Ionic Heart Rate Accuracy

[Kat_W]

Has anyone else noticed that the Heart Rate sensor is very inaccurate?  Currently my Ionic is showing that my heart rate is in excess of 120, while at the same time my pulse ox machine (a medical device) is saying it's 82.  The Samsung health app is inline with what the pulse ox is saying.  I'm not sure if I have a defective Ionic or if others are having the same issue. ( Note: Sorry if there are any spelling errors, I am tryping around my cat, who has decided to sit directly in front of the screen)

Moderator edit: edited title for clarity

[Pyewacket]

My experience too. 

[hakaman]

This weekend I tested my second Ionic. The first one showed a heartrate of 192 during 3/4 of my running strech. On my other wrist I wore a Charge 2, to check any irregularities. To my suprise also this second Ionic suddenly mentioned a peak of 192 and even 193 during most of my run. I checked my Charge 2, whic was showing a variety between 118 and 151 at the same time. What on earth is the matter with the Ionic? It is a real shame to disappoint loyal customers like this. For the third time within a month I'm returning my FitBit to Coolblue (webshop in Netherlands), who do a great job.

[SunsetRunner]

@SilviaFitbit I'm a bit tired of reading same advice all over again. Wearing Fitbit properly is really known to everyone here already and it doesn't solve the problem. Moreover, during the exercise, I have to focus on the actual activity, not get distracted by the watch constantly checking whether it's worn correctly. Obviously, a certain motion may affect its placement but I cannot be bothered fixing it being in the middle of a set. Anyway, this happens also when the watch is worn correctly.

[Denodan]

I am getting tried of people assuming because yours is far out as far as accuracy goes, its crap and all are crap 

Mine and a few others here are having good results and there are many reviews online and you tube starting HR Is pretty good actually.

[SunsetRunner]

@Denodan I am happy it works so great for you, really. I never said it didn't work for everyone. All I care is my individual case as I spent my individual money on it. How the fact that it works for you solves my problem? Should I just say that it doesn't work for me, but it works for @Denodan so it's all fine? I wish they just said, sorry guys but there is no any other solution. What I am tired of is being referred to exactly same instructions and it falls on deaf ears that it simply doesn't work in my case. I started using chest strap to compare and simply get more accurate readings during workouts. Fitbit does work quite well during rest - I don't have problem with these readings bur otherwise it doesn't work for me as expected. I had similar issues with Charge 2 before however less with accuracy and more with lack of any readings at all. I don't know, maybe I have impenetrable skin by the light or something. I am happy you find it accurate in your case but unfortunately this fact means nothing as it brings no solution for me.

[dien2no]

Same problems:  began with my HR reading 40-45 points higher than my Polar HR monitor.  Fitbit Help desk had me run through the usual resets/replace, etc. ..

[Denodan]

To be this far out, there has to be something wrong with your ionic.

Plenty of you tube and websites give the ionic postive reviews and not reporting HR Accuracy issues. Or is this a conspiracy to discredit fitbit? There are people here having no issues.

Seems it's only the few here are having issues.

[dien2no]

there is a problem with the Ionic and there is no conspiracy

[Denodan]

If there is an issue then why are reviews not posting HR issues. The reviews don't mention HR issues and seen videos where it's been tested and works fine.

[dien2no]

after trying numerous remedies suggested in this forum, and working with Fitbit helpdesk - to no avail - I decided to switch to a different clock face (was using Hearty Chops, the one that shows the HR as the dominate display) and  this fixed my HR display issue.  Now for a vigorous walk to see if it had any impact on the HR (which has been 40-50 points high) - will post back here later.

[SunsetRunner]

I found somehow interesting results by coincidence. I went to the gym but forgot to take my gloves. I can imagine there may be some connection between wearing gym gloves and Ionic readings. Surprisingly, even during push-ups results were lot closer to what I could see using my Polar chest strap. Usually, this exercise results with dropping HR to really low numbers like 60-70bpm. I always try to make sure the gloves are not too tight however certain set of motion may probably affect readings. Not sure if this is just coincidence so I'm going to give a go different ways of exercising with and without gloves. Ionic results still are not accurate but I would say they are good enough from my today session. Even on elliptical where the difference between Ionic and strap used to be more than 30 beats. Also, I didn't observe any lack of readings today ( two-dashes ). Below I pasted graphs from Fitbit and chest strap and yes, they are different, Ionic's is more jagged but overall shape rather matches quite well. Also burnt calories weren't far off ( but in this case it is not HR only but also different algorithm, still close enough ).

I never ever got even a little similar graphs so this one I find not too bad really. I'm going to test it more thoroughly but it could be good to advise users not to wear anything that may block or reduce blood flow. Yes, this seems to be obvious but I have never seen it mentioned here and wearing fitness gloves is rather common thing.

