Connected GPS Pace and Distance is Inaccurate

[DanielMena9]

Went on a run today with my Charge 2 on one wrist and Charge HR on my other wrist. Also had RunKeeper to measure my distance. I started my run with about the same number of steps on both FIT devices. 

After the run, my Charge HR had almost 2K more steps than my Charge 2. In addition, my GPS map on FitBit matched my Runkeeper map which is about a 3.5 mile run BUT FitBit pegged the same route as 1.73 miles >.> 

Why doesn't this device work as advertised? I really like the design and feel of Charge 2 but if it can't do its job accurately, all is for not and I will be shorting FIT as it appears to be a widespread issue (I have maps and photos if someone from FIT wants the data).

Moderator Edit: Edited thread title.

[twhh]

So when are you going to fix the Connected GPS issues with the Blaze?  It doesn't work either.  I switched to a Blaze after experiencing all the distance, pace, step count, etc. problems with the Charge 2 but am about to return my second Blaze because it's just as inaccurate.  I've contacted customer service, read all the community posts, measured my stride lengths, and followed all the instructions, but just like the Charge 2's, my Blazes keep trying to convince me that 1 mile as measured and tracked on Strava is actually 0.8 miles in the imaginary world of Connected GPS.  I actually did one test run where Strava had me at 1.75 miles, the Blaze had me at 1.25 miles, and the Fitbit app had me at 1.5 miles.  On another, I got so frustrated that I set my stride length to 100 inches, synced, and the Blaze still fell behind Strava/GPS on every mile.  Not sure what else to do but turn in my Blaze for my old Charge HR and go back to using the MobileRun feature on the app.  Very disappointed.

[SunsetRunner]

I have the latest firmware, and when cycling with my charge 2, both my distance and elevation are about 15% shorter than recordings made with Strava on the same iPhone (7, updated, etc) that is being used for the connected GPS. It is also that much shorter than the exact route on Google Maps, and the distances that I would previously record with my Surge 2.

So it's clearly innaccurate, after the software update, when paired with an updated and new phone, when compared to multiple reliable sources.

[Rich_Laue]

@katanel I'm 1.65 meters tall, with a stride of 82 centameters. With a walking stride, I did the conversion.
Fitbit doesn't calculate your but uses your body measurements to determine the stride of an average person with yoirs measurements, gender, and age.. There is just one problem, it is exe trampy hard to find an average person.
When it comes to the connected gps and the Charge 2, last week I took a walk with my normal stride followed by the same walk but intentionally made my stride smsller.. The second walk i did 1500 steps further, but the distance differed by less than 0.1 miles
What I did was find a route with a known distance, used google maps and the connected gps.. I did this walk 5 times over a 5 day period. Then added the steps up and multiplies the distance by 5.I then used these totals to figure iut the stride, this gave me an average stride.. You see your stride will vary depending on how you feel or the speed your walking at.
Ok being an average it might or be perfect but will be very close, and the longer the test walk, within reason, the more accurate the stride measurement will be. I used 2400 meters, yes converted from miles.

[Glennbest]

I tracked exactly the same run initiating recording with the charge 2 button whilst simultaneously beginning recording via the Fitbit mobile run app. The distance recorded by the charge 2, and subsequently uploaded to the Fitbit app, was 0.75km (too long) the distance calculated by the Fitbit mobile run app was 0.62 (fairly accurate) km. They are both meant to be using the same GPS signal so they both can't be right! I also noticed the pace shown on the charge 2 is almost a minute quicker than reality. Why can't Fitbit ever get the basics right? I got a similar result when I did the same test the night before. I even tried adjusting the stride length and the distance did not change.

[rwynne]

I seem to have this issue in spades.  The Charge 2 / Fitbit app on IOS recorded 1.33 miles in 46 minutes.  A GPS app from the same phone and same walk showed 4.45 miles in the same 46 minutes.

Fitbit App:

GPS App:

[Rich_Laue]

@rwynne i see on the first map that there is a out in the younder point, why 8 dont know, but this could be the cause of the error.

No the two are not designed to be used together, you should only use one or the other at a time. Also when using 2 GPS programs such there always us a possible deoay in reasing the gps.

[Glennbest]

Hi, in my case the GPS track is exactly the same in both cases but the distance indicated next to the exercise recorded using the charge 2 via connected GPS is much longer. I did this test to show there is a problem with tracking exercise using the charge 2, and fitbit are yet to fix it. I completed a 12km run last week and the charge 2 recorded 13.41km (using connected GPS), and several other people who completed the run with me recorded between 11.5 and 12km. I adjusted my stride length shorter and I still get the same relative overestimate of distance of about 15%. That is way off.

[katanel]

MapMyWalk -> 0,71km, 947 steps, duration 8:17

Fitbit -> 0,72km, 788 steps, duration: 8:23

So..I walked more with Fitbit and shows me 170 steps less. I think the latest firmware update has reduced too much the number of steps 😞

[Brendar2016]

I'm having the same issues with my Charge 2HR, the distances are significantly off which is incredibly frustrating! I have tested a few times, against Strava and mapped against Google; the problem is definitely with the Fitbit.

