Increased Resting Heart Rate

[alexian]

After switching from my charge HR to the ionic, I've found that my resting bpm has increased by around 10 beats. Has anyone else experienced the same. I have had issues with syncing to wifi/headphones/bluetooth/pandora with the ionic so that might be the cause.

[MattJ71]

I also have noticed this.  I also noticed that when I work out I am in the cardio and peak zone more.  I think the Ionic is more accurate than my Blaze and this is probably the true heart rate.... unfortunately.

[RL7]

I also have seen an increase. My resting heart rate is up by a couple of points and I am also in the peak zone more when working out. Nothing too drastic but I do pay attention to those numbers. It could indeed be due to more accurate sensors but I read a review on the DC Rainmaker blog on the Ionic that said Fitbit always gave higher readings (in comparison to other devices tested) and this was especially the case with the Ionic. Will give it some time to see if the readings settle back down.  

[Colinm39]

I have noticed the same thing after 7 days with the Ionic. Also could be changing from Winter to Spring and the bed clothes too warm.

In this post

[ComitanDan]

I just got the Ionic.  I also find it's about 10 beats high compared to my other monitors.  I'm practically asleep as I write this and it's showing 76 which is absurd.

[lebred]

I am glad I'm not the only one with this issue!

Resting heart rate dramatic increase since watch swap (was around 55 and now 61-62)

Also ridiculously high heart rate during workout, this morning went on a lazy run, according to the Blaze I would never reach peak heart rate during this type of run, but the Ionic thinks I'm in peak heart rate during the whole thing!

Kinda worrying as I used to somewhat trust the Blaze data! Now I'm not sure which one is closer to reality!

Pretty sure the Blaze was closer to the truth though, as the Ionic tells me I reached 200+ HR this morning, which makes no sense at all. Never had this issue with the Blaze.

[shipo]

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@lebred wrote:

I am glad I'm not the only one with this issue!

Resting heart rate dramatic increase since watch swap (was around 55 and now 61-62)

Also ridiculously high heart rate during workout, this morning went on a lazy run, according to the Blaze I would never reach peak heart rate during this type of run, but the Ionic thinks I'm in peak heart rate during the whole thing!

Kinda worrying as I used to somewhat trust the Blaze data! Now I'm not sure which one is closer to reality!

Pretty sure the Blaze was closer to the truth though, as the Ionic tells me I reached 200+ HR this morning, which makes no sense at all. Never had this issue with the Blaze.

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This is a widely reported issue where the Ionic shows an unnatural spike in heart rate at the beginning of many (most in my case) workouts.  After a few minutes it settles down to a much more normal heart rate tack.  I suspect the Fitbit folks will need to fix this via a firmware update.

[Venkats]

I am really befuddled when users assume IONIC's higher heart rate reading as accurate just because "IONIC is expected to be accurate"  (I am paraphrasing summarily from the notes in this thread)

IONIC's heart rate monitoring appears to be broken by design and my suspicion is in hardware as well as software's smoothing algorithms for noise artifacts. I also tend to think that it may be expensive for FitBit to maintain multiple code paths across devices and hence I believe that the smoothing algorithms may really be the same among Blaze / IONIC / Surge devices. 

The issue is clearly widespread but yet there is no sign of it getting fixed in the upcoming update.

I noticed this aberration on the very first day when it wouldn't even match with the pulse rate from BP monitor. Blaze would match dead-on.

This is in fact the  main reason as to why I had to return the watch. 

I am waiting pulse from the field so I can buy back again. 

If someone confirms HRM is fixed in the fitOS1.1 release, I would probably be buying back during holiday promotions. I am yet to see any such information.

[shipo]

@Venkats, with the lone exception of the first few minutes of an exercise, I have found my heart rate monitoring is very little changed from what was reported by my Surge.  That said, it does seem to have a very slightly more accurate sensor in that when I'm looking at my phone or tracker for my current real-time heart rate, the Surge often wouldn't show anything, the Ionic on the other hand rarely, if ever, fails to report.

The only other difference I've seen is an ever so small bump in my daily RHR; prior to the Ionic I was typically two points either side of 43 BPM, with the Ionic it is more like two points either side of 44 BPM.  That said, back in September I took on a new project at work which has taken me out of my comfort zone so it could easily be the extra stress which has bumped my RHR up a point.

[Venkats]

@shipo

Unfortunately you have always been contradictory in this issue. There is nothing wrong in being passionate about what you own but that passion cannot blind you from seeing the obvious. I paid 300.00$ and I expect it to function as required and meet my expectation. I didn't buy it because it meets someone's requirements and so I am expected to be happy and content about it.  

Your experience, as I assume is predominantly steady state. My experience is diverse. I do crossfit and I also run but at maximal exertion. I fully comprehend the limitations of optical HRM. I don't expect them to be accurate in what we do. But it is unreasonable to have a calorie estimate of 389 kCals for a half hour strength exercise regime all of which was mostly performed lying down and I only weigh 100 pounds. There was no high intensity of any sort. This is not just an observation for one day. I patiently analyzed over a month and returned it only because I realized no update will be delivered before my deadline for returning the product expires.