[hakaman]

This weekend I wore my 3rd Ionic while doing my regular run. And for the 3rd time I experienced the same problem as 2 times before: after approx. 30 minutes a sudden increase in heart rate from 115 bpm to 185, staying there for the rest of my run. After 3 attempts I have lost all confidence in this inferior product and asked for my money back. What the hell is wrong with FitBit Ionic? The most expensive FitBit I had so far (after Surge and Charge 2) giving me the most trouble and irritation. FitBit has lost an ambassador.

[SunsetRunner]

I've been trying to see if there's anything I could do to improve the HR readings. Looks like exercising gloves weren't really an issue as without I've seen later workouts inaccurate. Few things I noticed:

- Ionic does well during steady pace exercises. Running on a treadmill with steady pace was as accurate as chest strap ( even number of burnt calories for most of the time was exactly the same on both ).

- Changing intensity of exercise is a major problem for Ionic.

- Certain exercises result with very inaccurate HR. Here are some examples:

push-ups - chest strap sees increasing HR, Ionic decreasing. I've seen numbers like 60bpm on Ionic which is close to my resting HR

plank - 10-15bpm less than chest strap but steady, looks more like Ionic has some delay in processing the data

jump rope - one of my favourite exercises nowadays. This one goes horribly wrong, as bad as push-ups. HR declines to very low numbers, while the chest strap sees an increase even to very peak values ( which is accurate considering the intensity of the exercise )

elliptical - depends on pace. steady pace and holding the handles not too hard gives acceptable results, going into HIIT and inaccuracy reaches 30-40bpm. Ionic shows always lower numbers. It depends on the intensity.

weight training - lifting, any machines etc. in here Ionic is also quite inaccurate. The reason may be that during those exercises we tend to hold something quite tight which may affect the blood flow but still - it is inaccurate.

spinning - keeping myself in fat burn zone - perfect, 100% accurate with chest strap, adding more intense intervals ( just to elevate heart rate and let it decrease ) and Ionic finds hard to catch up. Still, steady pace results with great accuracy.

running - similar to the treadmill but more inaccurate due to changes in pace ( treadmill forces pace on you, while running outdoor is less consistent ).

Also, I see very often no HR at all. Mostly during weight training ( today I've seen it quite a few times too ).

So basically it's a hit and miss and with my training routine, it's mostly a miss. I don't do much of steady pace exercising and I admit - in this case, Ionic can shine. Changing intensity and pace confuses Ionic and readings can go from bad to worse and even to useless ( like 60bpm during push-ups ).

[erikkai]

For me the Ionic works perfectly in spin class between zones 1 - 5 (from easy through peak intensity). It’s identical to the chest strap readings. After a few previous discussions, I am wondering if the culprit could be the band itself.

I changed mine immediately upon purchasing in February to a vented one. I never had an issue.

But it’s disconcerting to hear about about so many issues while so many of us haven’t experienced them. I hope Fitbit is taking notice and can release an updated OS to solve for.

Of course, like any wearable device there are a lot of factors that play into individual results.

[MariusH]

Hi

I have the same problem.

What did fitbit change from the introduction up to now?

The support team cannot give a solution time frame?

Marius

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@widrig wrote:
Agree. It’s all over the board in every workout, spikes way up. Our calorie burn will be completely in accurate as well. I will also contact them again today, they must be fully aware of the issue now and before they put the ionic out.

Sent from my iPhone

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[MariusH]

Hi

hakamman

Ik heb het zelfde probleem.

Ook besteld bij coolblue

heb je je geld terug gekregen ?

Laat iets weten

mvg

marius

[hakaman]

Ha Marius,

Na 3 keer proberen, heb ik zwaar teleurgesteld de moed opgegeven. Gister voor de derde keer mijn Ionic naar CoolBlue teruggestuurd en dit keer ‘geld terug’. Heb hen advies gegeven om FitBit te dwingen tot een Total Recall van dit waardeloze (en niet goedkope) product.
Ook heb ik tegoedbon gekregen voor de kosten gemaakt met kopen van doosjes om verpakking in terug te sturen. Over After Sales van CB geen klachten.
Heb je hier iets aan?

Groet,
Paul

Verstuurd vanaf mijn iPhone

[MariusH]

Hi Paul

Dank je wel.
Ga nu ook met coolblue in overleg.
Heb je al een goed alternatief?

Mvg

marius

Sent from Mail for Windows 10

[hakaman]

Nee, zou het liefst een FitBit hebben omdat ik ook een Charge 2 dagelijks draag en ik zo 2 horloges op 1 App heb. Suggesties?


Verstuurd vanaf mijn iPhone

[YFG]

Return it. It does not get better