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.

[MkSwmFly]

I just keep seeing the same kind of result from my Fitbit and I don't have much faith in it at this point. I posted a message or two on the Fitbit site, but I REALLY got the feeling that the reply from Fitbit "representatives" was an automated response from some computer program. That's my current assessment of their website, and yeah, the Charge 4 is not doing a great job at accurately recording heartrate...

[Maartenvc]

ah more troubles without a solution from fitbit

yes, even when walking normally it can show cardio #fail!

[RBParker]

I am so disappointed they have not fixed the charge 4 issues by now. I was really hoping to try again but will stick to my charge 2 and keep hoping it will retain a charge for a couple of days. I did get my money back for my first catastrophe experience with a charge 4 but my bank had to intervene. That didn’t give me a warm feeling either.

[mpls-gtr]

Welp, came here looking for answers on this same topic and, unfortunately I found them.

Bought a Charge 4 a while ago but have gotten back on the treadmill to help with my high blood sugar due to diabetes and of course try and lose some weight and overall be healthier.  This will be the second stint with the C4 really doing exercise and I decided to dig in and use its tracking features this time to see how getting into cardio and burning sugars affected my blood sugar levels, along with taking it a bit easier and staying in fat burn mode.  So, yeah, great!  Zone Minutes and oxygen levels and getting that better Cardio score...  NOPE. 

As you are all very well aware, this thing is not even close to being accurate, and like all data and reporting, if you put junk in, you'll get junk out...  You can't take any of the numbers and data it's giving you serious if the HR tracking is 25%-45% off at any given time when you are active.

For example the last week or so I've been on the treadmill I'm mixing it up with speed and incline, etc and I noticed I'm hardly ever feeling a buzz from the C4 that I've hit fat burn or cardio. So, now I'm hyper aware and am checking HR by straddling the mill, so I'm not bouncing around and looking at the C4,  using the hand sensors on the treadmill and even taking pulse via wrist and sheesh how can it be that far off?!?!

Treadmill avg 142-154

Pulse about 150

Fitbit 88

This is not out of the norm either this is what I experience probably 50 out of 60 minutes on the treadmill.  Believe me I've 'tinkered' as well, loosen lower on the wrist, tighten lower on the wrist, move it higher on the forearm tight, higher on the forearm loose.  Twisted it to the bottom side of my wrist as it's a little more flat and I can see the veins better, then same positions and tightness there ands it always the same old story, hella inaccurate.

Now, I do notice that when I move it to different area's it will start reading differently and jump from that oh-so-standard 88 to like 110-120 but it will only stay there for a short time. 

And it will sometimes just buzz and be reading with what I consider an acceptable 10% off from treadmill sensors and manual pulse, but it doesn't take but a minute or two and it's back down to 85-95.

(Note: I get that moving it around will probably affect it's reading which is why for months, I wore it a bit higher on the wrist like Fitbit suggests and not too tight as you can impeded or cutoff blood flow to the area and won't get accurate readings... So when I do move it I had it in that area for a couple sessions on the treadmill to see if it made a difference.)

So anyway, I know it's a rant, but what this product is offering versus what it claims are waaay off.  I'm going to try the things that are listed in the beginning of this thread. and then I will see if anything gets a little bit more accurate and report back here.

[MkSwmFly]

Yeah, I've seen the same kind of thing now for so long I've decided it's time to move on to a different brand. Not sure yet which yet but Fitbit is just not a good product, and I am ready to move on.

[JamieG2020]

redacted

[mstinagray]

I just focus on it with my steps and for hiking. Everything else is kinda useless. I wear my Polar hr10 chest strap with the polar app to truly track my HR and calories. Such a shame from fitbit. I've honestly used their products since they started with the pedometer and it's just downhill with the claims it says it can do. Just be honest!

[mpls-gtr]

Yeah, after being on the treadmill a lot over the last month, I think I found the sweet spot for this thing, but man if it moves even the slightest, like you said,  it'll go from 140-150 to 75 in a second. 

So, basically I am CONSTANTLY checking it to make sure its reading correctly.  I shouldn't have to keep snapping my left arm up every 15 seconds to make sure its actually working correctly. 

Also, seems there's at least one event around 45 minutes where the HR will drop to 65-75 even if it hasn't moved on my arm.  So, back to messing with it for 3-4 minutes to get it reading correctly again... All while walking/jogging on a treadmill.

Tech like this is supposed to be helpful and give you more info to make working out easier and more beneficial... It shouldn't be this frustrating and a hindrance.

[Charge4C]

Lizzy, my "new" (bought in November) Charge 4 has this same issue.  I just did a FitCoach workout with my watchband properly adjusted...during the exercises, when I was breathing heavily, I noticed it reported an HR of 88, so I got my pulsemeter and checked, I was at 144.  I used both the entire session.  When I was in the fat burning stages, the Fitbit worked well, but whenever I hit peak, it failed and at cardio levels it was often off by over 20 bpm.  I'm so disappointed.  I tried your directions for resetting but based on the other comments, I'm not optimistic.  If it doesn't fix it, I'm returning it for my money back.  😔

[JamieG2020]

Well the good news is Google just bought them. Time for things to work!

