Charge 3 activity tracker not recording active minutes

[Evandood3]

Anyone else having this issue? After a 3 mile hike up a mountain, I look down and see I have 7500 steps, 24 floors, and zero active minutes. 

[Nonnyx5]

Exactly!! If they advertise “this product has x, y and z capabilities” I PURCHASED IT TO HAVE X, Y, AND Z. I don’t want to have to go around corners and have to manually enter things. I WANT WHAT I PAID FOR!  That seems a really reasonable concept to me!

[58Nana]

I am happy to report that I have figured out a fix.  After trying all the recommendations from many, nothing worked, until I realised it was my heart rate that wasn't working.  I did a reboot and tada, I'm up and running again.  

[AKaserBowers]

I have restarted mine many many times. Does not work.

[sxp]

Same here; it's not recording my active minutes. Pilates 2x per week and I get no active minutes yet I am sweating through out the workout. Just cleaned house for 3 straight hours, vacuuming and mopping floors, show I have 8 active minutes! Exactly how high does my heart rate need to go to record these minutes!!

[Nonnyx5]

Yay!! Congratulations! I hope it stays for you. I returned my Charge 3. The return policy was for 45 days and I’m down in the 30’s. I had little faith that if Fitbit hasn’t resolved these problems known since October, they’re going to do it in 30 days. I didn’t want to get hung with it. Best wishes for continued success!!

Sent from my iPhone

[Storm1044]

Followup to my original post, my charge 3 works great, my wife's charge 3 was not recording the active minutes. One thing that we found that did help a little was to wear the fitbit VERY loose around your wrist. Wear it like a bracelet and not a watch. Also the active minutes only record if you are active for at least 10 straight minutes and by active I mean moving the arm your fitbit is attached to without stopping. Try this as a test: remove your fitbit from your wrist and twirl it consistently for 10 - 15 minutes. If your device does not record any active minutes then I would say it's defective. 

[eno1177]

Spoiler

that's interesting... in my case, it was recording, then disappearing from my actual tracker... so if I worked out, the mins would add up... then be gone. what's the point of working out? haha a long reset did the trick, but I'm certain that issues will arise again considering all the problems I've had since November 

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@Storm1044 wrote:

Followup to my original post, my charge 3 works great, my wife's charge 3 was not recording the active minutes. One thing that we found that did help a little was to wear the fitbit VERY loose around your wrist. Wear it like a bracelet and not a watch. Also the active minutes only record if you are active for at least 10 straight minutes and by active I mean moving the arm your fitbit is attached to without stopping. Try this as a test: remove your fitbit from your wrist and twirl it consistently for 10 - 15 minutes. If your device does not record any active minutes then I would say it's defective. 

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[Nate_Dawg622]

Just "upgraded " from a charge 2 to charge 3.. only because it was waterproof.  I have over 16K steps and zero active minutes. WTH?

[Nicki66]

I purchased one in October of last year it did not work, returned it for another one it still does not work. Some other posters have found a way to trick it to work. I will never again purchase any other products from Fitbit .

[eno1177]

I don't know what it is with this version, but it is a bust. 

[Nonnyx5]

I agree, and it’s very disappointing. Sadly, there STILL appears to be no resolution. I’ve returned my second attempt at Charge 3.

Sent from my iPhone

[Abhishek301812]

Just disconnect the device and reconnect it. Worked fine for me 🙂

[LizzyFitbit]

@Nate_Dawg622, @Nicki66, @eno1177, @Nonnyx5and @Abhishek301812, welcome to our Community! I'm sorry for the delay in my response.

@Nate_Dawg622, @Nicki66, @eno1177, @Nonnyx5, thanks for letting me know about your Charge 3 behavior when doing exercise, as well for your feedback which helps us to keep working on our products and improve them.

Let me share that the active minutes are recorded when the activity you're doing is more strenuous than regular walking for more than 10 minutes. Even if you get different active minutes between each day, take in mind that the intensity of exercise is key.

That being said, please confirm the following:

1. Is the heart rate working properly?

2. Have you moved your device a little higher on your wrist when doing exercise?

3. Have you tried restarting your device?

@Abhishek301812, thanks for stopping by and I'm glad that yours is working after reconnecting it. You did a great job 😉

I'll be around, so let me know the outcome.

