Does Charge 2 have an altimeter?

[steelcranium]

So, DerekFit says here there's an altimeter in the Charge 2:

https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Charge-2/All-About-Charge-2/m-p/1527040#U1527040

I believe this is wrong. You can do altitude two ways, either with GPS - which the Charge 2 does not have, or, via a built-in pressure-based barometer, and FitBit makes no mention of this anywhere on their site.Take a look on the spec page and there is no mention of one. 

So I can't figure out - exactly - how this thing calculates flights of steps?

If it does, in fact, have a pressure-based barometer that it's using for flights of steps, then why in the world does this product not display altitude?

Just bake it into the software and have it be a menu item you can add or not to your watch.

Moderator Edit: Removed all caps and edited thread title.

[USAF-Larry]

Why do you blieve it is wrong that there is an altimeter in the Charge 2, @steelcranium?  The definition of altimeter is:  When a barometer is supplied with a nonlinear calibration so as to indicate altitude, the instrument is called a pressure altimeter.  The altimeter in the Charge 2 counts 1 floor each time the person climbs 10' or more.

But, why would a fitness tracker need to display the altitude? Do you climb mountains where you need to know that altitude at any given time?

[steelcranium]

I believe it is wrong - and admittedly, perhaps "wrong" is not the best phrasing - because I can't find any information on the FitBit site that SAYS the Charge 2 uses a pressure altimeter (like I said - barometric altimeter). You saying that it does, doesn't validate to me that it does. No offense. 

I live in Seattle and I run up hills so I would like to see what the altitude is at any given time. Likewise, I hike trails and occasionally trail run at elevations that are fun to track. It would be nice to have that feature, but it's not imperative to me otherwise I would have bought a different device.

My point is, if the Charge 2 has the technology built in, why not leverage it further? If the Range Rover you drive advertises 6 gears but the stick only shows 5, wouldn't you ask the dealer how you can get a hold of the 6th one?

[USAF-Larry]

No offense, @steelcranium, you are free to believe whatever you wish. Have a Great Day!

[Rich_Laue]

@steelcranium simply scroll to the bottom of the page - tap or click the word Help - type Floors into the search.. It will come up with this article http://help.fitbit.com/articles/en_US/Help_article/1141

Now let's take the top band off of the Charge 2, you.will see the hole for the barometer that is calibrated as an altimeter to calculate your floors climbed. 

[Dave1596]

Buy a suunto then and stop complainting. If you've gotten to resolutions like this, while the feature works very well, then make your own device. It works, but making it visible would just take a larger board making a larger tracker and even less battery. We know it's a basic fitness tracker.

[steelcranium]

Hi Dave,

Thanks for your kind reply. I appreciate hearing the FitBit community represent the product.

However, adding an altitude visual from the sensor that is already built into the watch, wouldn't require anything more than modifying the software.

[Rich_Laue]

An altimeter based on a barometer is not good for long periods in accuracy. Anytime the air pressure changes from an approaching storm the fitbit will need to be ew calibrated based on your current know altitude. 

[USAF-Larry]

A thread that has outlived its usefulness.... 

[steelcranium]

Good point. Do you think devices that use a pressure-based altimeter also use GPS to "cross reference" or update location w GPS to keep altitute readings accurate, or just use GPS (which has margin for error issues itself)?

[DerrickS]

@steelcranium Just to avoid any potential confusion, Charge 2 uses an altimeter sensor to track changes in altitude. This is explicitly stated in Charge 2's product manual under the "Fitbit Charge 2 General Info & Specifications" section.

Additionally, if you log in to your Fitbit account using Fitbit.com > click the "Log" button at the top > click the "Activities" tab > and then click "View Details" for a GPS workout, you will see a small graph on your GPS map for changes in elevation. 

[steelcranium]

Hi Dereck, 

Thanks for your reply. 
My comment about no documentation about an altimeter sensor, comes from two main sources:

• General product information that is available on the FitBit website product page for the Charge 2, and outdoor sites like REI.com and others that I used while doing my research.
• The product information that is shipped with a new Charge 2. 

In the former, I found no altimeter sensor information. In the latter, the document that is shipped with a new Charge 2 does not mention an altimeter sensor anywhere.

Thank you for sending along the link to the PDF of the full Charge 2 product manual. I do see on page 27 mention of "An altimeter, which tracks altitude changes." 

Thank you for pointing out the elevation graph on the Fitbit.com dashboard. However, in bringing this up I believe your comments require further clarification. While following your instructions to find the elevation graph, the graph only appears on my dashboard for any activity where the Charge 2 was tracking an activity while BlueTooth syncing with another device using GPS. An elevation graph does not appear for any activity that was tracked only using the Charge 2. This leads to the conclusion that the data displayed on the activities and graph you mention is generated - not from the Charge 2 altimeter sensor - but from the paired BlueTooth device using that device's tracked GPS data. 

