GPS distance totally wrong on Charge 3

[BertilDator]

Was doing cross country skiing, and set activity to "run" (as there is very limited activity list). Had phone connected, and got perfect GPS route on Fitbit activity. However, all the splits are way off. Total distance in Fitbit shows 4.8km while real distance was 7.5 km (I know the route, and even double checked via ontegomap.com).

How can Fitbit calculate distance so wrongly even though the GPS route is perfect on the activity? I repeat, the tracked route is 100% correct on the Fitbit activity in question, so there is no disconnections, or trees, or anything between the phone and GPS satellite, nor between phone and Charge 3.

Is Fitbit using GPS route for distance calculation when assisted GPS is enabled during "Run" activity, or does it STILL use stride length?

Should I use "Biking" activity for XC skiing to get accurate distance based on the GPS route?

[SunsetRunner]

What a **ahem**te product the charge 3 is. Same track, look how far the 2km point is apart. Can I somehow refund this after 11 months?

 

 

[Nneicho]

After 3 weeks of asking me questions, and re loading it etc....they decided the pebble was not longer functioning so they have sent me a new one. Tomorrow i will run a normal route and see what it does.....i dont think they know what it is thats caused the issue as they are mot replying to anyones posts. Plus google have taken over fitbit so it will be interesting to see what happens now 

[BrandonW92]

I've gone through the exact same process. My replacement is still doing the same so now my issue is with the highest support team and I'm awaiting an answer. Not hopeful that's I'm going to get one though!

[HansimGlueck]

I am quite sure that this is not because of the pebble itself but because of the software. So I doubt that changing the watch will help.

Because, what I realized yesterday is, that if you upload the track to Strava, and correct the distance via their software it fits quite nicely.

So what I am doing now is using the watch to track the distance, upload all the data to Strava and use Strava for software and coaching. Since all the workouts get uploaded to Strava automatically it works quite well. Just the distance and speed on the watch during jogging is way off...

But anyhow I will never recommend the Charge 3 to anyone who wants to use it for running and it will never buy a fitbit watch again. (not even because of the error itself, but because no one from fitbits cares)

[RiseAndShine]

I posted earlier that after almost a year of successful use for running with GPS all of the sudden C3 became totally unreliable as it comes to distance tracking... Then I had one decent experience and joyfully reported that Fitbit might have fixed something... just to get hugely disappointed on my next runs when C3 was showing ridiculous pace and distance again. I agree with HansimGlueck that it all seem to be related to software. Thank goodness Black Friday is coming - looking for a new wearable with GPS and much better fitness stats/functionalities. And it's not going to be Fitbit.

[SunsetRunner]

I already did what you suggested. Now wearing a Garmin, very happy with it. 

The only thing that reminds me of malfunctioning Fitbit is daily notifications from this topic... I keep the mail notifications on because I'm curious when (and if) Fitbit will come with a statement.

[djjkfno]

+1 on that. Also checking this thread despite getting rid of the Charge 3 6 weeks ago. For every post about the issue not being resolved, I feel that I made the right choice going Garmin instead.

I wonder if they will ever fix it.

To be continued... 

[Denbo996]

Sorry to pipe in but I have been following this when I noticed mine having the same issue.

My Charge3 has been replaced but the issue remains 😞

[BryanCork]

Pipe like the wind, my friend. Pipe like the wind.

[Kaflemd]

Mine has been doing this too and I've tried everything! It records the distance as miles but says it is km and it is SO frustrating that Fitbit are ignoring this crucial issue!  I know this because every run I do is also recorded on Couch to 5k correctly and the miles figure matches the km distance on the app exactly. 

[f1oyd3]

My first run with the charge 3 was accurate.  Then I saw the auto pause feature and turned that on.  My run thus morning was way off.  Ran around 4 miles and fitbit tracked just under 3. Going to do some more testing but for now I am certainly turning off the auto pause feature as that is the only thing that changed between the accurate and non-accurate run.

[SunsetRunner]

I used to have the same issue. Perfect map but wrong distance.

Just gave up on using the GPS feature 😞

[BryanCork]

Just cant get my head around the fact that with a cruddy old blackberry in
2012 i was getting perfect distances tracked on running apps...but its like
some futuristic star wars technology for fitbit. The mind boggles.

[vhaasteren]

Just found this thread after I noticed the same thing as all other posts in this thread on my run yesterday. I have a charge 3 with a pixel 3 phone. GPS seemed to work pretty well for my runs, although I would sometimes lose connection in the middle of a run. Advice online was to restart/reboot the device before going out. I did that, and found that suddenly the reported mileage was off, even though the GPS map was completely accurate. Tracking the distance using google maps shows 12.4 miles, even though fitbit reports 10.5 miles.

