My Ionic heart rate monitor is inaccurate

[Mike2222]

My Ionic heart rate monitor is waaaay off when I work out.  As soon as I start running, it immediately jumps to 160-180, when my actual heart rate (measured either manually or with another device like the treadmill heart rate monitor) is actually closer to 110.  This happens every single time I run.  

Aside from this it appears to work normally (though it reads about 10% higher than my manual reads).  The funny thing is that my old Surge developed exactly the same problem when it was about 18 months old (it had worked perfectly until then, but then started giving crazy heart rate readings when I exercised).  

Has anyone experienced a similar problem?

[Amyrlin]

I have exactly the same problem ovary during exercise but quite often reads almost double during rest. It's only a few weeks old and I've tried the different steps on here to no avail. It seems to be inaccurate and then take ages to return to normal.

[Prnt007]

Yeah.
It’s not right. It’s completely useless as a health tool If you cannot trust it’s accuracy. I love my Fitbit in ways but would not recommend one if you’re serious about your fitness and understanding your heart rate zones. It also means the cardio fitness tool isn’t even worth looking at. Come on Fitbit. Sort this out. Im looking for another smart watch.

Sent from my iPhone

[Amyrlin]

Yes, I wanted to use it for HR training, but can't 😞

[Sorahl]

My issue is the opposite.  I have the ionic well placed, and snug on my wrist. My hr is consistently 20 beats higher than displayed, when working out.  At rest, at desk its accurate

John

[large1]

My heart rate is fine other than when I exercise. I have done all gyrations of updating phones, resetting watch,...etc. The only solution is to reset the Ionic while exercising, then it comes back inline with expected readings. Talked to tech support for the last time today. Introducing my Ionic to the trash can this evening with some java beans and a nice Chianti.

[Amyrlin]

Even the reset doesn't work, it stays ok apart from when in high intensity exercise

[Irvin_F]

mine did the same spike, weather I'm resting or at the gym...it didnt matter how close / how loose the sensors are to my wrist..like everyone on this forum, it WAS working fine at some point then the problem came about.

For testing purposes, I did try the reboot by using the power and lower button to reset.. 3 times to no avail.  So I tried downloading different clock Faces and it seemed to have fixed my issue---for now. 

Moderator edit: format

[sdwein]

Just to add fuel to the fire...

I went from a HR 1, which died, then an HR 2, which developed a cracked face. I found these 2 offered relatively accurate heart rate monitoring. I am a former triathlete, and i know what my heart rate is doing from constant monitoring using polar watch and telemetry strap (I consider that the gold standard).

I decided to upgrade to an ionic (more expensive means it must be better, right??). 

My interest is fitness tracking primarily. Well, I would go for a run and my heart rate would read 140 for 5 minutes, then abrubtly drop to 70 for 10 minutes, then it would go back up. It happened intermittently but regulafly enough. Not just for runs where it gets a lot of movement, but also bike rides and walks. I followed all the fitment/placement guides and reset as well as had discussions with customer service. They eventually sent me a replacement which did the same thing. 

I gave my ionic to my teenage daughter who likes the cool looking screen and smart watch features. 

I like fitbit so I am still using an old HR  2

[SunsetRunner]

I am a 51 year old female, marathon runner for years. My Ionic has had my heart rate as high as 210!!! Kinda freaked me out a bit until I read all the issues here! Resting heart rate shows 50's, dropping into 40's when I sleep.

Pretty much every run indicates I'm in peak heart rate zone. I'm surprised the thing hasn't had alarms go off at the high heart rates it has recorded.

I am getting a chest strap to use with an older Garmin and then I can compare both devices. I will try wearing it higher on my arm and reset it before my next run to see if that helps.

Glad I read about other people's issues. Otherwise I was convinced I'd be collapsing from heart failure any day now. 