In summary, I hope it's understandable why I find detail about the Charge 2's elevation capability a little muddy. While product documentation is available, it's not conveniently available. The documentation provided doesn't cover but the bare minimum about the altitude sensor. While the Fitbit.com user web-dashboard displays extra elevation data - and the Charge 2 altimeter sensor tracks and calculates and displays "floors" climbed on the Charge 2, the app-dash, and web-dash], the extra elevation data graph is only available from activities where the Charge 2 was synced with a BlueTooth device which has GPS capabilities, leading to the very likely conclusion that it's the GPS device which is generating that extra data, and the graph comes from that synced data. Not the Charge 2 itself. 

In parting I ask, "could the Charge 2, using its built-in altimeter sensor display a bit more robust information about elevation gain/loss? Total elevation and loss could be displayed on a Charge 2 menu screen based on floors x feet. On app dashboard, that could be displayed as a graph - similar to the one you pointed out (that uses the GPS-gathered data from the synced device)." 

After all, we walk up and down stairs and run (and walk) up and down hills, adding variation, difficulty, rigor to an otherwise flat activity. Elevation change, changes our pace, our heart rate, and our overall workout. Overall I'm really happy with my Charge 2 and I love where you've headed with the new product. Being a data geek and visual person, I really like how Fitbit has developed the dashboard app and web-dash. However, I believe the suggested additions would increase the value and utility of the Charge 2. I don't want to purchase or wear a bulky multi-sport watch and I don't need to access all the data being collected while wearing a device. I do want to view it later. The Fitbit sensors collect the data, so I encourage Fitbit to develop additional access to it and displays for it. I believe the Fitbit community would receive it well, and it might open up Fitbit to other users who might otherwise overlook the great things Fitbit has to offer.

Best,

Jason R

[DerrickS]

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@steelcranium wrote:

Thank you for pointing out the elevation graph on the Fitbit.com dashboard. However, in bringing this up I believe your comments require further clarification. While following your instructions to find the elevation graph, the graph only appears on my dashboard for any activity where the Charge 2 was tracking an activity while BlueTooth syncing with another device using GPS. 

@steelcranium This is only partially true. You'll get an elevation graph on Fitbit.com for any kind of GPS workout, including MobileRun and Surge GPS exercises; but you are correct in the sense that elevation is not shown on Fitbit.com for non-GPS workouts and elevation isn't shown on the Fitbit App.

Unfortunately I don't have the answers to some of your questions like "could the Charge 2 itself, using its built-in altimeter sensor display a bit more robust information about elevation gain/loss?", but I did want to point you in the direction of our feature suggestion board, specifically the following suggestions:

•  Include Elevation in App
• Setting to View Elevation Gain instead of Floors

Top-voted ideas get relayed to our product development team for consideration.

[steelcranium]

Hi Derrick,

I think we're splitting hairs now, as I read through the info on MobileRun.
It's simply the name Fitbit has given to the feature Fitbit has built into
the tracker whereby the tracker uses the data *from the sensors of whatever
Bluetooth-connected GPS device is connected to *the Charge 2 in combination
with some of the data from the Charge 2 itself. Bottom line is the Charge 2
requires pairing with GPS-capable device to deliver the *full* complement
of data and visualizations you pointed out on the web-dashboard. Precisely
what data is coming from the Charge 2 and what data is coming from the GPS
device in order to generate the visuals on the dashboard - only your
programmers know. I could make a pretty industry-educated guess, but it's
unneccessary to get that far into the weeds. It is clear the Charge 2 does
not have to consistently be bluetoothed together with the GPS device, but
the "combined" data only gets generated once the two are synced, per the
documentation.

When "Surge GPS" exercises are mentioned, which refers to the Fitbit Surge
(which has built-in GPS), that goes off topic from the Charge 2, which is
specifically where the questions are directed.

Thank you Derrick, I'll head to the feature suggestion board.

Best!

[USAF-Larry]

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@steelcranium wrote:

I think we're splitting hairs now....

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I thought this thread had been splitting hairs since it began....  

[steelcranium]

Indeed, it has 😉 But there are important distinctions that have been fleshed out about the Charge 2, and how it's doing what it does that I'd wager few knew.

[USAF-Larry]

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@steelcranium wrote:

Indeed, it has 😉 But there are important distinctions that have been fleshed out about the Charge 2, and how it's doing what it does that I'd wager few knew.

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And, even fewer cared in all probability. Most people by fitness trackers to improve their fitness, not argue about the technology on how they work.

[steelcranium]

And I'll bet even fewer buy fitness trackers to troll forum topics. 

[marcv81]

I did some tests today in a staircase. The GPS did not work well enough to track the elevation with a 3rd party GPS-only application, the results were completely off. I tracked the activity using the "stairs climber" preset: it does not use the GPS from the paired device. Looking at the stairs count before and after the Charge 2 believes I climbed 216 stories when I actually climbed 234. This is reasonably accurate, especially given that stories heights vary from building to building.

Conclusion: the hardware is there and works well enough, the software on the device tracks the data I'm interested in, but the dashboard doesn't display it.

[MikeF]

If you mean that it measures changes in altitude then you are correct. What it does not do is measure any form of absolute altitude.

i.e. it can tell you that you've climbed 15 feet but it cannot tell you that you're 105 feet above sea level. (Or at least not without further data that isn't supported/available)