HR on Charge 3 not accurate DURING TREADMILL EXERCISE APP

[MrMarv]

First off, I am a big supporter of the Fitbit devices and their firmware programmers - not as much of a cheerleader sometimes for their app and web development teams (probably Project Leaders and Quality Insurance or maybe the people that push them to market too soon), but I still respect them.

And for the most part, the Charge 3 has been holding its own in the bpm area - when it says 108 and I count 27 beats in 15 seconds I smile. And it rarely disappoints me.

Until I put it into exercise mode, that is.

And I have held off until the latest firmware update came through last night so I could run another short test.

Last night and tonight I performed two treadmill exercises, 14 and 7 minutes in length at 2.2 and 2.5 mph.

For the first exercise last night, I did my normal 50 squat reps and crunches and by the time I took a short break and hit the treadmill at 2.2 mph my HR was up to 100 and increased to 137 (low to mid peak) by the 5 minute mark. All expected; I'm not a youngster, after all. At 6:10 it was at 100 and ten seconds later, at 63 bpm!!! Huh? It started a little climb but by 8:30 it was at 61 bpm. This is for a 66 year old male with a pacemaker/defibrillator with a resting heart rate of 68 to 72. I ended the exercise after 14 minutes at a recorded 111 bpm.

And the chart of the activity definitely shows those three minutes as being under fat burn zone of over 77 bpm.

This evening I performed no pre-walk exercises, unless you count helping clean up after dinner, and started my session at 86 bpm. At 2:00 into the walk I was down to 74 and at 1:59 I was at 71. Up to 84 at 2:20 and back down to 66 at 2:35. From there on, with me increasing the pace to 2.5 mph at 4:00 and 3.0 man at 6:00, it quickly made its way back to fluctuating between 101 and 114, finishing at 104 bpm at 7:00. 

What the heck? There is no way I'm going to drop lower than 90 bpm in those scenarios. I didn't stop to take my pulse manually during those two abnormalities, but trust me, I will tomorrow.

Moderator edit: updated subject for clarity

Original poster edit - Moderator did not clarify, but rather muddied it up.

[SunsetRunner]

One thing i find very interesting is that most people report a deviation of about 40bpm (Both higher and lower). Doesn't this ring a bell @ Fitbit instead of telling users that they are wearing their charge 3 wrong? 

[dianef99tf99]

I tried a couple of different suggestions and still saw the HR rate tracking stop tracking (go blank) or read lower than expected based on workouts with my Charge 2.  (suggestion tried, wearing it on the opposite wrist or wear it higher on my regular wrist) . Each test had similar results.  I also notice that when it notifies me that I have completed a 'lap' the HR stops read.  I think the lap count is dumb.  I use the workout setting for tracking HR and Cal burned.  I think @Fitbit should remove the lap count or add it to the running mode.  I hope that they fix this issue. My husband and friends are waiting on their purchase until I have better luck.

[SunsetRunner]

That's what I'm probably gonna do as well.

[paolosangeles]

follow-up: I wore both Charge 2 and Charge 3 (one on the left, the other on the right) on the elliptical, they were pretty similar in heart rate levels until I get to peak levels, this is where the Charge 3 significantly drops. On the Charge 2 I am seeing 170bpm and on the Charge 3 it's reading 125bpm. But up until around 130-140bpm, both devices are reading very similar results.

[dianef99tf99]

I observed the same result.  The charge 3 appears inaccurately low for HR in the peak range.

[MrMarv]

@Schipper -

Sorry for the delay in responding. The charts are on the Activity Log Page on the web, with a smaller version on the app. Below the summary graph are the individual activity records for viewing. And you can hover your mouse at any point along the heart rate line to get the recorded heart rate for that moment in time.

[NapaBill]

I have my first Fitbit, a Charge 3, purchased three days ago. Today I was at the Doctor and had my blood pressure taken. As always I asked for the reading and my pulse rate. The technician said my heart rate was 72. I looked at my Fitbit and it showed 85, a difference of 18% from the actual reading. How can I correct this? Tried shoving it further up my wrist, forearm actually, and it reads 88. Just tried my other wrist and no difference, which is just as well because I could never adjust to switching at my age.

[Aceboogie1]

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@NapaBill wrote:

I have my first Fitbit, a Charge 3, purchased three days ago. Today I was at the Doctor and had my blood pressure taken. As always I asked for the reading and my pulse rate. The technician said my heart rate was 72. I looked at my Fitbit and it showed 85, a difference of 18% from the actual reading. How can I correct this? Tried shoving it further up my wrist, forearm actually, and it reads 88. Just tried my other wrist and no difference, which is just as well because I could never adjust to switching at my age.