[LizzyFrost]

Hi Lizzy,

I'm glad there's someone finally here helping out. I'm a fitness trainer and teach bootcamp, circuit, and HIIT classes (among other things) and my tracker usually records under 60 minutes of activity even after 2-3 hours of intense exercise (HIIT is no joke, and neither is Bootcamp, my heart rate records show that!)

I have restarted the fitbit, I wear it where it's suggested for exercise, and the heart rate monitor seems to work just fine. Things got a little more interesting today when I went online to look at my stats and noticed that when I go into my activity history, it has recorded 45-48 minutes of activity for each of my classes plus other active blocks. These total way more than the 56 minutes it claimes I was active. And when I go into the details of each workout, it clearly shows my heart rate throughout but even then, one still says it accounts for only 9 active minutes!

Please help me figure this out. Thank you!

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi @LizzyFrost, it's nice to see a new member around!

I'm sorry for my delayed response. Thanks for sharing detailed information about your exercises, as well for the screenshots provided. They were really helpful.

Let me explain that the active minutes will vary depending on the intensity of your activities, for example if you maintain the same level of activity for 60 seconds, it will give you an active minute. So even if you do the same exercise every day but you do it a little bit faster the information will vary.

If an activity gives you active minutes one day and fewer active minutes the next day, remember that the intensity of exercise is key, that's way it'll not always match the duration of your exercise, but your overall daily activity. I can walk around my neighborhood instead of walking on the treadmill, and still get active minutes with high intensity and without stopping.

Let me know if you have more questions!

[Tammyi007]

The activity tracker on the Charge 3 does not work, and yes, I tried your suggestions. It should not just be your hardest physical exertion, right? Because the Charge 2 was not like that. I took a very fast paced yoga class the other day, but yet it still said “0” minutes. Is this a defect at this point?? 

[n_ewart]

This is the biggest issue I have had with this tracker.  You run for over 40 minutes, with heart rate in peak for most of it, and the result was 0 active minutes.   The answer that time was to delete and manually enter.

2 days after I got the tracker, and intense swim for 35 minutes and a 30 minute walk (I know the intensity as I cover the same route 3 times a week and take the same time to do it), both of these got zero minutes.   I was also advised here that I can manually record exercise?!?  I just spent £130 to have an upgrade over my Alta, I’m not looking to manually track things.

These both indicate a fundamental flaw with the tracker, and all I keep getting told is that I’m past the 45 days for return.  But, my mistake was giving a replacement tracker the benefit of the doubt which extended over 45 days (we have had 4 fitbits in the house and an Aria scale, with very little complaint prior to this) and even though they know I am a loyal customer (and not someone who seeks support for trivial things), I am left to pursue with my credit card company for refund of this product.

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi @Tammyi007, welcome on board. @n_ewart, it's nice to see you around.

@Tammyi007, thanks for letting me know about your Charge 3 behavior, as well for having tried our suggested steps. Active minutes will be recorded for step based activities that are done for more than 10 minutes with a high intensity. Even if you do the same activity each day with the same duration, take in mind that differences in your speed and exertion levels (such as being out or not out of breath, will cause different active minute totals for the two activities.

Now, because Yoga isn't a step based activity, the heart rate data will help to better estimate caloric burn and, in turn, exercise intensity. That being said, please make sure to record your activity from the exercise app on your device. Also, that your heart rate is being recorded correctly.

@n_ewart, thanks for letting me know about your device's behavior, as well for your feedback. Our team constantly works on our devices to improve them based on the comments posted in our Community. I totally see where are you coming from and be sure that your feedback will not be taken for granted. I've been informed that you already have a case created with the Support team. If you'd like me, I can request a new case so you can receive more details about this situation.

I'll be around if you need anything else.

[n_ewart]

I don’t know what information I can get, but please do.

[ShannaS]

We should not have to do a work around on the Charge 3, but I have one that I use if you are interested.  I input my exercise into My Fitness Pal which is synced with my Charge 3.  This way I can still see my level of intensity from the heart rate in the Charge3 but I also get active minutes because of the sync with My Fitness Pal. 

I too am a swimmer and found this whole thing pretty frustrating.  But this is working for me.  Good luck.