Ionic GPS Distance very different than Map my Run

[Adammac76]

Hello,

When I run I use both my Ionic and the MapMyRun App on my phone (I keep my phone in my pocket).  Today I ran the track at my local high school and when I was done, The Ionic said I did 4.09 miles at a 9:23 pace and the MapMyRun said I did 4.56 miles at a 8:25 pace.  I have run this track countless times.  When I used my blaze, synced to my phone there was typically a 10 second differential and maybe a .02 differential per mile (not .1).  This is a huge difference and is making me believe I can't trust my Ionic, which I use to keep an eye on pace to ensure I am not burning out too early (running to fast) or falling behind.  Does anyone else have this issue and know how I can get my Ionic more accurate.  This also happens when running in the streets as well so not limited to the track.  This variance is too big and will need to go back to my Blaze if it can't be fixed.

Thank you for your help,

Adam

[YojanaFitbit · Accepted solution]

Hi @Adammac76 hope you're doing great. Thanks for reaching out with your questions about Fitbit accuracy. 

I'll be glad to give you a hand with your accuracy questions. First of all, I'd like to mention that you have to consider that both Ionic and your phone are located in different places on your body and accuracy depends on this too. Since your phone might be bouncing around in your pocket. If you wear a wrist-based Fitbit device and move your body while keeping your arms still (or vice versa), you may see a slightly different step count.

If you feel that your step count and distance are inaccurate, confirm the following are correct in the Fitbit app:

• Your wrist settings (For more information, see Does the wrist I wear my device on affect accuracy?)
• Your height (For more information, see How do I manage my Fitbit profile?)

Since we use height to estimate your walking and running stride lengths, you may want to measure and manually adjust these values if your legs are longer or shorter than average. For more information, see How do I measure and adjust stride length for my Fitbit device?

Sometimes, when you start walking, your steps may not update on your device right away. After about 10-15 continuous steps, you'll notice the steps catch up and start updating in real time with each step you take.

Make sure you're wearing your Fitbit Ionic in this way when working out:

You can also take a look of this information How accurate is GPS? If you have more questions about your Fitbit accuracy, please let me know. 

I'll be around.