Charge 3 tracks too many steps

[painterfam]

I've been a fitbit user since the very first one and they've always been a clip on to my waist/hip area.  Now I have the Charge3 on my wrist (non-dominant).  Im seeing 5-7000 more steps a day.. Im assuming because of arm movements. . is there anyway to adjust this?  its thorwing off my food logging and calorie intake suggestions. .   I know I'll get used to it . .but for now its driving me crazy.. although impressive to hit near 18000 steps every day!

Moderator edit: subject for clarity

[WendyB · Accepted solution]

Have you tried changing under settings from Dominante to Non-Dominate. Some times it helps

Change it to the opposite that you wear it. Mine is on my Dominate arm but the settings are to Non-Dominate

[GraceGFitbit]

Hi @painterfam, it's great to see you participating in our Community! Thanks @WendyB for your help.

I would like to add that if you're having discrepancy with your step count, you can double check the information that you entered. Your height most be correct, 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.

To get more information about this, please check this article: How accurate are Fitbit devices?

Hope this helps, I'll be around if you need further assistance! 

[painterfam]

Thanks for that tip . I went back and made sure the height was in there (it was)  switching the setting to dominant hand really ahs helped..

[basso]

I also think the steps count is way to high for me.

I drive to work on slow roads (20-30mph), maybe it thinks im walking/jogging?

Before I got a car I used a pebble and it tracked around 7-9000 steps a day.

The Charge 3 tells me i'm at 7000 when I drive to work, really weird.

[lenny4d]

@GraceGFitbit  "I would like to add that if you're having discrepancy with your step count, you can double check the information that you entered. Your height most be correct, since we use height to estimate your walking and running stride lengths"

What that has to do with the stepcount is beyond me. What you describe above is only relevant for the esitmated distance and then ONLY when using auto-setting for stride length. But that was not the issue of the O.P.

@painterfam"and they've always been a clip on to my waist/hip area.  Now I have the Charge3 on my wrist (non-dominant).  Im seeing 5-7000 more steps a day ... its thorwing off my food logging and calorie intake suggestions. . "

These are not necessarily phantom steps but in one way or another true motions (and thus caloriburning as well). Arm movements in general may add additional steps, although usually negligible. First, if you doubt the accuracy the easy test is (clip or wrist mounted) to walk a given distance of steps - 200 is a nice number and check the increase in step counter, it should also be 200 plus or mines 1-2 maybe, although usually spot on. You may want to check that first.

Your next step could be to set the location as your dominant arm, it might help. But before that I would suggest to check with the step panel (click on steppanel in the mobile app, then select a date and click on the step-count panel (shows steps per 15min interval throughout the selected day) and see if you can identify where the phantomsteps originate. Some people (few) get phantomsteps while driving.

[eagavrilov]

well i`ve got like 100+ steps during my sleep today and 200+ steps during taking shower. how can stride lenghts adjust it?

[lenny4d]

@eagavrilov  it can't! That was a derailment in the thread.

I assume that these 'steps' show up in your steppanel for the day (in the mobile app, click on steps, click on the top panel that shows steps per 15mins) - then you can see exactly how/when they are distributed (you might f.e. move a lot in your sleep!, or go to the bathroom without realizing it 😉 ). To me these numbers don't sound abnormal, and are (as also clearly stated by fitbit) negligible compared to a full day step count (of typically many thousand, like 8,000-16,000 or so). 

These 'steps' do not or minimally influence your caloriecount, which you can double check with the quarterly calorie count panel (same as for steps, but then choose calories). Calories go with heartrate.

[GraceGFitbit]

Thanks for stopping by guys!

Fitbit devices have an 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 device 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 device 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 more details, I recommend you this helpful article How does my Fitbit device count steps? and this post.

Your tracker might count some extra steps when you are driving over bumpy roads for long periods of time.  In this case it's possible to log a driving activity and remove those steps from your account totals. To do so please see How do I edit or delete Fitbit data and activities? 

