Does Fitbit Charge 3 Accurately Track Sleep?

[SunsetRunner]

I am tired of the Alta saying I dont fall asleep until 4 am. I find that hard to believe since I take an Ambien and pass out. I want to get off Ambien and it is very important that my device tracks my sleep quality and quantity accurately. Do the Charge models do this? Or should I switch devices entirely?

Moderator Edit: Updated Subject for Clarity

[MarreFitbit]

Welcome on board @SunsetRunner, it's nice to see you here! Sorry to hear that your Alta isn't tracking your sleep accurately. 

Please feel free to check the different Charge 2 and Charge 3 and any other Fitbit device's sleep tracking threads to get more details on sleep experiences with those trackers. That way, we can keep the Community organized and on topic.

Regarding Charge 3 sleep tracking; it should work properly tracking your sleep and sleep stages. Once released, we will see the user's experiences. Until then, please check the details for Charge 3 here.

Additionally, I'd recommend taking a look at the article: What should I know about sleep stages?

The algorithms used in Fitbit devices are the same, so you should see no more than a standard 4% variation between the two. It's possible to get different readings if the trackers are worn in different locations (dominant vs non-dominant wrist). We recommend reviewing the accuracy information provided on our help site at help.fitbit.com. 

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

[pilv13]

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@SunsetRunner wrote:
I am tired of the Alta saying I dont fall asleep until 4 am. I find that hard to believe since I take an Ambien and pass out. I want to get off Ambien and it is very important that my device tracks my sleep quality and quantity accurately. Do the Charge models do this? Or should I switch devices entirely?

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As far as I know Garmin and Polar are the only other manufacturers, at the moment, with fitness trackers that have sleep tracking worth mentioning.

Unfortunately Fitbit devices are the most advanced of the three. So the options are very limited.

Also it's worth noting that using a drug like Ambien doesn't actually make you sleep, it's currently beyond medical science to do that. You just - like you said - pass out. So maybe you are actually falling asleep, to natural sleep, around 4 am?

[ImGettingFitter]

The Versa sleep tracking is garbage. There is a 38 page thread on that. I can't speak to the Charge 3 but I am also awaiting some feedback on that.

[pilv13]

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@ImGettingFitter wrote:

The Versa sleep tracking is garbage. There is a 38 page thread on that. I can't speak to the Charge 3 but I am also awaiting some feedback on that.

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That's a bit disconcerting to hear. The only real reason I'm considering Fitbit Charge 3 is because of the sleep tracking.

Versa has the same SpO2 sensor that Charge 3 has, so it's not going to get magically better unless they have a major software update coming up.

[SantiR]

@pilv13 I hope you're doing well! Thanks for sharing your experience about sleep on this thread. You can also check the Sleep Better Board to help other users too. 

I'd recommend waiting until you receive your Charge 3. This way you can try the sleep feature yourself and get a better and own opinion/experience about it. Feel free to share your results on this thread. 

@ImGettingFitter I hope you're doing well too. Thanks for sharing your experience on this thread. Feedback for Charge 3's sleep feature will soon come as those devices are shipping very soon.

Keep me posted! 

[Jamster606]

I have had my Charge 3 for theee nights and am very disappointed in the sleep tracking. I have it on normal setting, and yet it says I am “awake” almost every hour. Last night it logged a 10 minute stretch as awake. My previous Charge HR would barely show me as restless on most nights and never awake. I have gone from getting an average of around 7.5 hours of sleep each night to not even getting 7 hours - over 30 minutes of sleep gone. For a wellness program at work, I need to track my sleep and activity and this is now negatively impacting my work. I cannot understand what constitutes as awake, because it sure isn’t actually waking up. 

[donalduck]

I have a similar problem. I went from Flex 2 to Charge 3. My awake times went from 30 minutes on Flex 2 to over an hour on Charge 3. Fitbit device says 10-30 awake minutes is recommended yet that is below the benchmark 15%. Can anyone why I'm now awake more but under less than the benchmark?

[rottacabba]

I have the same problem. My sleep readings show that I am awake always more than 1 hour every night. I've been wearing the Charge 3 for more than 3 months now and there is always a problem with something, either heart rate during exercise or the step count etc. (I'm not even mentioning about SpO2 issue) but sleep tracking was the main reason why I got fitbit. For example, last night, in the middle of the night, around 3am, I seemed to be awake for 24 minutes continuously. I mean to be awake for 24 min nonstop, I have to be able to remember it, right? Because no thanks to fitbit that I can remember every minute when I am awake during the nights now. I became so conscious that I wake up everytime I turn in the bed:( This wasn't the case before fitbit. To be awake for more than 15-20m nonstop one has to go to the toilet or do something else in the bed, right?! This has become so frustrating! After reading many community messages, maybe most of the people are right to think about returning the product. I guess the technology is really not there yet to understand let alone measure something as complex as sleep.

