Fitbit Charge HR too many active minutes

[KaiserWilhelm]

I just recently switched to an HR after having a regular charge and my Active minutes are off the charts even though I haven't been very active at all the last few days. I have the heart rate thing set on auto, not sure what I can do to correct this. I have Fitbit tied to my MyFitnessPal account and these extra minutes are throwing off my calorie tracking badly. Appreciate any help y'all can offer

[MarreFitbit]

It's nice to see you around the Community @KaiserWilhelm ! I'm sorry to hear that you're experiencing an inconsistency with active minutes. As you may have read in our article on the active minutes topic, our algorithms detect subtle differences in exertion that may explain why two seemingly identical activities result in different active minute totals. For example if you took a brisk walk along the same route two days in a row, differences in your speed and exertion levels (e.g. out of breath vs not out of breath, etc) will cause different active minute totals for the two activities. Also keep in mind that active minutes are only recorded for activities that last 10 minutes or longer. 

Because our trackers primarily track movement through the use of an accelerometer, they more accurately detect active minutes for step-based activities (brisk walking, running) than non-step based activities or activities that require more than steps (yoga, tennis). Trackers with a heart rate monitor detect active minutes most accurately, since heart rate data allows us to better estimate caloric burn and, in turn, exercise intensity. If you're unhappy with your active minutes total, we recommend logging the activity manually. Manually logged activities override your tracker's data. Sometimes customers report a decrease in active minutes after logging an activity, which can occur if what your tracker recorded was more intense than what you logged. 

Hope this information helps! 

[Rhodep]

Hello,

I have been using Charge HR for 6 months, tracking my active minutes as a key indicator, and in the last two days they have gone higher than expected. e.g. pretty inactive this morning but for a 60 min walk - active mintues showing as 110!

I check them most days and the last two days have stuck out as way off expectations.

Almost as if it is counting all activity, and not just after the first 10 mins....

[MarreFitbit]

It's nice to see you around the Forums my friend @Rhodep ! Hmmm...very strange huh..

I'd recommend restarting your HR by doing the following:

1. Plug your charging cable into the USB port and insert the other end into the port on the back of your Charge HR. Your tracker will begin charging. 
2. Press and hold the button for 10 to 12 seconds until you see the Fitbit icon and a version number (e.g. "V122"). 
3. Let go of the button. 
4. Unplug your tracker from the charging cable. 

Once you've done this, test your buddy to see if this time it starts tracking the correct data. In case it doesn't, please reach out to our Customer Support so they can do a deeper investigation into this to see where the issue is coming from.

Have a great day!

[feistyforties]

I have the fitbit Blaze and I purchased the fitbit Charge HR 2 for my other half this Xmas. Reason was to get him doing more exercise as he is very unfit and recent blood tests showed a possible descent towards type 2 diabetes in the near future.

I exercise 4-5 times a week and walk twice a day week days and my active minutes only come up if I walk or exercise.

However, the excruciatingly annoying fact is that the other half who does no exercise is driving me nuts by showing me proudly his active minutes for taking the bin out and going up and down the stairs. 

I have to break into a breathless sweat to even get near to an active minute or two and he just walks up the bloody drive and gets 20 active mins.

He now thinks he is more active than me and crows about his amazing active minute total.

Please help! 

[MarreFitbit]

Hello my friend @feistyforties, thanks for jumping up here! Have you checked what I posted here about how you earn active minutes?

Try restarting your Charge 2 at least 3 times in a row to see if that does the trick. I was also wondering if by any chance you're manually logging activities that may be overridden your data (including your AM)?

[Hannah0374]

I see this is an old post, but I'm having this issue now. Out of the blue, my Charge 2 is tracking WAY TOO MANY active minutes. It states I had 156 active minutes even thought I only had 2772 steps for the day. This is just one example. It's been doing this for the past week, which then in turn affects my calories burned. I have tried restarting my device twice and it didn't do the trick. HELP!

[Karenanya]

Will be interested to see the answer to your problem. Mine has started doing this from the same date.