In addition, I'd like to suggest you to restart your Charge 3, to avoid such high amount of steps being counted.

If you have any further questions or comments, please let me know. Have a nice weekend!

[cyclemenow]

Grace, 

     The problem is that the Fitbit algorithm works with most Fitbit devices, but does NOT work with the Charge 3.  The Charge 3 over counts steps by a large margin.  We aren't talking about 1% or 2%, we are talking about over 30%, and in some cases over 80%.  This is a serious issue that is not related to general information about step trackers.  Try comparing  to(wearing both) Fitbit One, or Charge HR, or Alta, etc... 

FYI, 

Matthew

[Heather-S]

@cyclemenow I respectfully disagree.  My Charge 3 counts steps just like all the other Fitbit devices I've owned, and I've owned almost all of them (Ionic, Versa, Charge 2, Blaze, and Flex 2).  I haven't noticed any discrepancies between the trackers.  The margin of erroneous steps I get is about 1-2%, usually steps counted in the shower and the occasional vigorous arm movement that will trigger steps.

If you feel your Charge 3 is vastly over-estimating your step count, I suggest contacting Fitbit customer service and perhaps they can replace the device.  

I'm wondering if your original clip-on tracker was under-counting your steps instead of the Charge 3 over-counting.  Just a thought.

Best of luck! 

[cyclemenow]

@Heather-S, I'm glade that you are happy with your Charge 3.  I'm comparing to multiple devices, not just the Fitbit One and Charge HR, but also other step and activity trackers.  I also have 4 years of experience comparing my wife's and my steps when we do the same activities throughout the day.  The Charge 3 is an outlier in all of these.  This is real evidence doing direct comparisons.  

I highly recommend you do direct comparisons and get real evidence.  But, if you choose to do so, you might not be happy with the results.   I've contacted customer support, and they are trying to claim there is no problem.  Amazon reviews were tanking for the Charge 3 as well before Amazon restricted reviews.  Nobody can even review the Charge 3 on Amazon anymore.  Also, the moderators keep changing and removing posts in this forum.  There is clearly a problem. 

[Heather-S]

@cyclemenow Moderators move posts and merge them with existing posts to prevent the clog-up of the forums and duplicate topics, it helps keep it organized for those searching the forum.

Again, there's no discrepancies with my trackers.  I'm sorry you don't believe yours to be working.  I hope you find a solution.

[lenny4d]

@cyclemenow

>> The Charge 3 is an outlier in all of these.  This is real evidence doing direct comparisons.  

You don't need comparisons with other trackers : you simply walk 200-500 steps (something of that order) counting the steps in your head, and compare at the end. Under all normal conditions the stepcounter should have advanced the same number +/- a few because the actual step counter is always lagging a few steps. You might do the same while running.

With me it is 100% spot on (+/- the few in rounding).

>> But, if you choose to do so, you might not be happy with the results. I've contacted customer support, and they are trying to claim there is no problem.  

I am very happy with my results. Yours might have a broken accelerometer? Or your fitting is very loose, and it is 'resonating', similar to the 1000s of steps while driving problem? All these things are easy to eliminate...

Moderator edit: Format.

[cyclemenow]

@lenny4d, the problem isn't that it doesn't get the steps right when you are walking and counting, the problem is that it is counting steps while it is sitting on my nightstand while I'm sleeping, or while I'm sitting at my desk working on the computer.  The comparison is to use two at the same time through the whole day and see where the steps come out.  I have no problem with a few steps being counted while I am sitting at my desk, but the difference between others such as the Charge HR and the Charge 3 is outrageous.  I've used both Fitbit and other brands of trackers over at least years and am familiar with the limitations. 

If you look at the forum, quite a few others are also experiencing the same issue.  I don't know if it is hardware as you suggest (accelerometer) or if it is software.  What I do know is that Fitbit support is claiming there is no problem, which is just wrong.  

[BartholomewKuma]

Experiencing the same problem.