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Where was it wrist placement wise? I went to my MD for a physical, and mine was accurate with theirs. I wear mine  below my ulna bone nice and snugged.

[NapaBill]

I was wearing it about a finger's width up the arm from the Ulnar bone. Tried it two fingers and on the other wrist with no change. Adjusted loosely enough to be able to slide it up and down, but also tried tightening it and still no change.

[NapaBill]

Just tried moving it DOWN to between the Ulnar bone and the hand and tightening the strap. Not easy because my wrists are large. At any rate the resting now shows as 90-93. When you say "below the ulna bone" do you mean closer to the hand?

[Aceboogie1]

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@NapaBill wrote:

Just tried moving it DOWN to between the Ulnar bone and the hand and tightening the strap. Not easy because my wrists are large. At any rate the resting now shows as 90-93. When you say "below the ulna bone" do you mean closer to the hand?

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Away from hand. See link.

 https://postimg.cc/pyJH8ktM

[NapaBill]

Okay, tried that too as mentioned. No change.

[Aceboogie1]

Was it snugged, without it sliding toward your hand? 

[NapaBill]

Tried both ways: As recommended by Fitbit loose enough to be able to slide up ad down and then snugged so t doesn’t move at all. Same high readings.

[NapaBill]

Right now it is snug enough it on't move by itself but I can slide it up and down. Fitbit is reading 79 BPM, BP cuff 72, so closer together but still 10% high.

[PamSue]

I've had my C3 now for one day. Wearing it about 3 fingers up from the ulna. It's fairly snug; I can get finger through it, if I really try. This morning, I walked a mile on the treadmill and my HR went up to 127! For one mile, at 3.5 mph, at a 2.5% incline. No, that's way too high. I also do 12 active hours, but instead of walking 250 steps, I walk 500 steps. The C3 hit 116 bpm, just walking through the house. I wasn't walking fast. So I put my Blaze on the same wrist, right below the C3. When the C3 would show 113 bpm, the Blaze would show 84 bpm. I just did 500 steps through the house and the Blaze stayed fairly constant, between 80 and 85 bpm, which is what I'd expect from just walking. The C3 would go beyond 100 bpm, sometimes as much as 113, 116, then drop down to 90. But I didn't change my speed, just kept walking. I guess my question is: Should I wait a while and see if it settles down?  I really need an accurate heart rate. And it's only been one day. Any thoughts? (Oh, the reason I got the C3 is because the Blaze doesn't do an accurate step count when I'm on the treadmill; it's way below what it should be.)  Thank you.

[jag64551]

Has Fitbit made any comments about this issue, outside of just telling people to wear it differently? I have also had consistent issues while exercising. I'm 6'2 240lbs and was at basically peak exhaustion during a T25 workout last night, and looked down and it showed 92 bpm. I wanted to throw it in the garbage. And then, later in the workout, I watched it for about 2 minutes, and it stayed at 129bpm the entire time - including high impact activity and then stretching during that time. Calories burned definitely reflect the issues as well (obviously). It was on very tight (almost wondering if it was too tight). Too loose, and it just doesn't register half the time. I will try wearing it on my other arm, etc., but I've been pretty disappointed so far, considering the only reason I bought the Charge 3 was to track my workout activity.

[PamSue]

No. Thus far, I’ve heard nothing. It’s frustrating. I’ve worn my Blaze with the C3 and the Blaze is consistently 20-25 beats lower than the C3. I don’t know which FitBit to believe.


Sent from my iPad

[Heather-S]

I think one thing to keep in mind is that when you're comparing the Charge 3 (as well as the Versa and Ionic) to older devices like the Blaze and the Charge 2, is that the Charge 3 has an updated Heart Rate sensor.  Personally, I would believe the updated HR monitor over an older device with older, outdated technology.  

[jag64551]

For me, I've only used the 3, so nothing to compare it to. However, even just in comparing workout logs on the same device, it is inconsistent, with my biggest issue being long sustained dips in HR, during periods of high-impact, sustained exercise. One thing I did find is that my wife's Charge 2 has a "workout" mode under Exercise, but the 3 does not. So I have bounced back and forth between Running and Weights (for T25 workouts). Looking at the logs, it does appear that the Weights option appears to be more representative of the work that was being done (without the dips). I wonder if it's a bug in the Running program (in my case).