Heart rate tracking accuracy

[questover12]

I've had this for several years and in the last year I have worn a chest strap from Polar to compare bpm results from both treadmill and running exercises.  In one word, Charge 2 is not accurate.  On average it undercounts bpm by about 10, but also looking at the graph it shows sharp dropoffs during a 30-60 min. workout when the Polar watch indicates no such changes. 

Are any of their newer products better?

Moderator edit: Subject for clarity

Moderator edit: Format 

[RicardoFitbit]

Hello @questover12 welcome to the Community Forums!

I appreciate all the information and details that were shared in your post, it's a pleasure to assist you with your concern. Let me share with you that we do recommend our users to compare our Fitbit products with other tracking devices because both devices use different algorithms to track heart rate data, therefore, certain discrepancies can be experienced. For more information about heart rate tracking with Fitbit devices, I recommend you to check: How do I track my heart rate with my Fitbit device?

Keep me posted.

[RicJ]

I have the same issue.  The watch'es BPM does not agree with Precor or various other equipment.  Maybe if I told it I was on an elliptical (no stationary bike option) it might accept I'm at 130-140 bpm instead of stating I'm at 60bpm.  Seems to realize higher bpm only if my wrist is moving.

[questover12]

Unfortunately we are not talking about "certain discrepancies".  There are very large differences.  Just today in a 26 min treadmill session my Charge2 recorded:

Average bpm:     102

Max. bpm:  128

The Polar device (chest strap which receives electrical impulses directly from the heart):

Average bpm:   133

Max bpm:  145

But more than that, in the graph of bpm vs. time Fitbit shows a drop to about 80 bpm during a period of about 10 minutes in the middle of the workout.  Obviously this is not acceptable accuracy, as the intensity of the workout did not vary throughout.

I have not tried other wrist-worn devices so I have no opinion about Garmin, Apple, etc.  It may well be that no company has yet perfected the technology that senses bpm at the wrist and that the inaccuracy observed on Fitbit would be common throughout the industry.  Since you represent Fitbit it would be interesting indeed to know if improvements have been made to your product.  If so and you have sufficiently reliable data on it, I would certainly would consider investing in a new unit.  It's a lot more convenient wearing something on the wrist than strapping a sensor on every time one works out, but that is totally negated by the large inaccuracies I have observed on my Charge2.

Moderator edit: Format 

[RicardoFitbit]

Hello again, it's a pleasure to continue assisting, sorry for the delayed reply. Welcome to the Community Forums @RicJ and thanks for your reply @questover12.

@RicJ Thanks for the information that was shared in your post. Please take in consideration the information that was shared on my previous post about comparing information and heart rate accuracy and let me know how it goes after taking into consideration such information.

@questover12 I appreciate all the details that were shared in your post regarding the heart rate situation you're currently experiencing with your Charge 2 device. To better assist you and move forward with this, can you please let me know if the steps from the help article: How do I track my heart rate with my Fitbit device? were took into consideration? As it turns out, since your Polar device uses different algorithms and also is used on your chest, we are unable to determine if your Fitbit device is experiencing accuracy difficulties. However, please check the information that's stated on the help article previously mentioned and let me know how it goes.

See you around.