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

[amyrose76]

I was sitting at my desk, typing, for 20 minutes yesterday, barely moving my wrist (no dominant hand) and I logged over 50 steps... I went to the gym for an hour (HIIT classes) and logged 125 steps (between each 90 second interval we did 90 second treadmill sprints..

I have had this Charge 3 for 4 days and I am about to run it over with my car. 
I did better with an old school $5 pedometer and hand written food/sleep logs. 

[GraceGFitbit]

Hi, @amyrose76 thanks for stopping by and for joining this family. 

I would like to know if you already checked my other posts in this thread? Fitbit trackers count steps based on two main factors: first, our devices contain accelerometers which can detect when you are moving, and second, they are able to sense the physical impact of each step as your feet hit the ground, as that impact resonates through your body. When both of these factors register, the tracker counts a step.

About the HIIT classes, can you please give me more details about the inaccuracies that you found? 

Looking forward to your new comments!

[amyrose76]

I have read, I think, every post... I have done all of the suggested "fixes" and still have the issue. I understand how the tracker works, I think it is just too sensitive or needs better calibration? 

I am most annoyed about how many steps are counted when I am driving (on paved roads), working at my computer, and sleeping (I am not an active sleeper, I barely move when I go to bed). 

In the HIIT classes, I don't expect it to log the activity perfectly... but both Monday and Tuesday (Tuesday was 30 minutus of treadmill running, 30 minutes of HIIT) I worked out for an hour and my fitbit only registered 22-27 minutes of activity??? My heart rate was up to the max for at least 45 minutes of that time. I did not put it in exercise mode because I have read several comments that those modes don't work... I will try the exercise modes in the next day or two. Maybe that will work better, I hope it will. 

I am also not happy with the sleep monitoring. I do NOT sleep, I lay still and calm, but I am wide awake most of the night. But according to my fitbit I sleep like a baby. LOL I understand that the fitbit monitors sleep based on heartrate and movement, so I read it more as a "relaxation" monitor. I admit my expectations for the sleep monitoring were a bit unrealistic. 

[Di-46]

I've  only had mine two days and is over counting by around 45% this is not what I expected what is the return policy?

[lenny4d]

@Di-46  "two days and is over counting by around 45% this is not what I expected" --- Hi Di-46, I assume that you refer to real 'steps' and not distance (some ppl complain distances are wrong, in that case first thing to do is to check stride). Probably (and as others also mention earlier in this thread) the difference lies in steps while not walking/etc? If you have 45% difference between manually counted steps and reported steps on a treadmill, then the device-accelerometer is faulty. When it comes to 'false-steps' you don't say anything when these occur in your case, for example during driving?, during sleeping?, during charging?, during household chores? etc.  It is unclear how you estimate 45% unless you are also wearing a 'pocket/belt stepcounter'?  Also I assume that for the sake of it you are wearing the tracker on your non-dominant arm with the non-dominant arm setting. Just in case.  It would be helpfull for the community if you could elaborate a bit more adressing these questions 🙂

@amyrose76  "not happy with the sleep monitoring. I do NOT sleep, I lay still and calm, but I am wide awake most of the night. But according to my fitbit I sleep like a baby. LOL I understand that the fitbit monitors sleep based on heartrate and movement, so I read it more as a "relaxation" monitor. I admit my expectations for the sleep monitoring were a bit unrealistic." --- By that reasoning: Is a sleepwalker asleep, or not? Clearly to reach the level of sleep monitoring that you are after you may need brainwave monitoring and not a fitbit tracker. A fitbit tracker is not a medical-quality device.... Whether that is an unrealistic expectation or (lack of) common sense I leave in the middle. It is not a relaxation monitor, although obviously certain forms of sleep-like relaxation may be misinterpreted as sleep. It is pretty good in detecting the sleep stage for people that are truly in a sleep-period and everything else than a relaxation monitor. 

"I was sitting at my desk, typing, for 20 minutes yesterday, barely moving my wrist (no dominant hand) and I logged over 50 steps... I went to the gym for an hour (HIIT classes) and logged 125 steps (between each 90 second interval we did 90 second treadmill sprints"

"I am most annoyed about how many steps are counted when I am driving (on paved roads), working at my computer, and sleeping (I am not an active sleeper, I barely move when I go to bed). 

