Ionic heart rate measure too fast

[Darice1]

I have had several Fitbits, from the steps only type many years ago to the Surge, then the Blaze and now the Ionic. Unfortunately the Ionic is not measuring my heart rate correctly. In all my Gym workouts, where my heart rate never gets as fast as it would when I run, it showing my peak at over 190 beats. This is wrong, I doubt it ever gets over 150 which is what the Blaze always measured, plus I can measure it manually and it just plan not that high. I'm over 50 and I can just get my Heart rate up to 170 when I run although it's not pleasant. 

I quite like the Ionic but is it the model or just my particular one? Anyone else have this problem? 

[SunsetRunner]

Hey!

I've actually had this before (and do sometimes get quite a high erroneous reading on some occasions which show up as spikes on the graphs in the app). 

For me, a simple restart or taking the device off and giving the sensors a quick wipe and putting back on with a snug fit does help. I'm a bit like you and know my standard HR's and when it shows it's higher than you know it is, it certainly is frustrating!

[DavideFitbit]

Hello @Darice1, welcome to the Community forums, and thank you for your help with this @SunsetRunner. 

I'm sorry to see that you've been having trouble with the accuracy of heart rate data from your Ionic watches. Before considering other options, I would recommend performing a restart and to follow all the instructions in this article to improve the accuracy of heart rate information: How to I improve the accuracy of my heart rate rate reading?  This has been useful to other users who have experienced something similar. 

I hope this helps, keep me posted. 

[johnnybbad]

Just bumping this thread up. As a loyal longtime  fitbit customer. I decided to upgrade from my Fitbit Charge 3 to the Fitbit Iconic.  I made the mistake of doing this before doing some more research and coming across this forum.  My Iconic has a consistent issues of inaccurate heart rate readings and intermittent situations where the heart rate monitor just stops working.  The heart rate readings on average tend to me 20+ beats per minute higher than actual, and that is the resting heart rate.  This inaccuracy throws my Cardio Score off.  I bought the fitbit to monitor and improve my Cardio Fitness level.  This issue renders my Iconic useless and worthless.  It appears this has been a long standing issue based on posts from others.  It also appears that Fitbit may be aware but have done little to address it through a firmware update.  That's a shame as I am done with Fitbit. You just lost another loyal customer.  My next purchase will either be a Garmin Vivoactive 3 or an Apple Series 4 watch

[Darice1]

I’ve had the issue of too high not to low. I have persevered with it and managed to make it work by keeping the band firm when I exercise and knowing the occasion high reading is wrong. Unlikely to buy another unless they give some guarantee of its ability to accurately measure ones health stats. There needs to be some regulations in the industry and ridged standards.

Kind regards,

D'Arcy Greig

[johnnybbad]

I totally agree with you Darcie1. And from a business point of view when you consider Fitbit’s failure to address this will only lead to lost sales you have to question how serious they are in keeping and expanding their share of the market. I suspect they rushed the Iconic out to market before thoroughly testing it to iron out any wrinkles. Worse when customers brought this to their attention a year or more ago, they didn’t make serious enough efforts to resolve it through a firmware upgrade. That doesn’t inspire confidence in me to buy another Fitbit. Fitbit is not worth my hard earned money 

[DavideFitbit]

Hi @johnnybbad and @Darice1, welcome to the Community forums.  

I'm sorry to see that you've experienced trouble with the accuracy of the heart rate information and measurements. It is particularly difficult when it comes to accuracy of data, as it requires more research and tests. Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback regarding the accuracy; comments from users are always useful to continue to improving the quality of products and services. 

Before considering other options, please let me know if you already tried the steps mentioned here earlier and if you noticed any change on the accuracy of data. Otherwise, I can certainly go ahead and send your information to Customer Support, so they can provide you with further assistance. 

Please keep me posted. 

[ClaireT2]

Dear Moderator,

Been there, done that to all of your recommended adjustments. It did not fix the issue. I had a variety of Fitbits and was a loyal customer for nearly 4 years. I purchased the Ionic in May 2018 and noticed my heart rate was supposedly 208 beats a minute during a half marathon (no way). I reported the issue to FitBit, for a ticket number and a song and dance about resets, how to wear it, etc. I patiently waited a year for a fix that never came. I am now the proud owner of a Garmin Vivoactive 3.

[ClaireT2]

I really like my Vivoactive 3. I’ve never had an issue connector staying connected to GPS like I did with the Ionic. It also provides additional stats that the Ionic did not such as cadence. Only 2 complaints so far:

1. It does not track sleep as well as FitBit

2. It does not provide a low battery notification.

I’m glad I made the switch! 

[scksteve]

I have the same problem.  It's not any particular exercise, but sporadically registers erroneously high readings. Stationary bike for instance, manually measure 115 - 125 bpm, Ionic shows in the 160's.  I get off the bike, it seems to correct itself most of the time.  Annoying.

[maureen.b]

Yes I too think my heart reading is off. My opinion is based on previous readings over nearly three years using the Surge. I had to buy another device because the strap on the Surge (which could not be replaced) gave out. My ionic puts my resting heart rate 10-15 beats higher than the Surge. 

[burney303]

I too have the same issue with my fitbit ionic.  My heart rate goes straight to 180 when i know it is actually closer to 20 via manual measurement or other machine that i'm working out on.  Is there a firmware fix yet?  Frustrating

Moderator edit: format

[jkaltes]

Not long after resetting my Ionic watch, I selected workout in the Exercise app of my watch. While I continued brushing my teeth, my heart rate, according to the watch, began to rise, as shown in the figure.
These heart rate measurements I obviously fake. Amazon sells imitations of Fitbit Ionic or, like the car companies in Dieselgate, Fitbit could not easily deliver and decided to cheat.
How is it possible that the heart rate monitoring of Fitbit Charge 3 is rated so highly and the much more expensive Fitbit ionic is such a mess?
In any case I return the watch to the seller.

 

[FBTim]

Planning to get a Garmin next time.  The Heart Rate is the newest issue having trouble charging though really sucks.

[yvonne2907]

Hi,

If you still have your Surge you CAN replace the strap. There are several on Amazon. I've had mine 4 years and replaced the strap twice. Just be aware though that once you've fitted the strap you cannot take it off again without breaking it. The straps are not interchangeable. I've still got my Surge and I still wear it if I don't want to risk my newer tracker getting scratched.

[maureen.b]

Thanks so much for this Yvonne!  I've now ordered a couple of straps from Amazon and look forward to seeing how they fit.

[NancyM]

Yesterday I noticed that I had met my calorie goal for the day and after looking saw my heart rate had been about 150 while watching TV.  I used another heart rate monitor and compared.  The Ionic is off by 20+ Bpm. Was working fine in the year I’ve had it.  I cleaned the sensors, did a restart, and turned it off and back on. Put it on and my heart rate skyrocketed to 175 as I watched, while my other monitor held steady.  I can only surmise it is just broken now, since the various solutions have only made it worse!!

is there a solution that works? 

Have had fitbits since 2014.  The One, Charge 2, and Ionic.  Thinking about changing.