Incorrect Heart rate measurement - Charge 4

[mstinagray]

Just did a workout with my new Charge 4 and my polar chest strap. I was so hoping the good reviews of the HR functionality of this Fitbit were true, but alas, it still cannot track HR properly. If it were only a little off, I would be okay, but same workout with Charge 4 = 115 bpm/avg and a high of 163 with 214 calories burned. Polar measured 155 bpm/avg, high of 188 and 378 calories burned. I hate wearing all this gear, but guess I still have to. So annoying! And yes, if adjusted the strap.

Moderator edit: Subject for clarity.

[Susanna_Jones]

Yes I've talked to my doctor all right, and had several tests due to an occasional extraordinarily high heart rate on runs. No heart issue can be detected. I appreciate you responding and yes for many people that could be the issue. But my tests have been finished. I am no longer going to wear the Fitbit because it is a faulty device and cannot be trusted. I have actually found a lot of people reporting this same problem on different threads. It is sad that there's a malfunction but even worse that Fitbit it's not taking steps to change these issues as customers are continuing to receive false health information.

[charleskn]

How is it that the best answer has been redacted?!?!?!

I doubt this has been resolved. That said, @mstinagray, I use a Polar armband with my Charge 4. For the most part, may Charge 4 behaves. I get occasional outrageous spikes in my HR, and sometimes the device won't display a HR (but it shows later in the graphs), or it records a HR while the tracker is sitting in my gym bag. Regardless, I find the Charge 4 tracks pretty well for steady state aerobic exercises such as rowing, jogging, elliptical, etc., but it really fails with things like aerobic intervals, HIIT workouts, etc. where the HR changes quickly. This is due, I believe, to a lag in the response in reading the HR by the device's sensor.

IMO, you also have to beware the calories burned metric. Device manufacturers use different methods to calculate this, and you would need to make sure your personal information was the same in each (age, body weight, etc). However, even with the same basic information in your settings, the variations in the algorithm calculating calories can give large differences. However, the calculations should be consistent for each device, and are useful for looking at trends. Personally, I find the Polar Flow reports more useful as the Fitbit dashboard limits the things you can track.

[RodrigoMFitbit]

Hello everybody. Welcome back to the forums. I appreciate you taking the time to explain the current situation. I recommend you guys take a look at the following articles:

• How do I improve the accuracy of a heart-rate reading?
• Why is there a difference in my heart-rate reading on my Fitbit device versus another device?
• What factors can affect heart rate?

Usually the position of the device during training is crucial for the hear rate measurement accuracy. Have a nice day!

[Susanna_Jones]

Hello Rodrigo, I think I speak for many others here based on their posts,
but we have tried all of those suggestions. In fact, within the 45 day time
frame, we were told to continue the same tips and that only prolonged the
time that we could have gotten our money back. Many report a faulty device
and we are not able to get a refund because the only response we received
was more and more suggestions. I contacted Fitbit after only wearing it for
3 days. What was I told? Try this, try this and try that. Time ticked on
and Fitbit just stopped responding. Guess what? Now the 45 days is up!
Very purposeful and carefully calculated to avoid honoring the warranty. I
have proof that my medical testing is all negative for heart issues. I
enjoyed my Fitbit and it helped me lose weight and keep up a fitness
program. I would very much like to have continued. But not when I'm getting
extraordinarily high heart rate spikes that indicate a false heart medical
issue.

[charleskn]

I have to agree with @Susanna_Jones, though my issues have not been so bad as to need a replacement. I have been using my Fitbit, mostly happily, for some time. After I had an AFib episode, I added a second heart rate monitor and got fully tested (everything is 100% fine). Being an engineer, at that point I started researching heart rate monitors and the limitations of optical HRMs, and specifically those worn on the wrist.

The thing that is frustrating to people is having the same suggestions thrown at them repeatedly (restart the tracker, reload the app, clear the cache, etc) when those things are essentially unrelated to the problem.

I am surprised that the question of skin tone never enters the discussion with the accuracy of optical HRMs. Some more advanced devices use LEDs of multiple colors to aid in getting a more accurate reading across different skin tones. The amount of melanin affects the skin’s ability to absorb green light, which can impact the accuracy of an optical monitor using only green LEDs.

[RBParker]

Are they doing any better with Charge 5?

[dviper94]

That's what I'm curious about as well.  Has Fitbit taken the feedback on the Charge 4 and made it better ?

