Ionic heart rate inaccurate

[CarloN]

The ionic is my fourth fitbit product so I'm pretty familiar with the platform. The problem I'm having is that heart rate data is significantly off at rates >130 or so. Compared to the chest tracker on my treadmill the fitbit will read low by as much as 20-30 bpm. I'm guessing it has something to do with cadence because at >130 bpm I'm usually running rather than walking. I've tried all the tricks -- tightening the band, moving the tracker up my arm, wetting the skin -- without any consistent change. I can't determine if this is a sensor problem or a problem interpreting the data, but it's frustrating to say the least. With inconsistent readings any parameter that uses heart rate becomes unusable -- calories, cardiac fitness score. So basically I have a Charge that gives me text messages. 

[Morganmg007]

Same here. Mine stayed at about 95 ~ 105 while I'm the treadmill today and the monitor on the treadmill kept me at about 165 ~ 175. It was the way the entire duration of my 1 hour run. This is a common problem as it seems to happen every time. Also, I do manually check my hearteate and it coincides with the 170 average that the treadmill tells me. I also tried tightening, moving it up my arm, wetting and drying my arm, and also switching arms entirely. 

[indianwin2001]

And this is where fit bit fails. With any optical heart rate watch, you really need an arm or chest strap for workouts. For just steps,the fitbit is fine but it cannot track intense workouts accurately 

[CarloN]

The graph below describes the problem I've been experiencing --the drop to the 140s in the middle of the workout, and the erratic tracing before reaching steady state.  The drop to the 140s is interesting because that pretty much is my cadence. I think it's getting confused when the sensor can't get a strong signal and gets fooled into 'seeing' the cadence as the heat rate.  Interestingly enough switching arms fixed the heart rate issue, at least the one time I tried it.

[MarciM]

Hi @CarloN Sorry to jump right in with a personal question. Do you have a tattoo on your arm/wrist where your Fitbit sits? I have heard from a few people that the Ionic responds differently than other Fitbits when placed over a tattoo. I personally haven't experience it, but thought it was worth asking.

[fluxx]

I've got similar issues, heart rate overall is not as accurate as it was on the Charge 2 which did nearly as good as a chest strap. My Ionic shows similar hick ups like yours, in this example the chest straps showed a constantly rising heart rate, the Ionic recorded a drop down after the second half I simply can not explain. 

[CarloN]

No tattoo and no real discrepancy between my arms. I can switch arms for an exercise session no problem but I wouldn't be able to wear the fitbit in my other wrist full time. Kinda makes me wonder what it's missing during the rest of the day. 

[CarloN]

I don't remember having issues with my charge hr. At this point I'm wondering that the increased mass of the ionic causes it to bounce around more and as a result the sensor can't get a good signal. I think that's why it ends up tracking the cadence instead.

[CarloN]

I wouldn't characterize a 10:30 pace on a treadmill as an intense workout, but maybe I'm not giving myself enough credit 😉

[CarloN]

Well here's the tracing from my other arm. Ignoring the bobble at the beginning (me running and messing with the band) it's much more even and pretty much a match to the chest sensor. Why this is would be an explanation for a company expert, I guess. 

[George_G]

My problem just seems to be the opposite.  When working out at the gym my Ionic will shoe a heart rate 20 to 40 faster than the chest Polar band and a manual pulse count.   What's the problem?

[CarloN]

I would time your cadence and see if that's what the heart rate sensor is latching on to. I think if the sensor is getting an erratic, weak or noisy signal it will try to find a pattern it can follow. 

[NirMoshe]

there are differences between the HR when youre doing workout and not tell it to your watch , once you starting workout the HR jumping in ~30 bps 

[NirMoshe]

on the left i have the Ionic and on the righ i have Garmin610 with chest strap, i just started workout on the fitbit and set the chest strap on me to compare , the my HR jump to 136bps 

[allan473]

I returned the ionic because my heart rate was all over the place on steady runs. It might be 80 one minute then 130 the next. I am back to using my Surge - I have no problems with that.

[Iteatin]

I’m on my third Ionic and I have red ink in my tattoo where the sensors sit. The first one wouldn’t track my heart rate consistently, sometimes doubling my HR, or cutting it in half. I’d have to take it off for 10 seconds, and then put it back on to get it to sync properly. The second one wasn’t water proof, drowning in the ocean. The third one is doing the same as the first, heart rate ALL OVER the map.

I have yet to get a single night’s sleep stages accurately tracked with the ionic, wearing it normally. I have to rotate it to the inside of my wrist. Again, never had to do this with the HR or HR2.

Customer service has been “helpful” but extremely slow to send replacements, even when the second one drown. At this point, I’m even between having a replacement device in transit, and wearing an Ionic ... and I bought my first one back in October of 2017.

Super disappointing.

[Iteatin]

Erratic heart rate with elevation overlaid. Strava view of Ionic’s heart rate.

[allan473]

I don't have tattoos but as mentioned the Ionic doesn't work for me. The Surge and Charge 2 do work, however. Have you had other Fitbit models with hr?

[CarloN]

I have a charge hr, never had any issues with it. My guess is that the ionic is heavier and flops around on the wrist more.

[Iteatin]

They also updated the heart rate sensor entirely, so it’s leveraging different hardware.