have three totally different stats from fit bit. First one combined 28 minutes of cardio and peak. Second one 16 minutes cardio 2 minutes peak. Third one 4 minutes of cardio.

 

its totally broken was hoping a fix would be on here. 

 

And yes have cleaned it , worn loose and tight and flipped it around as well

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