Charge 4 heart rate not consistently working

[Zappo82]

I've recently purchased the Fitbit Charge 4. Im sorry to say i am very disappointed with the product. The heart rate monitor isnt consistently working. If i walk around the house and outside then it seems fine, but as soon as i use my indoor rowing machine the readings are way off. Typically my heart rate on the rowing machine averages 130bps but the reading on my watch is circa 70bps. This is very frustrating and makes the watch redundant for my purposes.

I'd like advice on how to make this work, or i'd like to exchange it for a better model that acutually works. If the Charge4 has the best HR technology then i want a refund. Every calculation feeds of an accurate HR reading, cals, fat loss, meal prep etc etc. So without an accurate HR the watch is useless.

I find the app very good for logging food and water but i dont need a watch to log food and water. I have recently ordered the Aria Scales too and im hoping the tech is more accurate than the watch.

please advise what i can/should do?

many thanks

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi @Zappo82. Welcome to the Community Forums.

Thanks for sharing detailed information about your Charge 4 and the activities you've been doing with it. I understand how important it's to get an accurate heart rate reading to work toward your goals and I'm sorry that you've had this experience with your tracker. There are different factors that may affect your heart rate readings, so please double check the information described in this help article. Additionally, please give a try to the following steps:

1. Restart your tracker to refresh its performance.
2. Wear your Charge 4 a bit tighter and move it about 2-3 finger widths above your wrist bone.
3. Make sure to use the band that came with your device.

[Asker24]

Got my charge 4 for Christmas and I'm having the self same heart rate issue, I've tried all the steps nothing works. 

The weird thing is when I'm working out my heart rate drops like a stone but when I stop it goes up and suddenly I'm in the cardio where I should be. Its not even just when I'm doing high impact exercise like boxing it's everything.

The watch is defective and certainly isn't fit for purpose it's just honestly just an expensive alarm, I've actually went back to my Charge 2 when exercising. To say it's disappointing is an understatement. 

Will there be a software update to fix this issue or is it an actual device issue?

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi @Asker24. Welcome to the Community Forums.

Thanks for your feedback about the Charge 4, as well for the troubleshooting steps tried prior to posting. I'm sorry that you're having this experience. Our team constantly works to improve our devices based on our members feedback, so be sure that your comments won't be taken for granted. In regards to the heart rate data, I've contacted our Support team and forwarded your post so they can provide you with further assistance via email. Please note that due to recent events affecting our operations there might be a delay in their reply, but they'll get in touch with you soon.

[Toffeedog18]

I agree the heart rate is still playing up. I've had my Charge 4 since Oct I think I got in touch with amazon and the first one was replaced. Now the charging is playing up every 2 days it needs to be recharged. This was supposed to be better than the last one well sorry its pants. They have a lot of things to sort out. Mine needs replacing again I think 🤔

Deb xx

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi @Toffeedog18. Welcome to the Community Forums.

Thanks for the information provided and I'm sorry for the experience that you've had with the Charge 4. In regards to the heart rate issues, are your heart rate readings inaccurate when exercising? Or does it happen all the time? Because your post didn't mention, I'd recommend trying the suggestions from my post to see how it goes.

About the battery, please note that there are different factors actors that impact the battery life such as GPS tracking and Spotify music control. If you've not done so, check out the tips described in this help article, fully charge it making sure to use the charging cable that came with your Charge 4 and monitor its behavior in the next days.

I look forward to your response.

[Asker24]

Hi, 

Got my reply from your support team, the advice was to reboot my fitbit. 

I've now been reduced to wearing 2 fitbits my awful charge 4, my old charge 2 and my sons chest strap!

Both the chest strap and and the charge 2 are at the same heart rate and the charge 4 is 10 beats faster. Its knocked my resting heart rate off and the metrics well it must have gone to pot aswell.

This is a disgrace my watch is 2 months old and defective along with countless other fitbit users.

Is there a way to fix this heartrate issue or do we all have to be stuck with defective watches?

[TheLCH]

I’ve had a similar issue. It worked without issue at any level of work out for about 2 months and then stopped. Work outs I can manually tell raise my heart rate to 160 read as 80. I didn’t change the way I use my Fitbit in anyway to instigate this happening. I think I have faulty hardware. I contacted customer and they sent me a bunch of trouble shooting articles I listed in my initial inquiry I had already completed. Restart, reconnect, adjust wear you’re wearing it, the arm you’re wearing it on, etc and there has been no improvement. I hesitate to reach out to customer care in fear of getting gas lit again. I’m honestly just considering getting an Apple Watch at this point. 

[Asker24]

I honestly think that all the Charge 4's are scuffed, the forums are full of people with this issue. They were abit to quick in claiming it to have "the most advanced sensors". 

The customer support isn't very good, I was told "we could see by the workout you tracked that your heart rate had actually changed" They completely ignored the point the HR tells me I'm below the fat burning zone and I know my HR is well in the cardio. 

Customer support used to be great I'm wondering if we have Google to thank for that. 

Maybe an Apple is the way to go although I heard Garmin was pretty good....