In the HIIT classes, I don't expect it to log the activity perfectly... but both Monday and Tuesday (Tuesday was 30 minutus of treadmill running, 30 minutes of HIIT) I worked out for an hour and my fitbit only registered 22-27 minutes of activity??? My heart rate was up to the max for at least 45 minutes of that time. I did not put it in exercise mode because I have read several comments that those modes don't work... I will try the exercise modes in the next day or two."

Ok, starting with the treadmill, are you using auto-detection of exercise, or are you forcing treadmill as an exercise?

You don't mention how many steps are logged when sleeping. Not 1000's I hope!! I am not sure if just seems a common issue that ppl who have steps while driving also have steps while sleeping or not, but rest assured very few ppl have this. Still it is annoying for those that experience it. You might want to see if tightening or loosening the strap by 1 hole helps? If you are driving over bumpy roads or those with concrete slabs for sure you will incur extra 'steps'. But not on normal asphalt roads. Maybe you can clarify this a bit further. The fact that you also get steps while typing suggest to me that maybe something is not ok with the way you wear the device, but if you feel it is just faulty then that's ok too.

When it comes to exercising, I always select the exercise and do not rely on auto-detection. Indeed if only to get start and end times correct, and get the exercise stats correct. It doesn't matter what your HR is, it will look at the motion pattern to decide if you are exercising, and what type of exercise. It also needs a minimum time of a certain exercise to be logged as such. So it could be that the times that it didn't log anything it actually thought that you were doing some other exercise but too short to be logged. The min times you set via the mobile app. 

Good luck!

[Di-46]

So far today I have walked approx. 1000 steps (0.5 mile) made breakfast and drove 6 miles. Fitbit is showing 3736 steps 1.5 km. I do wear on non dominant arm don't know how to change that setting if I need to. I shall continue to monitor but in my opinion it is not fit for purpose


Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.

[GraceGFitbit]

Thank you for reaching out @amyrose76, @Di-46 and thanks a lot @lenny4d for this detailed information.

@amyrose76, I think the best for you it's to continue the assistance with our Customer Support team as they have the tools to check you data and provide you an answer more complete. I created a support case on your behalf for further assistance with this.

Thanks for sharing your experience with Charge 3 @Di-46. I know you've checked what I posted above. Indeed, it's important to specify whether you wear the device on your dominant or non-dominant wrist: To change your settings, in the Fitbit app go to Account tab and choose your device at the top of the screen.

If after taking these factors into account you still think your tracker is significantly undercounting or overcounting steps, please try a step test:

1. Restart your tracker.

2. Put your wrist-based tracker on your wrist.
3. Walk 100 steps, making sure to count a step each time one of your feet hits the ground.
4. Pause, then check your tracker to see your step count.

Additionally, I would like to gather more information please reply to the following question: Are you using any other tracker or are you comparing each days data?  

Finally, you can read about our Return Policy and Warranty in this link. 

Give this a shot and let me know the outcome! 

[SunsetRunner]

i solved problem with steps 🙂 i buy vivosmart 4 and it works fine it has no problem to have 0 steps after sleep and no thousands extra steps by driving. i dont know if it has better hadware or software. Charge 3 counts cca 5000 steps more and against much much cheaper miband 2 it is 4000 steps i will give fitbit 3 another chance in next firmware and i will compare steps again. i like desing i like aps and many things but step counting really pissing me off. if nothing will be changed i will sell it but one thing i know for sure fitbit NEVER again

[Di-46]

Does not help with the £129 spent on this piece of @#$% yesterday logged 11500 on GPS phone and fitbit logged 29500+ me and my legs know I did not walk that far.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.

[Seagu77]

Oh, yes, I would not buy Charge 3 if knew about such inaccurate steps counting. My friends like their Altas and all reviews were excellent. Such a mistake! Instead  of helping me move more, it makes me angry and frustrated because it is much easier (and sometimes faster) to get needed steps by other activity (driving or writing email) than by walking itself. It is good that my Charge 3 synced, tracked ok sleep and charged. But I still stop using it as it mess up completely activity and nonactivity. I could not compete with friends and family with other Fitbit models (which seem to count steps better), because I feel like cheating

[GraceGFitbit]

Thanks for having take the time to make your comments about this situation @SunsetRunner, @Di-46 and @Seagu77. Fitbit is always reviewing your responses to provide feedback to our product development team.

Take into account that the algorithms used in a devices that is not Fitbit or even your phone are not the same. It's possible to get different readings. 