[MarreFitbit]

Thanks for stopping by @Hannah0374 @Karenanya! Since this sounds a bit more where we may need extra tools, I've created a Support Case on your behalf - you should soon receive an email from Customer Support at the email you used to register with the Community forums. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to let me know. 

[TNeilson]

I'm having the same issue. I ran 7 mikes this morning and did yard work throughout the day, but it has my calorie burn at almost 7000 for the day. That is certainly not right. 

It has my active minutes at 521. Probably should be closer to 240 to 300...

i turbed off auto tecognize activity, so I'll see where that goes. 

[MarreFitbit]

Thanks for stopping by buddy @TNeilson, how you doing today?  Hmmm... calories and active minutes? By any chance, have you checked what I shared in this post of mine? Also, did you try restarting your Fitbit? Something else you may have tried so far, so I can be aware of it? 

On the other hand, I'd suggest taking a look at this post of @SebringDon about the accuracy of your calories, this one of @PureEvil or this one of @MariamV about the calories burned during your exercise. Since your tracker has HR, what about taking a look at When and how is heart rate used to calculate calories burned? post? 

Hope you find those posts helpful, keep me updated! 

[TNeilson]

Something isn't quite right. I disabled auto logging of exercise, but it didn't appear to do anything. I also rebooted this morning. I sat at my desk most of the day today and logged 175 minutes of excercise. 

[Karenanya]

Mine's logged 361 minutes of activity today. I think I've done a maximum of 120 minutes. It's recording a peak heart rate while I'm sitting at my desk or relaxing at home. Still trying to resolve this with fitbit help but repeated restarts have not worked. I've only had it a month and it behaved perfectly up until last week. 

[MarreFitbit]

Thanks for getting back to me @TNeilson! Please keep an eye on your inbox for further steps about the issue you're having with your active minutes. 

Hey my friend @Karenanya, I did create a case on your behalf with our team, haven't you heard anything from they yet?

[Hannah0374]

I received this response from FitBit 5 days ago. Still having the same issue. Today I have 4000 steps so far and it says I have 111 active minutes! HA!

Thank you for the information provided, and the troubleshooting you've done to solve your Charge 2 issues, which are that the actives minutes are inaccurate, and consequently your calories burned are inaccurate too, and finally the tracker stop logging your sleep.

Our engineers are aware of these issues, and are working to resolve them as quickly as possible. We're always doing our best to improve our customers experience with our products and service. We really appreciate your patience. Meanwhile, we would like to suggest you to manually log your sleep for getting a better accuracy. To do so, please follow the next procedure:

• On the Fitbit app, tap the sleep tile.
• Look for the + icon, and then tap Begin Sleep Now. You can you minimize the app, and the sleep will still be tracked.
• When you wake up, on the Fitbit app tap I'm awake.
• If you want to see a summary, tap View Summary.

Our main goal is your satisfaction with our products, that's why we're always striving to give you our best. If you have any additional question you would like to share with us, do no hesitate to contact us. 

[Karenanya]

@MarreFitbit I've been in touch with support but no luck so far in getting
things fixed.

[Karenanya]

I've just had a really stupid reply from fitbit. I put my husband's fitbit on my arm along with mine and sent a photo. Mine shows my heart rate at 138 and his shows my heart rate as 68! Apparently this is due to "individual differences". I think it shows a clearly malfunctioning fitbit! We did the reciprocal experiment and mine records his heartbeat as up in peak levels while at rest. I'm no closer to getting a sensible answer from fitbit support.

[Hannah0374]

I noticed an update on the FItBit app today. Problem still not fixed! However, there is different font in parts of my app. Please, Fitbit, quit worrying about how the app "looks" and fix your devices! This is getting ridiculous. Hire new engineers if they can't get it done. It's going on a month!

[Hannah0374]

Do I need to start a new topic for this thread? It doesn't appear to be getting any attention?

[TNeilson]

I got the same response, exact wording as the one above about me logging manually. I responded back saying that didn't fix the problem...and they then responded that their engineers were activiely trying to resolve the issue.