I and several others posted heart rate graphs of what we saw but yet your notes attempt to discredit them and vouch for IONIC. I am really perplexed at why someone would do this over and over again.

If you are happy with your purchase so be it, I am glad that you are happy about it; I don't see any need to run down other's experiences especially when several users attempt to present something.

On the flip side, as a passionate user when you attept to critically analyze the field experience and throw your long standing weight in support of the user community, by making FitBit investigate the issue, you will be looked upon as a hero. When several users start raising the same issue, there is a least common denominator. A responsible one will throw their weight behind it rather than appeasing the organization. 

There cannot be a small bump in BPM. What is small for you may be a large bump for someone and who knows it may have unnecessarily left a large dent in their pocket for no mistake of theirs.    

[shipo]

@Venkats, you've made a number of assumptions which are incorrect.  I am very active, I typically run between 150 and 250 miles per month, I live on and work part time on an active horse farm and perform a lot of manual labor, and I do other forms of exercise as well.  My observations come from several years of tracking.

[Venkats]

@shipo

What matters most is what we have learnt from being a human being. Humbleness, humility and empathy for other's plight is far more important than putting 150 miles in a week. As we get older our thoughts are expected to get mature and that's what distinguishes human kind.

[ErikBM]

Compared to my Garmin belt on my Concept 2 rowing machine, the Ionic seems very accurate. If seen only 2 pbm difference. The Ionic varies a little, depending on the activity, but the average seems accurated compared to the Garmin belt (which one normally would assume is amore accurate way of measuring).

Have not checked the accuracy during resting. 

[Venkats]

@ErikBM

There are many users that have said their heart rate as measured by IONIC is fine and there are many folks that report issues and this is baffling. I am not new to FitBit devices and I am wearing it right but yet my experience is not pleasant. What would cause heart rate monitoring to vary? Is it the assumption made in the design? Is it the physiology of the wearer. What is it? This needs to be investigated by the designer in my opinion rather than discounting the user experiences.

[ErikBM]

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@Venkats wrote:

@ErikBM

There are many users that have said their heart rate as measured by IONIC is fine and there are many folks that report issues and this is baffling. I am not new to FitBit devices and I am wearing it right but yet my experience is not pleasant. What would cause heart rate monitoring to vary? Is it the assumption made in the design? Is it the physiology of the wearer. What is it? This needs to be investigated by the designer in my opinion rather than discounting the user experiences.

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@Venkats

Absolutely. I do not disagree at all, just wanted to share my experience. Definately room for improvement on the sensor / how it works, but again, for the best accuracy there are more reliable ways of measuring (i.e. a belt).
I wish it would support external HR sensors / belts...

[Jorix]

Mine went up from 45/46 on the Charge HR to a whopping 57 on the Ionic. Also, while sitting at a desk, my HR reading is around 85-95bpm. When I do a double check with another device, it's perfectly normal around 52bpm.

Weird thing is that during running, the HR readings aren't more than 2 beats off of the readings from my Garmin HRM run chest strap. Maybe Fitbit tried to fix the bad readings during workouts, but totally killed the HR readings when not working out by doing so?

[shipo]

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@Jorix wrote:

Mine went up from 45/46 on the Charge HR to a whopping 57 on the Ionic. Also, while sitting at a desk, my HR reading is around 85-95bpm. When I do a double check with another device, it's perfectly normal around 52bpm.

Weird thing is that during running, the HR readings aren't more than 2 beats off of the readings from my Garmin HRM run chest strap. Maybe Fitbit tried to fix the bad readings during workouts, but totally killed the HR readings when not working out by doing so?

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How tight do you wear the strap on your Ionic when not running?

[Jorix]

Not too tight, nor too loose; I still can squeeze my pinky finger under the band without feeling discomfort.

BTW: Currently 89bpm on the Ionic, and 47bpm with the Runtastic Heart Rate app (don't have the Garmin chest strap with me today).

[ErikBM]

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@Jorix wrote:

Not too tight, nor too loose; I still can squeeze my pinky finger under the band without feeling discomfort.

BTW: Currently 89bpm on the Ionic, and 47bpm with the Runtastic Heart Rate app (don't have the Garmin chest strap with me today).

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@Jorix

Based on how you describe your experiences, mine is definately more accurate. Under load during rowing I see almost no difference, appr. 2 bpm, just as you decribe. I assumed the resting readings would be roughly as accurate, when I check manually I get roughly the same, but now I am still not sure how accurate this is. I will cross check with a Garmin belt I have and see.

[shipo]

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@Jorix wrote:

Not too tight, nor too loose; I still can squeeze my pinky finger under the band without feeling discomfort.

BTW: Currently 89bpm on the Ionic, and 47bpm with the Runtastic Heart Rate app (don't have the Garmin chest strap with me today).

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Hmmm, sounds too loose; I wear my Ionic snug, as in snug enough to not be able to bet my pinkie between the band and my arm.  When I wear it looser the accuracy of the heart rate tracking drops noticeably.