[GFTatarchuk]

The Fitbit 3 Heart rate worked great. I understand you changed the Heart rate system for the Fitbit 4. It is terrible. The resting Heart rate stays low. But when you switch to an activity, while you are just sitting there, not moving, it automatically starts going up. When I am working out on a machine I check the machines Heart rate against my Fitbit, 90% of the time it's way off, 20 or more bpm. Please, go back to the old system. 

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi @Asker24, it's good to see you here in the forums. @TheLCH and @GFTatarchuk, welcome on board.

@Asker24 and @TheLCH, thanks for keeping me posted and giving a try to the suggestions shared by our team. I understand where you're coming from and let me explain that our team will request you to try some steps in order to exhaust the possible troubleshooting and confirm that information with you. Because your case is still open, I'd recommend you to reply back to the last email sent by them, that way they can continue working with you and bring you back on track. Due to the current events affecting our operations there might be a delay in their reply, but be sure that your case is on good hands and they'll get in touch with you soon.

@GFTatarchuk, thanks for joining this thread. I'm sorry that your Charge 4 is having the same behavior and if you've tried the suggestions from my post, I'd suggest you to contact our Support team so they can evaluate your tracker's behavior and provide you with further assistance. Click here to get connected with them via chat or phone.

[Asker24]

Hi Lizzy,

I have reply to the email, there hasn't been a reply. 

Thanks.

[Nukeco]

You're not alone @Zappo82, I have had the exact same problem.

[TheLCH]

Thank you for the suggestion. I responded to the last email I received and didn't get a response. 

[RowRowRow1]

---

@TheLCH wrote:

I’ve had a similar issue. It worked without issue at any level of work out for about 2 months and then stopped. Work outs I can manually tell raise my heart rate to 160 read as 80. I didn’t change the way I use my Fitbit in anyway to instigate this happening. I think I have faulty hardware. I contacted customer and they sent me a bunch of trouble shooting articles I listed in my initial inquiry I had already completed. Restart, reconnect, adjust wear you’re wearing it, the arm you’re wearing it on, etc and there has been no improvement. I hesitate to reach out to customer care in fear of getting gas lit again. I’m honestly just considering getting an Apple Watch at this point. 

---

Glad I am not alone, mine worked GREAT for a month or so.   Then it stopped working during workouts, it will catch maybe 10% of the workout's correct HR, the higher the HR, the more likely its sitting at 70BPM.   Its BEYOND Frustrating.

Then, i rebooted, cleaned it, etc etc and it started working randomly again, it was tracking my HR pretty good during workouts, it was till missing peak HR activities when my HR was near 160+ but it was catching my cardio.   It worked for  about 2-3 weeks and then is back to not  detecting the HR during exercise again and no amount of reboots and cleaning will fix it this time.  This is definitely a problem with the device that either is a HW design flaw or a software flaw.   I'm guessing its the former and that is why Fitbit wont acknowledge it as they dont want to have to replace millions of charge 4's.

[Asker24]

This is the response I received tonight, it's absolutely useless with some patronising questions throwing for good measure and yet again surprise surprise everything and everyone else is to blame for their rubbish software! 

Maybe it will help someone....

"We apologize for the delay in our response.

Thank you for keeping in touch with us.

Heart-rate tracking can be affected by several factors including air temperature and device location on your arm. 

If your heart-rate tracker seems inaccurate after taking the recommendations into account, please reply with answers to the following questions:

What were you doing when you noticed the problem? If you were exercising, specifically what types of exercise?

Were you wearing the Fitbit device particularly tight or loose?

What was the position of the Fitbit device on your wrist? 

If you have questions or concerns about your Fitbit device or services, visit fitbit.com

Sincerely,

Juliet R. and the Fitbit Team"

Seriously Fitbit read all of the complaints about your awful heart rate system take some responsibility and fix it because this is ridiculous!

[TheLCH]

This is a form response. I got the same, probably word for word.

[RowRowRow1]

same here, they even had the nerve to tell me to ignore my polar chest strap because they use different algorithims.   If i am rowing a 1:50/500 pace on my rower i dont need anything to tell me my heart rate is not 75bpm.   Mine  has gotten so bad I now get zero active minutes on a 45 min rowing workout with HR around 130-150 the entire time.

Also, its not just rowing, so dont blame rowing fitbit, my other workouts are not tracked either, doesnt matter how much wind i am sucking, my fitbit says 70-85bpm.

I noticed some major websites still recommend the charge 3, now I know why.  

[Murtaugh]

I'm having the exact same issue and followed the troubleshooting steps which did not fix the problem. My charge 4 is only about 8 months old and these issues started 2 weeks ago. 

[ElizBlue]

I’m also having the same issues with my Charge 4. Same replies from customer support. I’m very disappointed, and I wish I’d just bought another brand. I would say I’d like to go back to my Charge 3, but Fitbit’s customer service being what it is, I don’t have the same respect for the brand that I once did. I got more accurate HR readings from a knock-off tracker I bought for $15 a couple years ago. I wish Fitbit would do something to make this right instead of telling us all we’re the problem. Look at how many people have this issue! There are posts about it all over the internet!