Charge 3 distance information incorrect

[Davecoombs]

I have read and followed every suggestion in every post on here about how to fix this issue and nothing works.

My wife and I ran a completely straight section of road with clear sky and good cell service. My Charge 3 was connect correctly to my phone and at 5km off google maps here map my run was at 5.1km and my Charge 3 was at 3km.... how?

Now it keeps disconnecting from my phone and re connecting making me want to throw it the river. We were thinking about buying there units for our rugby team.( approx 30 units) but looks like Garmin will get that deal unless you can help with this issue.

Moderator edit: subject for clarity

[AlejandraFitbit]

Welcome to the Community, @Davecoombs.

I am sorry for the delay in response. Fitbit devices calculate distance based on the device’s accelerometer data and stride length setting.

Default stride length is based on your height and gender. If available, Fitbit devices use GPS data to calculate more precise distances.When you sync your device, our algorithm interprets the data from the device, and you see your distance traveled in the Fitbit app. 

Note that when you track an exercise with GPS, both GPS and accelerometer data are used to calculate the distance shown in the Fitbit app. For more information about accuracy, check the article: How accurate are Fitbit devices?.

Let me know the outcome. 🙂

[ADMcF]

There appears to be an issue when recording exercise using the Charge 3 and phone GPS. I am using a brand new Charge 3 and Samsung S7 phone which has a reliable GPS signal. The resulting record is a very inconsistent (jagged) record map and inaccurate distance.

For example a run this morning recorded as 1.62 mile on the Fitbit but 2.04 miles on Runkeeper using the same GPS. A check using Ordnance Survey App, manually plotted, confirms the latter distance to be correct and it is a consistent result over the same route on Runkeeper. Needless to say the pace record for the Fitbit is also  slower, making me feel even less fit than I thought I was!

Using the Fitbit app on the phone to record the same route is however more accurate at around 1.96 miles. (for some reason the app record stops short of the point at which the run physically stops accounting for the error). but heart rate data from the run is not transferred to the phone if the phone app is used to record the run.

It would be interesting to know if the new Charge 4 with built in GPS is any more accurate? 

Looking at previous logs on the community page it would appear that this is a common issue.

As this is my first post I would welcome feedback from Fitbit.

[Davecoombs]

I'm not happy with your response, I have seen this exact message on other posts.

A computer generated response is not what customers want. We want real answers from real people.

Give me an actual solution.

[ADMcF]

DaveCoombs, looking at all the other posts and replies from Fitbit, I suspect we will not get a conclusive answer. I can only suggest that the Charge 3 is used for paces, heart rate and other data but accurate GPS exercise measurement requires a different app either Strava, Runkeeper. Pity but there we are.

It is an expensive gadget but still quite fun.It looks like a Garmin next time unless Google can sort this out!

ADMcF

[SgtPepper]

I've been hitting this too - it started over the last week or so. Today Fitbit phone support told me that they are aware of the issue (which started recently) and are working to identify a resolution as quickly as possible.

[Joberobe]

I’m using a treadmill, and Fitbit is showing that I’ve ran a lesser distance than the treadmill is telling me. Been on other machines and they’ve all been the same. My husband has a Garmin, and distances are the same on treadmill and Garmin.