[donalduck]

I missed out on becoming a beta tester for the current sleep app update. But, my Charge 3 does seem to be telling me I'm losing about an hour, more or less, no matter how much, or little time I spend trying to sleep! That seems odd to me. With Charge 2, I could lose 15 minutes or 2.5 hours, but with Charge 3 it's a constant 1 hour, plus or minus a few minutes. For New Years, I stayed up late and was in bed for fewer hours, but still lost 1 hour. That seems to be a pattern, I would like to be able to see a graph of only my "awake time" across time. 

[impalagirl1974]

No it doesn't.  I had my suspicions about the sleep tracking pretty much since I bought the thing but last week I was up at 5am, drove to Sheetz and got gas before the rush of people hit (winter storm was coming), and went back to bed when I got home.  I don't live right next to the gas station so between  getting dressed and getting there and back, and changing back into my nightshirt, I was awake for about 1/2 hour and the Charge 3 said that I was in light and deep sleep during the time I was out running around buying gas.  So no, it's not accurate at ALL.

[Eryri]

I have had Charge 3 for 8 days and so far NOT impressed by monitoring of sleep accuracy.  I changed the setting to sensitive last night and do not feel accuracy improved.  Although sleep tracker was not my prime motive for buying the Charge 3, i do have sleep problems and hoped the sleep tracker would be a useful bonus.  I sincerely hope Fitbit do a significant free upgrade on this soon.

[Eryri]

I have found the same issue - sleep tracking telling me i am consistently awake for around an hour each night.  I do have sleep problems but the tracker is missing times i have got up for a wee and telling me i am in light sleep when i have awake and checking the clock!

[LThdwYm4]

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Sleep tracking seems to be fairly accurate, however it still often logs "steps" while asleep.

@pilv13 wrote:

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@SunsetRunner wrote:
I am tired of the Alta saying I dont fall asleep until 4 am. I find that hard to believe since I take an Ambien and pass out. I want to get off Ambien and it is very important that my device tracks my sleep quality and quantity accurately. Do the Charge models do this? Or should I switch devices entirely?

---

As far as I know Garmin and Polar are the only other manufacturers, at the moment, with fitness trackers that have sleep tracking worth mentioning.

Unfortunately Fitbit devices are the most advanced of the three. So the options are very limited.

Also it's worth noting that using a drug like Ambien doesn't actually make you sleep, it's currently beyond medical science to do that. You just - like you said - pass out. So maybe you are actually falling asleep, to natural sleep, around 4 am?

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Oura rings track sleep far better than fitbit and give more data too.  Fitbit are definitely not "the most advanced" devices.

Moderator edit: merged reply

[millrun74]

Hi, the sleep settings for my Charge 3 are set to normal. I go to bed at 11 and get up at 6:30. The Charge 3 says I'm sleeping under 2 hours a night. I shudder to think what it would say if I set it to sensitive. I have a Charge HR but the strap for the band broke--it would always give me 6+ hours. It's costing me money in my health account. 

Rob

[Chris666]

My charge 3 thinks that I'm in light sleep when I'm in bed relaxed but awake. I can do yogic breathing whilst lying down and that counts as sleep too. Apart from that and some sync problems it's fine 

[Ksanral]

I find it accurate in terms of awake/light/deep/REM stages. What bothers me is that it always tells I fell asleep hours after I actually do. So for example, last night I went to sleep at 1am, and I was asleep by 2, but the fitbit logged it as if I fell asleep at 5am. 

[PheonixBunny78]

Charge 3 is goodish. I do have a targeted bed time and targeted wake up time, and maybe that will help, because when I nap during the day my stats are different 

[donalduck]

It's been nearly 5 months using Fitbit Charge 3. In that time I've come to accept not being able to regularly lose less than an hour of sleep. By comparison, my Fitbit Charge 2 was telling me I was awake for 30 minutes. Reading Fitbit's commentary regarding their Charge 3 methodology, some of the increased "awake" time comes from what Charge 2 was recording as "restless". Another way of looking at this is to notice that quality "sleep" time drops from Charge 2 to using Charge 3. There's some psychology in being told you're getting less sleep. You begin to believe it even if your sleeping habits didn't change. So I felt chronically tired, using Charge 3. Go figure. Still, my numbers were better than my benchmark group for REM and DEEP sleep. I started adding a half-hour of "bed time" to get roughly 7.5 hrs of "sleep time". That worked, and power of psychology or not, I do feel better in the mornings. Aside from this, I wish Charge 3 would also give me absolute benchmarks instead of percentages. I could be hitting the benchmarks, but still not getting enough total "sleep time". I do understand I may be "robbing Peter to pay Paul" if I am under the benchmark for REM and over the benchmark for DEEP sleep. What is the perfect balance? And, where are the benchmarks for total "sleep time" and "bed time"? These would be useful to have, me thinks. 

[_Cicero_]

No. The Charge 3's sleep tracking is garbage. It has worked for me once. Big disappointment there.

I'm likely going to invest in an Oura ring for a working sleep tracker.