[mpls-gtr]

Mine is still failing as well. I found a "decent" spot on my arm/wrist where it mostly works.  I just hate having to check the thing every minute or so to ensure its actually reading correctly.

Case in point, had to order a new band as earlier this week I didn't check it often enough and when I looked at it 40 minutes into medium/heavy treadmill walk it was reading 77 bpm. Probably 3-4 minutes??  So I moved it slightly and then left it to get reading, nothing... stepped into sides of treadmill so im not bouncing it around, moved it a bit again, waited, still couldn't find correct HR so after 8 -9 minutes of messing with it, (+ the few minutes it was reading incorrectly) I was so peeved I ripped it off.  (Grrr!  Hulk smash! 🤬🤬)

I figure $15 to use it while I research other HR monitors isn't too bad. I just want to find something that works so I'm not wasting money again. I mean this thing was marketed and sold as having Continuous HR monitoring... and honestly, it fails at doing that during the most important times.

If I was you and you've already noticed this happening and are within the return-policy, I would do it ASAP...   Before you're running around with a $150+ step counter like the rest of us.

[Charge4C]

Thanks, and I'm so sorry to hear that you are having the same issues. I loved my Charge 2 and it was so reliable but the Charge 4 has been a big disappointment.

[RBParker]

Has anyone found a fitness tracker that works well tracking heart rate, exercise routines, calories, steps, and sleep?

[mpls-gtr]

Well, I've been reading/researching a bit. It's a bit more expensive compared to the Charge 4, but the Fitbit Sense is supposed to have upgraded HR monitors hardware so I was gonna go float a bit on that forum and see what I can find and ask a few questions. 

Other than that, what I'm seeing is that's the issue with wrist worn trackers...They aren't very reliable when it comes to higher intensity work outs. And it's exactly what I'm experiencing at this very moment writing this.  I'm between sets lifting and I've watched it go from HR 144 to 117 and fluctuate all over.

It's super nice to have the wrist worn HR monitors but, seems like they can't compare to a good chest strap.

Although I was reading about another piece of kit that is supposed to be pretty good, the Wahoo TICKR Fit.  It's like chest strap hardware, but this one and it's strap are actually made to be worn on the forearm.  Some people have said they actually have worn it on their upper arm as well.

Anyway, I was gonna take the plunge here soon after a little bit more research.  

I may update this thread or start a completely new one as this one is regarding the Charge 4.

[Joysef]

Mine told me I was at 190 bpm on a regular 3 mile run. First one I've done with the charge 4. If I was having tachycardia, I'm pretty sure I'd not be running.

My resting is usually between 47-52.

None of these has worked for me.

Moderator edit: merged reply

[RBParker]

That was my experience also. The Charge 4 read my heart rate during exercise exceedingly high. My Carge 2 though not able to hold a charge more than a couple of days is still reporting more accurately. I don’t know what they did. Now it seems features of the Charge 2are going away. So sad and wishing there was an answer.

Sent from my iPhone

[Charge4C]

Thanks, yes. I didn't want to spend the money for the Sense, as my old Charge 2 was so fantastic (and I loved its personality....it had more than one response to me hitting the 250 steps/hr if I needed reminding and I loved the way it greeted me with various greetings, "How ya doing?", "Left, right, left", "Let's roll", etc whenever I picked it back up after having taken it off to shower or swim....the Charge 4 seemed so dull and boring with its repetitive "Nicely done" and nothing else). If the display on the Charge 2 still worked (it still tracks me, and syncs with my cell phone, but I can't tell time or see anything on its display since last November), I would still be happily using it. As it is, I've switched to the Inspire 2. Surprisingly, it seems to do better on the HR but I'm not counting on it being right so I figured it was all I was willing to spend for a watch with odometer and reminders to move. 🙂 Good luck everyone and thank you for sharing your experiences. I really was hoping that rebooting it would fix it but now I see that's just not the case.

[JamieG2020]

redacted

[ChrisB1966]

Hi, decided to have a look again for this issue as my Charge 4 has recently started under reporting. As many on here I had to get a Wahoo HRM as Charge 4 would not play with Zwift  and I was originally pleased that it was not hugely out. Now when I start it and Wahoo is saying 120BPM Charge4 is saying 77, it catches up a bit but looking at the different reports after I get an hour of below zones reported in a 2.5 hour session against Wahoo driven Strava report of 90 seconds below zones, so that also leads to burned Calories under reporting.

I'll have a go at the reset, having to use another HRM anyway to get functionality that it should have had has at least shown the discrepancies 

[mpls-gtr]

Which Wahoo did you go with?  The regular TICKR chest strap or TICKR Fit armband?

I was looking at the TICKR Fit and the Polar OH1. They are both armband-style HRM's that are made to be worn on the forearm or upper arm and both have gotten good ratings.  The Polar gets a bit better rating as it can store 12 hours of workouts whereas the Wahoo can't and has to be connected at all times.  Also, the Polar gets the edge by having a bit more accurate optical sensor.

I want to buy one this week, but at this point I think I'm in analysis paralysis, so just need to pull the trigger.

I'll keep my Charge 4 and wear it on the daily, but as so many of us have said, for HRM'ing being the main feature and selling point for this thing, it would be really nice if it worked properly...