Charge 2 accuracy

[beverlyc1989]

Im a custodian and unfortunately alot of the times my wrist is immobile while im pushing trash out in the containers sweeping mopping but im getting steps and my charge 2 doesnt seem to calculate so i put it in my shoe strings on my foot today and it calculated more but says i went 2 floors the school i work at is 1 floor and it also says it was calculating my hr while it was on my shoe strings. I need a better way to calculate steps on my wrist doesnt work because it takes two hands to push trash in the container way out to trash can takes two hands to use a dust mop and regular mop a boost machine etc. 😞 and seems putting it in my shoe strings isnt working as well. Any help would be appreciated.

[hayleymay1]

I sent my back!!! it counted steps when I'd take make up on/off folding
towels day to day jobs and when i blow dry customers hair at work it put on
300/ 400 steps lol not good!! X

[Ingrid63]

Actually, after reading in this forum about resetting the charge2 three consecutive times in a row, it seems to be acting normally this morning. I will keep you all posted whether this fixed it

Sent from my iPhone

[Ingrid63]

Actually, I just did the three time restart last night and it seems to be working this morning. Hopefully this solved it. Thanks

Sent from my iPhone

[Qzie]

don't hold your breath.... it will more than likely be way off again in a
few days. Mine was like that.

[hayleymay1]

I did try resetting it a few times! because that's what the tec people told
me to do but it still didn't work for me because of my job being a
hairdresser its just no good 😞

[Dominique]

@hayleymay1: in your case, a waist-mounted Fitbit like the Fitbit One would probably be better...

However, just because your step count gets inflated because of your line of work doesn’t mean other metrics (e.g. calories, activity graph etc.) aren’t valid. Your arms may be moving a lot, but there’s little impact, which should be reflected in calories and activity level picked up by your Fitbit. It all depends on what you want to use it for.

[hayleymay1]

i bought mine to find out total steps i do a day! also i liked the idea of
a watch with the time / sleep patterns and to record exercise it does do
its job on the other's but not good for steps it adds so many steps on
that i haven't done it makes the daily calorie count incorrect!. If i go
for a walk it's good it counts steps fine but I want to wear it all day
like its made for!! so no good for me the most steps it says i did was
24000 odd lol that day i was busy at work hairdressing (standing alot) and
did cleaning at home along with normal day to day jobs around the home! I
really wanted to like it but its an expensive watch at £130 when it doesn't
do the main thing its supposed to do correct!

[KrisV]

I am using my Charge 2 while working at a treadmill desk so I keep it in my pocket while I am working since my hands are, obviously, on my keyboard or on my phone.  When I had my Charge HR and did the same exact thing, the steps tracked beautifully.  I would say the Charge 2 tracks maybe 1 out of every 10 steps if I am lucky.   I use the Fitbit to motivate me and I also use it to tell me when to take a break so I do not work too long.  I have been known to walk 50,000 steps in a day without thinking twice while working.  I need to watch out for that but if my Charge 2 is barely tracking, I cannot tell what I am doing.  I tried tech support and they told me that my Charge 2 should not work because it is in my pocket and they had had no explanation as to why my Charge HR worked so great.  Unfortunately I no longer have the HR.  I am about ready to return my Charge 2 and go without a Fitbit after years of having one unless someone has a solution out there.  I have tried switching settings on the dominant hand and I did synch after I did that.  It did not seem to help. I am open to more suggestions.

[rmathes]

You might want to try putting it on your non-dominant wrist but saying in settings it’s on your dominant wrist. Then, in the sleep settings make sure the sensitivity setting is set to ‘normal’. See if that helps cut down on arm movements counting as steps.



Rick Mathes

Moderator edit: format

[hayleymay1]

I had the settings set to my dominant hand but wore it on my least
dominant it didn't help either i think if the tec people can't help then no
one else can its something they need to change! im going to get one that
attaches to your body that tracks steps sleep etcxx thats alot cheaper x

[Dominique]

@hayleymay1: just in case you’re not aware of it: it’s possible to have two Fitbits connected to the same account. In your case, you could be wearing the One (clipped to your waist, or your bra) during your working hours and your Charge 2 outside your working hours. Sleep monitoring is more convenient with the Charge 2 (which autodetects the start and end of your sleep) than with the One (with which you need to manually start and stop your sleep by pressing its button). And obviously the One hasn’t got HR monitoring, reminder to move, relax etc.

[Punkin105]

I'm getting my charge 2 in the mail today and after reading these I'm getting nervous that I spent money on something that isn't going to work.  Do most people have trouble with the accuracy? 

[rmathes]

well here’s the thing. Yes, you want it to be reasonably accurate, but NO device out there is going to track steps perfectly and accurately all the time. None of them. In my opinion, you want something that’s going to be reasonably close, and then will be absolutely consistent. Once you get a baseline of how many steps your tracker perceives in your normal lifestyle, now you have a baselines against which you can compare days to each other. The absolute number is less important than the trend. And again, no tracker is going to get the absolute number perfectly dialed in.

I will say, after initial challenges, I’ve got the Charge 2 at a point where when I’m going for a walk, if I count off 300 steps and then see what the Charge 2 reports, it’s usually within 5-10% of that number. I’m good with that.



