Ionic Heart Rate accuracy

[msg270]

i would like to know if the new Ionic will have the same or a better Hear Rate monitor than the fitbit Blaze. 

[shipo]

My understanding the Ionic uses red LEDs instead of the green units in the older Surge, Blaze, and other HRM enabled units.  Red LEDs are supposedly far more capable than the green units and as such allow the HRM to report better accuracy as well as O2 saturation in the blood.

[WavyDavey]

I can't tell for sure, but from the pictures I've seen, it looks like there's 3 LEDs back there-- 2 red and one green. More LEDs should mean more accurate heart rates?

[steveting99]

A good explanation of using red LED is given by Biostrap here: Red vs. Green LED

Looks like the Ionic also has a green LED sensor to help with motion detection and a way to baseline the two red LED.

[Jorkal]

I understand the red light is not in use at the moment

[Martinefski]

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@msg270 wrote:

i would like to know if the new Ionic will have the same or a better Hear Rate monitor than the fitbit Blaze. 

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Unfortunately is just about the same as the Blaze. It still has serious issues at times depending on your activity. If I am jogging it's not too bad, but if I am on a stair stepper or elliptical it's horrible, off by 20 to 70 beats per minute on average.

The only thing I can imagine is when I am using the stair stepper or elliptical my arm is usually bent quite a bit more then if I was just jogging. This is a pretty big let down here.

[bbarrera]

And still not possible to pair a chest strap, for better accuracy when the Ionic is in situations where it isn’t going to be accurate 

[msg270]

So if the red led is not used then I ask again (the company) I want an
honest account if the HR accuracy. The blaze HR accuracy is terrible. It is
almost always wrong and mostly useless.

[Martinefski]

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@msg270 wrote:
So if the red led is not used then I ask again (the company) I want an
honest account if the HR accuracy. The blaze HR accuracy is terrible. It is
almost always wrong and mostly useless.

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I agree it is horrible, it's almost like a random number generator between 90 and 160 most of the time for me.

[shipo]

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@Martinefski wrote:

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@msg270 wrote:

i would like to know if the new Ionic will have the same or a better Hear Rate monitor than the fitbit Blaze. 

---

Unfortunately is just about the same as the Blaze. It still has serious issues at times depending on your activity. If I am jogging it's not too bad, but if I am on a stair stepper or elliptical it's horrible, off by 20 to 70 beats per minute on average.

The only thing I can imagine is when I am using the stair stepper or elliptical my arm is usually bent quite a bit more then if I was just jogging. This is a pretty big let down here.

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When you're on the stair stepper or the elliptical, are you swinging your arms normally or are they more or less stationary?

[JonRFit]

I think it's pretty accurate... far more accurate than the blaze. I'm not really sure what these other guys are talking about. I've even tested it with my pulse. It even picks up rather quickly when I vagal down to reduce my heart rate. It's also far more accurate picking up the quick bursts in HR with weightlifting.

The red lights are infrared so you won't see them and are functional.

[msg270]

If that is true then how can fitbit continue to lie to the public about
these crappy watches. $400 for something that isn't a good smartwatch and
isn't a good sports/HR monitor.

[Martinefski]

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shipo wrote:  When you're on the stair stepper or the elliptical, are you swinging your arms normally or are they more or less stationary?

When I use the stair stepper my hands are usually stationary on the stepper handles, when I am on the elliptical they are placed on the elliptical handles but swing with the movement as the equipment is intended to be used.

As I mentioned before maybe it's because my arms are bent more or heck maybe it's that my hands are gripping something I don't know? But I do know with these two pieces of equipment the accuracy is horrible.

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[JonRFit]

Again not sure what you are talking about. The watch is $300, not $400.

[N8teGee]

As far as I can see the red LEDs are not active. I even looked at it through a video camera to see if there was any infrared light, none. 

[MiamiKids1]

glad to hear I am not the only one--hr is awful

[RalfSD]

So far my experience with HR is a mixed bag, Did walking, fast bike ride and kick-boxing class with the ionic. Walking,..., was good. During the bike ride it was way out of whack for the first 15 minutes with giving me > 200 beats per minute, whereas my myzone sensor reported about 140. After 15 minutes or so it got relatively close to what my myzone heartrate sensor reported. During kickboxing this morning it started again with a heart rate significantly above what was real. Resting heart rate over 3 days was good nd matched my historical past. I did not have these glitches with the Fitbit Surge I have for 3 years ... hope they fix this soon.

[MiamiKids1]

Was curious if you would keep the item if the HR is so far off????

[Tedzone]

Oh, that’s great then!  According to my blaze and my charge2 I’m a super athlete who does hours of fat burn per day LOL.    I think just about the only thing that HR sensor is somewhat accurate in, is giving you your resting heart rate after a few days of wearing the watch. 

[Bauer24]

I’ve used fitbit surge and Apple watches. Both of these have shown random numbers even jumping from one end to the other randomly. Worst still these random readings are from just walking. 

The Fitbit ionic on the other hand after having it on for five days now i have yet to seen any random numbers. It certainly seems more accurate than the Apple watches