Inaccurate run speed and distance covered

[Croweater]

My new Ionic is so far out with distance covered and speeds.

I'm not interested in stride length or number of strides just the GPS tracking of speed and distances.

It even changes on same course from day to day.

Do I get a refund or is this fixable 

[MonteC]

have a peek at the forum digest, many many topics on this same issue.   Nothing so far from FitBit on updating firmware etc.

[TrishNY12]

I am having the exact same issue.  I recently upgraded from a surge to an iconic and the GPS is way off.  I went from less than 10 minute miles on my run to 14 minute miles and the mileage is a mile off too, a know five mile route I have calculates it at 4 miles.  My surge worked much better for less money.  I'm ready to return it and get a new surge.  The main reason I use it is for the GPS on runs.

[shipo]

I'm trying to figure out how some folks are getting such bizarre readings from the Ionic; I've run with a Surge for a total of just over 4,000 tracked miles, and I've already run over 300 miles with my Ionic.  Looking back at my logs, I would say the Ionic is decidedly more accurate than the Surge.

[TrishNY12]

Unfortunately my iconic is not accurate and way off from the surge (I checked the mileage in my car).  I’ve contacted Fitbit and they compared my runs and admitted the iconic’s gps was inaccurate, but offered no solution!  I’m thinking about exchanging it for another surge at this point.  For $300 I expected an accurate gps, silly me, I guess.

[shipo]

@TrishNY12, if I hadn't owned a Surge for over two and a half years before my Ionic I might believe your post, but quite honestly, the Surge's GPS capabilities are stone-age in comparison to the ones in the Ionic.  I seriously doubt anybody in the know at Fitbit would even remotely suggest the Ionic's GPS is inaccurate.

[bcalvanese]

Are you waiting for it to connect before starting the activity?

Also it is a good idea to wait a few minutes even after it says connected before actually starting the activity.

I usually start the app, then do my warmup while I'm waiting. This gives the GPS more time to settle in as well as the heart rate to stabilize before starting the timer.

[Croweater]

Yeah.

I'm really disappointed too.

I just want the run speed and distances to be more accurate.

Cost too much to not be working properly.

I'm thinking of returning ionic and getting a different brand.

[Rjohn1]

My Iconic is experiencing exactly the same problems. I've had two surges and although not perfect in recording my distance, was far better. I did an efforts sessions with my running club and was one of the faster runners, but my splits are far slower than those ideas beating. My distance for

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@Croweater wrote:

My new Ionic is so far out with distance covered and speeds.

I'm not interested in stride length or number of strides just the GPS tracking of speed and distances.

It even changes on same course from day to day.

Do I get a refund or is this fixable 

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the same run was also way off

[PedroSab31]

I think I’m having the same issue. First day using it and I can see a great difference between the readings of Charge 2 and Ionic.

In comparison, Ionic measured steps and distance significantly lower than C2. While floors readings has gone dramatically up (32floors - I work on the second floor). Definitely not Fitbit standards... dissapointed. 

[Croweater]

I took mine back to where I purchased.

Got a full refund and bought a Perfect and very accurate.
The shop indicated many complaints about the Ionic.





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[Mlnobriga]

I agree with her as I’m experiencing the same issue. My surge was spot on and my ionic is all over the place. It’s accurate about 5% of the time. No rhyme or reason so it is frustrating.

[BahGahWah]

Hi, other users have reported similar issues. This was first reported in October.

https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Ionic/Ionic-GPS-Inaccuracies/td-p/2229217

From investigating the issue it appears the ionic Is not using the GPS signal to measure distance. In order to verify if it is a GPS issue, I tried the following;

From the Fitbit Dashboard, download the .TCX export file for the activity.
The following website allows you to import the .TCX file and will give you the GPS measured plot of the run.

https://www.sportdistancecalculator.com/import-gpx.php

If the plot of the run looks wrong, or the measured distance is not a you expected then it may be a GPS issue. If the GPS data is as expected and the distance accurate within a few 100meters then its the ionic calculation of the distance.

If if you try for other known distances then you will soon realise it’s not working as intended.

Is very frustrating and at the moment no sign of any fix from Fitbit.