GPS not accurate on Charge 3

[TabiR]

The GPS on the fitbit3 is not accurate. My phone tracks me and the fitbit is at least 0.2 miles off. It also gives me like 60 active minutes for maybe 35min of exercise (and my heart rate was not elevated for that far beyond my exercise to account for that). Im dissapointed that this isn't nearly ad accurate and I still need to take my phone running to log a workout =(

Moderator edit: updated subject for clarity

[DaveMonaghan]

I've been a big FITBIT fan for many years but i think i'll opt for Garmin this Christmas... the terrible GPS distance is just too annoying to deal with any more. I've read loads of forms and tried loads of "remedies" but I think it's just down to an inferior product! 

I have a Fitbit Charge 3's and the connected GPS is wildly inaccurate. I've tried it with Samsung Galaxy S8 and also iphone X neither work well but when using MapMyRun on the phone the distance calculations are pretty spot on

Last night i ran a 10km race and Fitbit told me i'd run 10.43km but phone measured i'd run 10.01km... i'm fairly sure the race route was well measured by the organisers.

I hope Garmin also do a weighing scales as i'll probably have to ditch the fitbit scales too!

[SunsetRunner]

Hello Fitbit? Why is your product so bad? My charge 3 is basically useless GPS is not accurate at all. And it is not the phone (note 9), it is the charge 3. Look at the offset of the 2 km marker. I was going exactly the same track .

  

[treetophigh]

So Fitbit has not offered any real effort for a solution to this widespread issue? It's funny, for a while my gps tracker worked fine. Then about a month or so ago, all the distances come up short. That and since I switched to a new phone a couple months ago, the fit bit won't stay connected to my phone regardless of phone and sync settings unless I have the Fitbit app on screen with screen on. It makes the product absolutely worthless. 

If there is not projected fix to these issues fundamental to the product's function they should just stop ripping people off. I will recommend any other product other than fitbit unless I see them make some attempt to serve thier customers and maintain thier products functionality. 

[tom43614]

Yep, I have Garmin on my Mind. No more Fitbit BS.

I might add that I am using the Fitbit Charge 3 for bicycling.

The joke now is that Fitbit wants us to buy a new Charge 4. Is this a joke???

[GeorgeWalters]

My Fitbit charge 3 used to be pretty accurate at tracking me however now it’s beyond a joke. 

last two bike rides I’ve done it will not pick up my speed or location. It used to track the movement and distance pretty well but now just gives me straight lines over the map instead of tracking my movements more accurately. I can provide screen shots of this if it helps. 

No settings have been changed and I am using the same phone and always have it on my person whilst exercising. 

location services are enabled including google and Apple maps. Strava works perfectly but for some reason Fitbit charge 3 has stopped tracking accurately.

i think the update (releases when the used interface changed a while back) and addition of premium features is a joke. If the device was free fair enough but it’s not. To charge a customer a subscription to use “premium” features for a product they have purchased is really poor form Fitbit. Especially when syncing and general use is a significantly worse user experience since that update was released. 

Ive read the generic reply from Fitbit personnel in this feed and now am challenging you to dig further into what may be causing these users, including mine’s issues. A patch may be required in an update to rectify an issue your end as I certainly can’t see what (aside from hardware that’s developed a fault) I can do to fix these issues. 

Worth adding my Fitbit has been very well looked after and is only 1 year old. All software/ apps up to date. 

PLEASE DIG DEEPER AND PROVIDE SOLUTIONS. 

Thanks

[Rhino07]

Same issue still exists. No fix has been issued yet. Pretty disappointed in fit bit

[LisaWren]

My charge 3 and even my charge 2 did this also!

On my 5k it's always 0.2k off and I did a 10k 2 days ago and it's 1.2k off! Always connect it to the GPS on my phone, which is an andriod S10 with v10.

I have started tracking on MapMyRun instead as that seems to track using GPS correctly. I know my route was 10k as I mapped it before I went out. I have followed all the advice and help pages listed on here so it must be a software issue. I'm a programmer myself so I feel the pain.

