Charge 3 heart rate information too high

[ahasenko]

My Charge 3 is consistently showing my heart rate much higher than it actually is. When rested and sitting down it typically show my heart rate in the 75-85 range. Yet when I manually check my heart rate with a stopwatch at my wrist, use a blood pressure monitor or an iPhone  HR app,

they all show my heart rate to be 47-52 range.

I have tried the advice on how to wear the watch for best result (loosely worn, 2 fingers width above wrist) and also tried resetting the watch... it doesn't help. It always shows 20 to 30 bpm too high.

Is there a fix for this? Do I need to return it for a replacement?

Thanks.

Moderator edit: subject for clarity

[AlejandraFitbit]

Hey @ahasenko, it's great to see you around.

I appreciate all the efforts in trying to fix this issue. If you are having problems with your heart rate information, I recommend taking a look at this post, where you will be able to see some things that might be affecting this reading and some tips to improve it.

Catch you later. 

[RickPack]

I am having the same problem. My heart rate is about 50 and the Fitbit Charge 3 reports >= 80. Changing the position on my wrist and tightness is not helping. I will be returning this to Best Buy if I cannot find a solution. Heart rate accuracy is a big reason why I bought the Charge 3.

[RickPack]

Wow, the resting heart rate is accurate now. It was as if the device had to warm up for a while on my wrist, or maybe it auto-calibrates. It is showing 50 at the moment and that is right on target after confirming with my finger at the side of the neck.

[SDC94]

Getting the same issue. Was sitting at the kitchen counter yesterday and happened to see that BPM was bouncing between 100-125 or so. I'd just taken a BPM/heart rate reading and knew I was in the 58-62 range for heart rate. Have noticed other instances where it just seems to go haywire for a bit and jump from 60 to 80's then back down to 60...no activity on my part. Going to give it a couple more days then return it if it's still going skewif like this. 

[JNLTECH]

My wife just got me a Charge 3 for Christmas.  She really was happy to get it for me since I am so hard to buy for.  Unfortunately the HR monitor would be the only thing I really cared about since I do run and thought it would be a great piece of equipment on a run.  Unfortunately, if the HR monitor is constantly 20+ BPM above what my normal HR is it's useless to me.  I tried doing all the adjustments, etc.  Didn't work.  It's going back.

[ltufromberkeley]

I just started having the same heart rate too high problem two days ago, along with the tracker randomly flashing from the clock face to other screens on its own while buzzing.  I have tried all the fixes [changing tightness, returning to the original elstomer band, rebooting from the tracker, rebooting 8 seconds while on the charger, rebooting 15 seconds while on the charger.] Nothing works.  Tracker is reading my heart rate at 144 while it is actually 80.

[KoryDub]

I had the same issue with the screen going nuts with my Charge 3. This resolved it:

As a last troubleshooting we'd like to suggest you to perform a long restart to your Charge 3, by following the next instructions:

1. Connect the device to the charging cable. 
2. While the device is plugged into the charging cable, press and hold the button down for 15 seconds. 
3. The device turns on and shows a battery icon. Two vibrations occur: first a short vibration, then a medium vibration. 
4. The device turns off.
5. The device turns on and shows a progress bar and short vibrations occur. The progress bar completes. Note: A total of 7 short vibrations occur. 
6. Remove the device from the charging cable. The device shuts down.
7. Important: Plug the device into the charging cable again. 

That being said, I am now having the issue where the heart rate is being reported as too high. It is not how I'm wearing it as the way I am wearing it is similar to how I wore it prior to the screen going crazy.

[ltufromberkeley]

Sorry, did not resolve the heart rate problem.

[JaneMcK_]

I am also having this issue.  I have tried all of the steps but none of them are helping.  In fact, Now, I cannot seem to even get the long restart to work.

[toni14301]

I am also having that issue.  Starting Friday 5/3/19 it drained my battery within the day (fully charged it the night prior).  Since then I have noticed that my hr is at 160bpm and I am just sitting at my desk.  I have tried all of the trouble shooting to no avail.  In fact, I can't even get the long restart to work

[JaneMcK_]

After spending a very long time on the phone over multiple conversations I am having to send mine back for a replacement.  While on the phone they said that this is not a usual problem but it sort of seems like it might be judging from this thread.  I sure hope my replacement doesn't have the same issue.

[AB23]

I am having the same issue with the HR numbers. I have found that when I move it seems to detect both the heart rate and possibly the movement?! My resting HR is about 55 and when I am not moving around it works fine. However if I am moving, it jumps up a lot on the tracker but my actual pulse is in the sixties. It tracked at 110 while I was driving the other day. I didn't actually count my pulse but checking for a few seconds I could tell if was around the 60 mark. This is quite frustrating as it's a big part of why I got this particular tracker.

[toni14301]

I reached out to Fitbit and they are replacing it since I'm still in the warranty period.


Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE Device

[SuzY.]

This is my second Charge 3 and I had the exact same issue with my last one. I am laying in bed relaxing and Fitbit has my HR at 130 and climbing. So I should be dead in five minutes. Your fix it suggestions don't work and it's frustrating that I will have to go through the same rigamarole be as last time to replace it, which took THREE weeks because an investigation had to be launched. I am a VERY active fitness instructor and it's imperative that I have a tracker that can keep up with me. Maybe it's time to look at a Garmin because this is ridiculous. 

[SunsetRunner]

funnily enough other the weekend mine had done the exact same thing.  teacher has jumped from screen to screen and vibrating for no reason.  I spoke to online support and reset whole watch.  but now my heart rate seems very high when resting.  I am looking into it wondering if this is normal .

[Jakeg_bristol]

I've worn my fitbit whilst a doctor has taken my pulse using  a fingertip pulse tracking device - there was a discrepancy of about 20 beats per minute at that time [medical device was higher than what fitbit said]

[toni14301]

After cleaning the connections with alcohol, did a soft restart and hard restart; put it in rice for 3 days it still was broken. I reached out to customer service and since I was still in warranty they sent me a replacement. I will say after being with them this long....if this breaks like the last one, they most likely lost a customer


Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE Device

[Jakeg_bristol]

yea im on my last legs with them too. im looking at Garmin Fenix 5

[Mark7253]

The HR while resting is pretty accurate I think but recently when I go out for a jog it measures my HR at 170 while I am warming up. I always run very slowly to start with almost walking pace and I am hardly using any effort at all for the first 10 min or so to let my muscles warm up. I then slowly accelerate to maybe 3 times this pace over about 30min until I am really working. But my Fitbit 3 measures the highest rate during my slow warm up. I know my heart isn’t not beating that fast. Can anyone explain?