Heart rate monitoring

[Kravman2]

My charge 4 shows my heart rate with reasonable accuracy when I am sitting, walking etc but on certain types of gymn equipment it is way out. E.g. My reading is correct (say 60 ) when I get onto a stair climber but as my rate increases the rate on the fit bit doesn’t in fact it is sometimes showing say 55 when I am working fairly hard with the machine showing a rate of say 135. As soon as I stop and get off the machine the rate on the fit bit climbs more towards what the machine has shown.  I find a similar situation arises on a stationary bike. Occasionally my heart rate when using gymn cardio equipment is actually shown as being lower than my resting rate when I am exercising but starts to reflect the actual rate as soon as I stop. I have moved the fit bit on my arm, tried different strap fittings and kept my arm straight, all to no avail. 

[Dopovo]

Generally Fitbit are quite precise when not under effort and tend to make errors progressing with the effort but your problems seem excessive.

In fact actually i think Charge 4 is among the best trackers by Fitbit in regard to heart rate.

You said you already tried to change the position on your wrist, have you maybe noticed if the accuracy is impacted by the sweat level of your skin?

[Kravman2]

Thanks for the response. No it doesn’t seem to vary depending on sweat level. In fact on a stationary bike in a cold room (at Home) in Winter the fit bit only seems to give an accurate reading if I pedal but sit up straight and keep moving my arm eg doing bicep curl type movements. If I keep my arm still but straight, on the handlebars  the heart rate eventually stops registering ( until I move my arm again). I have tried putting my hand on my thighs as I pedal but bizarrely I then get a reading much higher than my pulse and more in line with the rotation of the pedals. I did find a similar situation with my charge 3. incidentally I have a Garmin which was given to me when the owner bought a new one and don’t have any of these issues with the Garmin. I have tried everything from changing strap placement cleaning the connection and my arm, keeping my arm straight, changing wrists putting the fit bit face on the inside of my arm etc but nothing seems to make a difference. I am curious to know whether others have the same problem.