Just sitting on my couch and the Charge 4 could say Heart Rate is 125 ..... check pulse and it's about 70.  Stop and start the heart rate monitor on the watch and it goes back to normal.   This is really not a reliable heart rate monitor

[Kateriley]

I’m still having this same issue after more than a YEAR of a bunch of Fitbit help “experts” telling me that they know about the issue and are working on it. When I asked why they’re continuing to sell products with known issues, they blocked me from the forums. So then I went back and told them I want a refund, not a replacement, since they just told me the replacements would have the same issues. They told me they couldn’t do that because it was day 46. After sending me back and forth for 45 days to talk to various experts to “fix” the problem. Fitbit is a pretty messed up company. The heart rate monitors are useless, and that’s really all I want for my workouts, cause I need to know approximately how many calories I’m  burning so I can adjust my diet accordingly. I’m currently on an elliptical with two different heart rate monitors saying my heart rate is about 170. Fitbit says it’s 89. My advice is to get ANYTHING else for heart rate monitoring. Garmin. Apple. Two fingers held on your wrist. 

[RBParker]

Such a sad story. I do not know what I will do to replace my fitbit. I am disappointed the problems have not been fixed in over a year and a half!!!!

[charleskn]

@dviper94 @Kateriley While I have not had the extreme issues that some have, with my Charge 4, the issues appear to be real. As I have said, wrist work HRMs are problematic to begin with. A good source of reviews is the quantified scientist no youtube. Also, I have been super happy with my Polar armband HRM, as my "backup HR". If you want perfect, get a chest strap with electrodes.

A couple other things I have noticed with optical HRMs:

• It's easy for them to display your heart rate as 1/2 or twice the actual rate.
• I've had my Charge 4 display a HR that is totally cray, but when I check the HR graph later, it's not there 🤔

[1234tas]

Hello all.  Had an odd experience with the C4 in my pocket while I mowed the lawn to avoid all the false steps generated by holding onto the shaking lawnmower.  It recorded the whole thing as an exercise, gave me a heart rate graph for the entire time and awarded active minutes.  How can this be with no skin contact?

[RBParker]

My bottom line for all of this is my amazement that heart rate issues have not been solved……I went back to my Charge 2 which does VERY well! What happened?

[charleskn]

@1234tas For what it's wort, I have not had issues with my tracker while mowing the lawn. As to your question, I can only say that I leave my Charge 4 in my gym bag during the day, and it will sometimes record a heart rate for times when I am not wearing it. Remember, if there is anything coming from the sensors, the algorithms will try to make sense of it, but it steps, heart rate, etc.

[Xphyle]

Oh my, how I wish I'd located this forum and specifically your posts in December. This same thing happened to me! I've done the whole cardio workup from echo to treadmill test and they can't find anything wrong...

To think I was duped into thinking this device was correct makes me furious. I've just turned off that 'feature' and it's now a watch that needs charging. I hope you have nothing but wonderful luck the rest of your life, your post has literally saved me countless future medical visits. 

[RBParker]

I went to an Apple Watch. It is fabulous….accurate, no monthly cost, awesome!!!!!!!

[charleskn]

@Xphyle Not sure if you're referring to my posts. While my echo and nuclear stress tests are all good, I do get exercise induced AFib when doing hard HIIT workouts, which I have stopped. I have a super low resting heart rate (for my age and fitness level) of 40 bpm +/1 a few beats, so this will likely present future issues. That said, I doubt any daily heart rate device that you wear 24/7 can currently provide any real insight into possible heart issues.

Caveat: Fitbit has rolled out a feature to to alert users to an unusually high heart rate if detected during rest. It might be good for general tachycardia, but I don't know what the algorithms would do with an irregular rhythm such as with AFib.

[Xphyle]

My struggle is that the device tells me that my HR is 140+ while at rest. I have acquired a medical device to attempt to validate/invalidate that reading and it is off by 50+ points and I'm really in the low 90s/upper 80s. Fitbit buzzes on my arm and congratulates me for 150 minutes of active time, when I really haven't done a single thing. I am questioning literally everything at this point because while I know it's not 100% accurate, I wasn't expecting it to just show me that my heart is literally off to the races when it isn't even close. I do have a diagnosis of SVT, so I have to keep an eye on it, but this is far and away above the margin of error that I would expect.

[RBParker]

This was my experience 1.5 years ago. I am amazed the issue has not been rectified in all of this time. I went to an Apple Watch and couldn’t be happier.

[charleskn]

I also have a Kardia 6L which I have used (external device, and not a wearable) to confirm when I think I haveAFib. It records a 30 second 6 lead EKG which I can send too my doctor.

[Xphyle]

That's exactly what I used to confirm the fitbit was waaaaaay off.