Unboxed my fitbit this evening, walked around the house a tiny bit, done a little bit of desk work and somehow I'm up to over 700 steps. It's making ridiculous jumps.

[lenny4d]

@cyclemenow

>> the problem isn't that it doesn't get the steps right when you are walking and counting, the problem is that it is counting steps while it is sitting on my nightstand while I'm sleeping

Ahhh, but you didn't mention THAT, at least not so quickly that I could see. Now we're talking about something completely different, better known as 'ghost-steps'!  There is enough evidence that there are ppl that seem to suffer from ghost-steps, although most people don't have this. It's not specific for Charge 3.

>> What I do know is that Fitbit support is claiming there is no problem, which is just wrong.  

I hope you explained it very clearly to fitbit because until your last message it wasn't clear to me you are experiencing ghoststeps (i.e. steps accumulating while not doing anything). For example, in an earlier post you were talking about 30% - 80% more steps or so. That sentence alone is meaningless for ghoststeps and is counterproductive in explaining the issue and getting fitbit onboard. Just saying....

Moderator edit: Format.

[cyclemenow]

@lenny4d, well, it actually is specific to the Charge 3 I have because it doesn't happen with other trackers (i.e., Alta and Charge HR).  I'm not the only one, @SunsetRunner did a very nice comparison (https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Charge-3/Charge-3-overcounting-steps/td-p/2999338/page/2).  There are actually quite a few posts in the forum about the Charge 3 and inaccurate step counts.  

I can't account for the 30%-80% discrepancy by sitting at my desk alone, or what you are calling "ghost steps".  I suspect that it might be picking up extra steps while moving about during the day as well.  I don't always walk in a uniform and careful way as one might when testing the step count.  In the end, the proof is in the head to head comparisons.  Charge 3 just counts differently than other Fitbit devices.  Perhaps there was bad batch of hardware, or perhaps it is a design flaw, or perhaps it is part of the firmware.  Whatever it is, the company should stand behind its product and fix the problem.  

[GraceGFitbit]

It's great to see you all participating in the Fitbit forums!

@cyclemenow, about the discrepancy you're seeing between your Fitbit trackers. The algorithms used in our devices are the same, so you should see no more than a standard 4% variation between the two. However it's possible to get different readings if the trackers are worn in different locations (dominant vs non-dominant wrist). I recommend reviewing the accuracy information provided on the previous posts. 

About the discrepancy with other trackers please take into account they have different algorithms and so it's possible to have different results. 

If the main inconvenient here is the "ghost steps", the best is to check with support. By checking with them, I confirmed that you have already an open case. I recommend you to continue the assistance with them.

Thank you all for posting and I hope to see you chatting around enjoying the Forums! Let me know if you have any other question. 

[Heather-S]

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@cyclemenow wrote:

@lenny4d, well, it actually is specific to the Charge 3 I have because it doesn't happen with other trackers (i.e., Alta and Charge HR).  I'm not the only one, @SunsetRunner did a very nice comparison (https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Charge-3/Charge-3-overcounting-steps/td-p/2999338/page/2).  There are actually quite a few posts in the forum about the Charge 3 and inaccurate step counts.  

I can't account for the 30%-80% discrepancy by sitting at my desk alone, or what you are calling "ghost steps".  I suspect that it might be picking up extra steps while moving about during the day as well.  I don't always walk in a uniform and careful way as one might when testing the step count.  In the end, the proof is in the head to head comparisons.  Charge 3 just counts differently than other Fitbit devices.  Perhaps there was bad batch of hardware, or perhaps it is a design flaw, or perhaps it is part of the firmware.  Whatever it is, the company should stand behind its product and fix the problem.   

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People over on the Versa forums have issues with ghost steps as well, it's definitely not an issue solely related to the Charge 3.  I would contact support again and report it as you told us just now, because it was not clear that is what was happening per your posts.

I know some people have reported that having a fan on their desk or night stand have caused ghost steps due to the oscillation.