[Wilf18]

As an older runner who has had a triple heart bypass I was anxious about my heart rate and having had accurate readings from previous Fitbit watches I was disappointed by  the inaccuracies in the heart readings of the Ionic. I was also disappointed with the response from Fitbit, they acknowledged there was a problem and they were looking at it, but that is al they ever did, l now run with a Polarbar chest strap to get an accurate reading. Unfortunately Fitbit will continue to loose customers,I know of three members of my family who have switched to Garmin.Best of luck,WilfSent from Samsung tablet.

[large1]

I have tried everything short of sacrificing a chicken. I only hope Google will fix it since they own Fitbit, now.

[jivehonky]

This man is on point.  My older Surge was better at reading my heart rate than the Ionic.  It is inconceivable that Fitbit let this happen and then let it stand, but here we are.  I have heard people argue that Google is stealing this company... If you ask me there is nothing here to steal at this point. Wall Street analysts love to talk about all the complicated dynamics.  How about keeping it simple: they sold flawed product with no solution ever offered. End of story.  Mad respect for Wilf18!

[jivehonky]

Wanted to love this company... It's over now.

[RobIgoUK]

Good morning

I had this probably a while back but managed to fix it.  Here's what I did:-

Turn off heart monitoring on your watch (under settings on your actual watch)

Plug into power, then restart by holding down the left and bottom right buttons

once it's fully restarted turn on the heart monitoring

now restart again

I also wasn't wearing mine higher up my wrist as I should, I find the standard fitbit straps unforgiving and purchased a silicon one (3rd party) which has some stretch in it - allowing me to move up my wrist tighten (yet because there's some give it doesn't cut in etc.).   Here's a link to the product: - https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07H55CL7Q/ref=pe_3187911_189395841_TE_dp_1

I've had no problems since, hope this helps fix it for some of you!

[PMB1965]

I notice a few weeks ago my heart rate was 150 bpm the only problem was I was watching a movie for the past hour. Obviously that is just silly I also start to see problems with my sleep monitor.  Then I noticed when I was charging my watch and it obviously was not on my arm the heart rate was still showing 150 bpm. It may not have been exactly that number but normally when the watch is off my arm or is out of position it gives me 2 “—“ instead of a number.  So I don’t need to have the discussion about how I ware it or weather it is accurate because it is doing this when I am not wearing the watch. Anyone had this problem?

[RobIgoUK]

Hi

I've found that some clock faces affect the heart rate reading e.g. still reads when you take it off.

Try uninstalling all your clock faces and just installing ones by fitbit.

Hopefully that helps.

[Wipplewopper]

My Ionic goes the opposite way. It is really inconsistent in terms of a higher heart rate. I know from other monitors than when I hit peak on my rower my rate is 175bpm whereas my Ioinic is registering much lower bpm. Making my report and calorie burn very innaccurate. Not that great when that is the main purpose of a Fitbit. 

I don't get this intermittent inconsistency? I wear it the same way each time and am doing the same exercise too? 

[Wilf18]

This has now been going on for well over a year and I personally do not think that the company are doing anything to fix it, I think that they are selling a product that is not fit for purpose.  My purchase was too long ago for me to take it forward. It's a pity because otherwise it is suitable for purpose! Sent from Samsung tablet.

Moderator edit: personal info removed and content 

[Wipplewopper]

 

 Here is a direct comparison of the same workout with my Ionic and my Garmin Dual HRM chest monitor. Pretty shocking really.

[Rafcarbonell]

Hi Grace,

i had my Ionic for about 2 years now and after countless restarting, calibrating, delete all data, software updates, the HR monitor is still off.

i have a comparison, I had a Blaze before Ionic and the HR is pretty much accurate during workouts my usual intense HR is at 120-130 vs a chill jog in the ionic tells me my HR is 170-180.

I know the feeling of a 170 HR and you’re chest is about to explode and lactic acids are built up in your system. Also, I’ve tried several times to tighten/loosen up the strap to see if there are changes or to transfer the watch to my dominant hand. Still no changes.

its sad because as much as you want to track your workouts to see improvement in your (for example) cardio, you cant.