However, if you have done everything above in this thread, then it might be a good idea to contact our Support Team for further assistance. I opened a case for each one of you so our Customer Service will be contacting you very soon. Our support team can confirm more information with you and accomplish a solution for you easily. @Seagu77, I confirmed your case still in treatment, I advise you to keep answering to those emails. 

If you have any further questions, please let me know!

[PurpleHR]

Regarding the over counting of steps on Charge 3, this just started occurring with my new charge 3 about a week ago. I started wearing it just before Xmas. I know for sure, from wearing other Fitbit devices for the past 3 years, that I do about 400 steps between the time I wake up and drop my son off at school. About a week ago, this same time period started reporting 1200 steps consistently. There is definitely a step accuracy issue with the Charge 3 and perhaps other versions. I spoke to a woman the other day and asked about her accuracy (she wears Charge 2). Her step accuracy has also recently been off, on the surplus side. We wonder if there is a possible bug in a recent update. 

[GraceGFitbit]

Thanks for stopping by @PurpleHR, how are you? I'm sorry for the delayed response. 

To better help you I would like to know which other Fitbit model devices do you have? For example, 

Fitbit devices that track heart rate can do a better job recording your data. Additionally, 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 our help site at How accurate are Fitbit devices?

However, if the accuracy differences persist, I recommend to restart your Charge 3

I'll be around if you need anything else.

[PurpleHR]

I cannot remember what my first Fitbit device was. The previous before the charge 3 was the charge HR, I think? It was the first generation device that tracked heart rate. I tried the suggestiion of changing the “hand” that the device is worn on and that worked. I changed it back to the correct hand to see if that is what the issue was and the step count increased again. Again, my step count is currently 1400 and I have only been awak for an hour and have not done much walking. I appreciate the hack to get a more accurately step count, but I would think that Fitbit ultimately would like to have the logarithm work as it should, with the data being accurate when the correct prompts are entered. 

How do I restart the device?

[Di-46]

Fitbit charge now returned, as nothing helped and most suggestions a bit insulting

Sent from Mail for Windows 10

[Kellyanne112200]

I have the same issue , charge 3, and it's charging n picking up steps,  I drove to work n apparently walked 3k steps in my car? ! Ideal if there is a solution as it does seem to be a trend ! Seems best suggestion is to advise Instagram so others are aware , wish I knew ahead of time 😥

[GraceGFitbit]

Hi @PurpleHR, @Di-46 and @Kellyanne112200, thanks a lot for taking the time to update this thread with your feedback and comments. It's very important for us to read what are you experiencing with our products.

@PurpleHR, you can restart your tracker from your wrist. From the clock face, swipe to Settings and tap Reboot Device.

If there's anything else I can do for you, please feel free to reply.

[amyrose76]

After using this fitbit3 for a mo-nth here is what I have "discovered"

1) it over-counts my steps by 800-1000 a day depending on what I am doing. So I just deduct 1000 steps a day... if I do any kind of competition I will not use my fitbit counts, I will find another more reliable step counter.

2) DO NOT use the settings. Sleep setting never records the stages of sleep. Exercise settings are ok IF you are only doing that one excerise (I use the treadmill setting if I only plan to run on the treadmill). Otherwise let the fitbit monitor you on its own - it does a better, more correct job.

3) Sleep... use your own common sense. I don't sleep, but when I rest at night my fitbit shows it as "light sleep". I know the nights I don't sleep - so I just keep a separate sleep log and use my fitbit as a guide. (it would be awesome if you could add "notes" in sleep/exercise in the fitbit app!!)

So, I am keeping my fitbit (because I missed the return window, honestly) and I hope they fix the steps issue!

[GraceGFitbit]

Thank you for getting back to us @amyrose76. I confirmed with support that they tried to contacted you. If you don't find the Customer Service Team email you can check in your Spam emails. I advise you to reply them and continue the assistance. 

Anyway, they will be trying to contacting you again via email very soon. 

If you have any further questions, please let me know!

[daisygirlfp]

Not a few extra steps...hundreds.  My husband's watch ( a different model) logged a step or two while we watched tv, my charge 3 logged hundreds.  Any arm movement logs a step.  We bought the watch a couple weeks ago  and the next day fit bit notified me the original was faulty and sent this new one.  The one we purchased originally was accurate and this one is worthless.  Luckily the merchant will take it back for full refund.  Time for a different tracker if this can't be solved.