This is the one thing the watch is supposed to do, right? Measure distance, steps, and heart rate.

Quite a disappointment

[RiseAndShine]

I've been using Garmin for couple of weeks now and what a difference it made! Great screen that you can see in any lighting conditions, always on display (no need to fiddle with it when you run an would like to see your pace, time, etc). A ton of customizable options - face, data screens,  maps & courses, race pace pro, racing activity or virtual partner, etc. etc. etc. Audio prompts that inform you about avg pace, HR etc (per your preference). Garmin training and a ton of workouts that are offered for free vs. "Fitbit premium" option. I could never feel vibrations on C3 when doing interval training - not a problem any more! Not only I can always see the screen, but Garmin would give audio prompts for every start/end of the lap - no way to miss it! Not to mention huge selection of 3rd party apps that can be downloaded per individual's needs and many more other options. And I payed only $100 more compared to C3... upgrade well worth the money in my book! C3 is good (when it works) for general fitness, but if you're serious about running/biking/hiking and improving your performance - it falls very, very short in so many aspects. I'll keep C3 to use for corporate competition events - to use it for the only remaining beneficial function as a pedometer (Garmin doesn't convert biking to steps). That's it... no more struggling with GPS, or with viewing the screen during the run/bike when it's bright outside, or dealing with constant disconnections (could never use GPS for biking - it wouldn't stay connected no matter what... and Fitbit never released auto pause for biking that makes even working GPS totally useless when riding in the city with traffic lights - I gave up on GPS for biking long ago). C3 was a good intro for me into a world of wearable devices... but now every time I see Fitbit in device reviews - I steer clear.

[LoriM58]

I just purchased and set up my fitbit and got on my treadmill and walk/ran/climbed 5 miles in 66 minutes. 

My fitbit tells me I only ran 3.17.
How discouraging.
That's just about as inaccurate as the simple health app that came with my phone. Sigh.

[RiseAndShine]

Hi Lori, C3 would not be able to track a distance correctly on a treadmill as it would need to know your stride length (that would be different on a treadmill vs solid ground) and treadmill parameters. Since there's no connection between C3 and treadmill, the device simply estimates the distance based on your stride length and the number of steps. Looks like you just setup a brand new C3, thus, it doesn't really know your real stride length and is using estimate based on your height, age etc. As you can see, it's not a surprise that Charge 3 cannot get the distance right  - it doesn't have the data to calculate it correctly (plus, if you're holding the rail while on treadmill, it might miss the steps as it users hand motion as one of the factors to determine movement). This thread is about GPS-enabled activities that Fitbit should track correctly as its using map. Treadmill is an indoor activity that cannot use GPS, thus, distance in most cases will not be tracked correctly (Fitbit doesn't offer calibration functionality to fix it, thus I'd not keep my hopes high to get treadmill distance right). Cheers!

[Lochbuie]

Made the move to Garmin as well. Very happy with tracking and accuracy. Leaves my Fitbit in the dark. I'm still not surprised at the lack of resolution to this issue. It seems to be impacting across devices.

Shame Fitbit are not on the ball with this issue it would appear they are losing customers and reputation.

[HansimGlueck]

Yes, quite a mess.

Unfortunately, my solution posted in #44 also doesn't work anymore because since a few weeks/months my GPS data has artefacts again. (No idea why, probably because of an update to Fitbit V3.12 or whatever). 

So "correcting" the data in strava leeds to far to many km which also isn't reasonable for tracking.

So I will also change my watch for a Garmin or Tomtom to use for running. It's really a shame that such an expensive Fitbit watch completely lacks such an important feature and no one cares....

[AdamH0]

I had this problem some months back, and it finally went away with an app update. However it's back now worse than ever. 

My 5km parkrun was 5.58km according to the Fitbit. The problem also affects how the device reports pace and distance as you run. I always begin recording from the Charge 3, and this way I get to see pace and distance and time. However because the fitbit reports that I'm travelling further than i actually am it gives me a faster pace than I'm actually doing. This leads to me mis-pacing the run.

eg it was telling me I was doing 4:50 to 5:00 mins/km pace, when in reality it was closer to 5:30min/km.

I get these loops backs reported as others have observed.

Also these brief gaps 

Charge 3: 28.200001.63.5

Fitbit App:  3.12.1

Pixel 2XL. Android 10. Latest update 5th Dec 2019.