It like the fitbit is using steps/strides instead of GPS even when GPS is used? Or a mash up of the two? It gets worse if you try and change the units in settings from km to miles and back, the conversion is awful!

[LisaWren]

So I went on a 12k run on the weekend. And this time instead of going under the distance like it normally does it went over! 13.9km instead of 12k.

[PaulWil]

I did an exact same walk and a run on consecutive days using GPS on my phone having select 'run'  and 'walk'on my device.  It mapped my walk and run completely differently in distance by almost 0.5 KM.  When I calculate the distance on the 'Map my run' app, the same distance is calculated at 9.97km where fitbit calculated it as 7.92 and 7.51 respectively.  Please could you let me know how this can happen?  Many thanks

Moderator edit: format

[socal13]

Did this problem ever get fixed?  I purchased 2 Charge 3 devices and the GPS is totally inaccurate.  My wife and I take the exact same walk, together, every day and get different distance measurements each time.  They are even vastly different from each other - mine will log mileage up to 1/2 mile different than my wife's when we are walking together.

I'd really appreciate seeing something from Fitbit saying this is known, not known, fixed, being analyzed...whatever, so that we can tell if anyone cares and is working on a fix.

In looking at all the threads on this subject, it looks like this has been an issue for a while.  Maybe it needs to be logged on Amazon or other retail sites to get attention?

Android Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+

[socal13]

I just did a chat with support and got a rather ludicrous response to the GPS distance issue.  I explained that the GPS distance data is inaccurate, and changes daily, for a walk that is the same exact route every day.  The agent said that this was because my stride and weight were not accurate!  I explained that GPS distance should be independent of MY stride and weight, since fitbit says the Charge 3 is using GPS distance.  Distance is distance no matter what I weigh or what my stride is.  She didn't agree, and proceeded to send info on how to reset my stride. So, maybe Fitbit is not really using GPS on this Charge 3 device, even though it is sold as such.

At any rate, I now hold little faith in getting a reasonable response from fitbit on this.

[TabiR]

Nope no fix. I have a versa now and still same issue. I just keep using my
phone to track because the GPS never links and/or is accurate. Terribly
frustrating.

[PaulWil]

That's just ridiculous. It's certainly putting me off upgrading to another Fitbit when I read what Fitbit has suggested.  It's not just the lack of distance it measures, it's also the fact that when you do a run or walk and it measures the wrong data, it effects other data with the app like the cardio fitness score.  

[TabiR]

Yes exactly! I want credit for all my hard work! I had hopes the versa
would be better (I only tried it because I won it at work, I didn't buy it)
but its the same. And its also very positional with accurate heart rate
monitoring.

[k88lawrence]

is there any other answer than this?? "try running for 10 minutes and if that doesn't work oh well?" I've been participating in a virtual race and the varying distance is so frustrating because I really have no accurate way of knowing how far i've gone and end up having to retrace my steps using google maps to get an estimate when fitbit is clearly off....what was the point of the $150 i spent on this if i literally cannot use it as advertised? will def be contacting customer service for a refund; i've been a fitbit user since 2016 and don't want to lose all my stats but i need a tracker that actually, like, works!

[MudkipDee]

I realize this is an old topic but I would like to add my 2 cents. 

I just bought my charge 3 a few months ago and I really wish I had found all these issues before purchasing it. I biked about 10 km today with my gps tracker turned on (yes, I turned it on and connected it to my fit bit) and it tracked less than 3 km, my map is way off and I am really frustrated that I can not even edit the map to the route I took. I would be ok with a small amount of inaccuracy, but this is stupid. I feel like I wasted my money and I am disappointed that they're not even looking into fixing this issue. 

[TabiR]

Absolutely!

[Zulkifli]

Yes great disspointment with the tracking. I am considering other tracker now. 😞

[Thurnbyhelen]

Is there any update on this?  My charge 3 GPS tracking seems to be getting worse. I thought the gps bit was all phone related, but reading this and comparing the SAME run in Runkeeper and fitbit shows it’s fitbit. Mine is routinely tracking 10% too far, ie giving me too much credit for distance. As a slow runner the pace matters so distance tracked matters. Will there ever be a fix?