Rick Mathes

Moderator edit: personal info

[Punkin105]

That is all fine. However, what I was reading on here was they were way
off. Also I had a fitbit One before and that was pretty accurate. So for
me I don't really want to spend this amount for something that isn't close.
I realize nothing is 100%....but this is advertised as being accurate so if
I'm spending this amount want it to do what it says it's going to do.

[Qzie]

I have mine on the non-dominant hand. Have always had it on that hand. The
funniest total steps was INSANE something like 60,000 steps. That was the
total on a day that I took my motorcycle out on an all day ride in the
mountains.

[dustoff927]

I have found that all the features of the Charge 2 work in my pocket.  I remove the bands and place the heart rate senscors faceing my thigh.  the charge 2 picks up all movement at the waist.  inclueding all dancing and walking.

[hayleymay1]

Yes it will probably be ok with some people but it just doesn't add a few
steps it adds 900+ a day for me! iv tried doing what people have said and
what the tec's say but it makes no difference and i can't see the piont in
taking it on and off all day depending on what im doing! Its designed to
wear all the time! The reason it does add so many is because its on my
wrist so thats why im getting one that attaches my your body x

[netwolf7]

---

@MarreFitbit wrote:

It's nice to see you around the Community @beverlyc1989, welcome aboard!  Great information my friend @Dominique, very helpful! 

Fitbit trackers have a finely tuned algorithm for step counting. The algorithm is designed to look for intensity and motion patterns that are most indicative of people walking and running.  When working at a desk, cooking, or doing other arm movements, a tracker on your wrist can pick up some extra steps if it thinks you're walking. Many of these situations—such as working or cooking—do include a few steps in-between stationary periods so the tracker tries to give you credit for those steps. For the vast majority of customers, the amount of stray steps accumulated is negligible when compared to the entire day. For a more technical explanation, see How does my tracker count steps?

On bumpy trails it's possible that your tracker will register steps but these should be negligible in your overall stats. If you have a tracker with multisport mode, make sure you choose the Bike exercise before starting your workout. If you're relying on SmartTrack to automatically detect your bike ride, make sure the Outdoor Bike exercise is on. (In the app, tap the exercise title and then tap the gear icon in the top right.) If your tracker doesn't offer multisport mode or SmartTrack, we recommend logging your bike ride manually to get the best calorie burn estimation. For more information see How do I track my exercise and activities with Fitbit?

If you're doing something like pushing a stroller or shopping cart, your wrist-based tracker will count your steps but the total may be slightly lower than usual.

Your tracker has been tested against driving, buses, trains, and other public transportation and should not give you extra steps when you’re traveling under normal conditions. On bumpy roads or in a car with a stiff transmission you may get extra steps. Though a few extra steps won't affect your trends, if it bothers you its possible to log a Driving activity and remove the steps from your account totals.

For wrist-based trackers, it's important to specify whether you wear the tracker on your dominant or non-dominant wrist:

• The dominant wrist setting decreases the sensitivity of step counting and should reduce any over counting of steps when your body is not moving.
• The non-dominant wrist setting increases the sensitivity of step counting and should reduce any under counting of steps. Non-dominant is the default.

In addition to dominance (right or left), Fitbit Alta also needs to know which wrist you prefer to wear the tracker on. Tracker location helps orient the screen correctly in addition to adjusting the sensitivity of step detection.

To change your settings, in the Fitbit app go to Account tab and choose your tracker at the top of the screen.

If you feel that your step count and distance are inaccurate, first make sure the wrist placement settings are correct. Next, double check that you entered your height correctly. Since we use height to estimate your walking and running stride lengths, you may want to measure and manually adjust these values if your legs are longer or shorter than average. For more information, see How do I measure and adjust my stride length?

Hope this helps! 

---

-------------------------------------------

I have restarted my replacement Charge 2 over 50 times since I got it. If you think being off by at least 1000 steps per day is "negligible" that is the difference between making your 10,000 steps a day or not. I have seen posts where this was not an issue until this last update. Sadly, I cannot verify that as it automatically updated to 22.48.14 when I got it. I have already spoke to Customer Service and they replaced the Charge 2. If you insist that this is a tracker issue and not a software issue, please send me a second replacement but I am leaning towards it being software as I am not the only one with the inaccuracy issues.

[Punkin105]

MarreFitbit thanks for replying however, speaking for myself ....I have read what you wrote before in reasearching this problem in the Charge2 articles.  However, it doesn't explain my problem and most of the others on this thread.  Our Charge2's are not counting enough steps.  It often in the 3 days I have had has not counted basic steps around my home, including going up stairs.  But will sometimes count a bunch while sitting in bed and grabbing something.  Actually, what MarreFitbit wrote is saying it should be accurate and it is more talking about over steps and minimal ones.  I drive on normal roads in normal conditions and my Charge2 is counting steps.  Fitbit is saying  "Your tracker has been tested against driving, buses, trains, and other public transportation and should not give you extra steps when you're traveling under normal conditions. " sooo than why is it counting steps.  If it is a software issue fix it otherwise I'm just going to send mine back.  Again, if fitbit is going to advertise it's accuracy then make sure it is.  THis is a lot of money for something that doesn't work right.  There is no point in using it if it doesn't.

[Howzat59]

OK. Done this Maria. Still 20-30% lower than Fitbit One & regularly doesn't record 100+ steps while I'm walking. I organized a replacement believing the first one faulty but the new one is no better. Incidentally, my Fitbit One agrees within 5% with the Health app on my iphone.