Charge 3 incorrect calories for swim

[Fattacatta]

Just bought a Charge 3 so I could track my swim. It tracked my swim 55 lengths in a 19 m pool. I took 40 mins. Somehow it recorded I have only burnt 78 calories. I don’t think this is correct at all. Also the 40 minutes haven’t added to my active minutes. Very disappointed.

Moderator edit: subject for clarity

[AlejandraFitbit · Accepted solution]

It's great to see you here @Fattacatta.

If you are seeing that your calories information isn't being accurate, I recommend restarting your tracker and check the help article How do I track swims with my Fitbit device? for more information about this feature.

Catch you later. 

[janiehray]

Charge 3 measures my calories swimming freestyle at 2 calories per minute. This is WAY too low. How can I make it work better?

[a0349237]

If entered manually, Fitbit reckons it’s 380 kcal. If measured by Charge 3, Fitbit reckons it’s 132 kcal. These are for the same distance and time. If I look it up online, for 1.8 km I should have spent 450 kcal. Huge discrepancy between the manual entry and the entry from Charge 3.

There is not much reason to wear Fitbit during swimming!

[Fattacatta]

Ahh now I understand. I have to let it auto track. Much better, thank you.

Sent from my iPhone

[AlejandraFitbit]

You are welcome @Fattacatta. If you need anything else, do not hesitate to post it.

Happy stepping! 

[janiehray]

you are right, however, i like the fact that it measures my time, laps and distance. The old flex 2 added it in as active minutes.  charge 3 does not. Why is that I wonder?

[akonas64]

I'm having the same problem.... the calories burned is way off during my swim workout. So what do you mean by "auto track" vs using the swim setting in the exercise app... is it the same thing or are you advising not to use the exercise app when swimming so it track calories burned data more accurately?

[Psh64]

Upgraded to charge 3 from flex 2. After a 2000 metre swim which would usually show over 300 calories burned, its showing less than a third of that. As well, it’s not showing any active minutes and would normally, with the flex 2, show the full swim as active.  It is however showing the correct number of laps.

Moderator edit: updated subject for clarity

[MarreFitbit]

Hey there @Psh64, thanks for stopping by! Thanks for letting us know about this issue. We’re now aware of the issue, but may not be able to provide a fix in the immediate future. We'll continue to monitor the situation, and keep our team informed of the impact to you and other customers.

We understand that this isn't the resolution you're hoping for, but rest assured we're always working to improve our products.

Let me know if there's anything else I may assist you with. 

[Psh64]

If I decide to return it, how long after purchase can I do that? Is the versa having the same issues?


Sent from my iPad

[KateFitbit]

@Psh64 Fitbit.com has a 45 day return policy, if it was purchased through our website. 

Are you using Swim Mode or autodetecting your swims? When you use swim mode, the heart rate is turned off which may be why you are seeing a lower calorie count. 

[Psh64]

I’m using auto detect. Heart rate is being detected.

Sent from my iPhone

[LittleScubaGirl]

Sounds like lots of folks are having trouble with the calories burned during the fitbit swim - if the heart rate tracker is off should the unit not then calculate the calories burned from distance and pace like the flex 2 - this makes the charge 3 almost useless for swimming as others have indicated. Mine seems to think when the heart rate monitor is off I'm not alive? -- I burn less calories sitting still than swimming according to my charge 3 - I've only used it in swim exercise mode and it's giving me about 48 calories burned vs. about 300 by length and distance- going to try auto detect but that seems to have other problems - when is fitbit going to fix this? - my Amazon review on these problems is going up today and will stay until resolved.

[danw10]

I've got this issue too and i see the admission of there being an issue from Fitbit which is good to know and understand. However, please could the fitbit moderators put this as NOT SOLVED... and perhaps admit the problem is there to save your customers getting excited for a swim tracker and then finding it doesn't work?

laps = good, time = good, calorie count = not working. Its that simple. I love my charge 3, and i wont take it back because of this, and i'd even recommend it to my friends! i'll wait maybe forever for you to fix it, but please be clear about the issue. 🙂 

In the meantime, could you add the simple EDIT function to the swim activity record so we can change it for ourselves?

[Jillyalex]

I am really disappointed with the charge3. I bought it specifically because it said it worked for swimming. In fact it is no better than the clock on he wall at the pool. 

[VPrince]

The Reason the swim Calories are low because the Fitbit continues during your rest periods.  It also gives an estimate overall calories instead of breaking it up.   I use another Device for my swims at the same time of my Fitbit Versa.  No Comparison.  You're only getting a 1/3 of your calories burned trust me.

[nbowlds]

This can't be the issue - I swam 20 laps continuously and there were no rest periods.  The difference between what my charge3 recorded when I was in "swim" mode, and when I deleted the activity and entered it manually was about double.  So it "knows" what the calories burned during swimming should be even without heartrate info.  Why can't it use that information to calculate a better estimate when I actually tell it I'm swimming?

[Avidcuriosity]

Hello: 

The restart and swim FAQ page hasn’t helped me. I have a Charge 4 and I swim continuously when I swim and while the laps/distance and time is great  The calories are always massively off. Who is working on this? How can we, as a community, escalate? This seems like and easy backend calculation fix based on heart rate and time. I’d like to make sure this is addressed like the application bug it is, please.

[Strawny]

I also have a charge 4 and have exactly the same issue. 

I swim continuously for 1 hour in the ocean and get less than half the real calories going by research available for time, effort and my weight.  

Or put another way  a 1 hour hard ocean swim achieves less calories than if I sat in a bubble bath and drank beers.  (Reader note I haven’t tested the bath/beer combination this is Speculation only) 

seriously Fitbit.  I can’t read the screen in the sun impossible to see it and the calorie count is useless.   

Why bother