Firmware is up to date and I have reset the watch and the app a couple of times.

If I can’t get this sorted I will be returning the watch… which would suck because It’s so close to being great but at the moment it just cannot do what Fitbit Claims it can.

Any other ideas Fitbit?

[Rollerskier]

Hi,

I have experienced the same problems with distance with Fitbit Charge 2.

The distance is very inacurate.  In my case its gets far too long.  I have been walking the same track in the forest for years (4G and GPS coverage) and with Charge 2 the distance increased by 30% and pace improved acordingly.  To investigate further I connected my Fitbit Charge 2 to my iphone 6+ and my 1,5 year old Charge HR to my iphone 7.  Started a workout with the RUN function and GPS tracking on the app on both phones to compare.  Accually I was walking slowly monitoring what was recorded.

Charge 2

Distance: 1,84 km

Pace: 11 min 51 sec

Heart rate: 100 avg

Charge HR

Distance 1,44 km

Pace 14 min 37 sec

Heart rate: 100 avg

When I compared the graths.  Its the same distance but for the HR it looks more smooth and accurate compared the the road I was following.

For the Charge 2 it looks like it has more points and moves zick-zack on and off the road ( very inacurate GPS points ). And the distance will be longer.

The 2 maps are attached.

[Rollerskier]

[Rollerskier]

Looks to me as a software problem on Charge 2.  GPS signals are from iphone 7 and iphone 6+.

If I change the Charge 2 over to the iphone 7 I get the same results.  Charge 2 is always much longer on distance.  I am running iOS 10.1.1 on both iphones and has the same version of the fitbit app.

Has Fitbit Charge 2 bugs in the algorith working with iphone iOS 10.1.1 and 4G and GPS?

[Bonxy]

I'm having such an issue with the GPS tracking. I have connected GPS enabled for hiking in the app. I have full GPS and 4G signal yet the app doesn't seem to track the GPS. I've set it up right, I've allowed background GPS tracking on the iPhone and allowed all the other permissions.

Still doesn't work.

[Rollerskier]

Took another test today.  Used RUN mode.

Walked on the side way of the street.

Map drawing equals looks ok for both. 

Charge HR connected to iphone 7 : Distance 3,24 km

Charge 2 connected to iphone 6+: Distance 4,09 km

Drove the same distance with my car:  Trip counter 3,2 km

See attached drawings of HR and Charge 2

Separate HR

Charge 2

Zoom HR ( same street )

Zoom Charge 2 ( same street )

So the Charge HR smoth the line ( better direction versus my walking on the side ways ) while the Charge 2 har no smothing ( zick zack pattern ) so the direction varies on small icrements and distance adds up to be significant longer.  FITBIT has a job to do with the Charge 2 software while the Charge HR fit 100% my car trip counter.

[Rich_Laue]

Since MapMyWalk, according to maomyfitness does not have any native way of counting steps I don't think I would trust its step xount.

[rafsanchez]

Again my Charge 2 is recording wildly differing distances for the same commute I do each night home from work.

A journey that is recorded with my iPhone and Strava at around 4.1 miles is coming up as anywhere between that and as low as 1.7 miles? This is ridiculous and unacceptable:

31st OCTOBER = 4.16 MILES

1st NOVEMBER = 1.77 MILES

7th NOVEMBER = 2.31 MILES

[hawkeye1952]

The re alswo a difference in the treamill workout and what a treadmill reads. Mine is off by about 4 tenths of a mile.

[Glennbest]

From all the reports here it's clear the charge 2 is defective and Fitbit's only response is to request users send info and have patience, but fail to fix the problem whilst continuing to sell the product and provide no advice as to when it will be fixed. I've reported the issue to the ACCC as Fitbit are breaching Australian consumer law by not repairing, replacing or refunding. I suggest any other Australian customers experienciu the same problems to do the same.

[rwynne]

Here's an update to my original post. 

I contacted Fitbit tech support and sent detailed info on the tests run.  At their request I provided some additional test with more info.  

They recommended as a work around that I try the 'run' instead of 'walk' feature.  The results were far more accurate and consistent.  The discrepancy dropped from that 50% range to less than 1%.  

I don't know if this will work for everyone, but copes with my problem in the short term.  From my interactions, I can tell they're working on the issue.  While frustrating, at least I have a workaround. 

[RogueThetan]

USAF-LARRY, 

The comment made on page one re: GPS tracking is not correct, at least according to the FitBit help page. It states that if you wear your tracker, even if using the GPS sensors in your phone with the "MobileRun" feature, it will calculate steps, active minutes, and calories burned from the tracker, NOT from the GPS in your phone. If the tracker is used to (inaccurately) track distance, why would I bother to also carry my phone for GPS?