Wildly inaccurate floor count

[RoxysDad]

I upgraded my Alta HR to the new charge 3 because I wanted a waterproof device however in the last 7 days it has recorded a total of 160 floors ascended!!  And in one day alone I apparently climbed a total of 49 floors. 

Now I’ve seen the explanation about the altimeter using barometric pressure to “count” floors climbed but let’s put this into perspective. 

• I live in a single storey house
• i walk my dog twice a day on a level route
• i swim for 30 minutes twice a day in my lap pool

There are no stairs... however a change in atmospheric pressure from 0 (sea level) to 500ft (152m) is about 0.2psi or 2 kPa, whereas when I’m swimming, the change in pressure can be as much as 1.45psi or 10kPa which is 5 times more than when out of the pool. 

I don’t think Fitbit have factored this into the equation as my stairclimb always increases when I swim. 

[SunsetRunner]

I am cross-posting this screenshot, so I might find this post being deleted. But for the people in this thread, I think another valid question is whether you also notice an increase over time.

[Adrienna27]

@OhGail, have you gone back to Ohio yet after having had the problem in Florida and found it to return to normal there?

Mine started acting up in Florida, also, on a beach vacation, and I've read many other posts from people mentioning that the problem started after they were swimming in a pool. My suspicion is that the devices aren't as waterproof as they claim to be and stair counting fails as a result of water getting in.  

Mine never did go back to normal, fwiw. It was replaced under warranty and I've avoided getting it wet since then even though I picked it specifically for the ability to swim with it.

@SunsetRunner I did notice the stair count issue started out mild-ish and seemed to worsen with time. It was counting over 75 floors per day by the time they replaced mine.

[SunsetRunner]

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@Adrienna27 wrote:

@SunsetRunner I did notice the stair count issue started out mild-ish and seemed to worsen with time. It was counting over 75 floors per day by the time they replaced mine.

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So, it does seem to get worse over time. Question is whether a replacement is going to solve it, or if it will just get me another few months of good readings until it gradually goes back to the same problem.

Yesterday, it said I did another 69 floors. 55 the day before. 51 before that.

When I look back, there are days with less, but overall, I am averaging between 30 and 60 floors per day. I might do 10-12 for real, sometimes less, but never what the device tells me.

While I am tech savvy, I did not really looked into getting the floor count out of the dashboard view. I found you can easily do that in the settings of the app. But that still doesn't answer the question whether the false readings influence the rest of the data. I suspect it does influence the readings and it gives wrong data. Reliability is out the window and the device seems to be a rather expensive watch.

Maybe I should contact support once again and also have this device exchanged, just like I did with the other one that had a black screen problem.

[Adrienna27]

I would say yes, have it exchanged if you're still under warranty.

Mine has remained accurate with the replacement, but again, I've been careful not to get it wet (even though swimming was part of what I originally bought it for) since I believe the stair count issue seems to most often originate after using the device while swimming.

[Mikechem]

Yes!
Both times mine broke from using it in a pool.
They replaced the first one which was god for two weeks. I went swimming and then Gone.

Sent from my iPhone
Apologies for any auto-correct errors.

[SunsetRunner]

Now in touch with support via e-mail after having reached out via private message to support on Twitter. For now, I’m being referred back to the workaround. It’s quite tiresome, to be honest. 

Today is another one with a crazy reading: 70 floors. Maybe I did 20. I’m going to check via dashboard and see if I can delete some again manually. Trying to figure out when exactly it’s making errors. 

Pffff... What a joke. 

 

Edit: 

One hour later. Sat in a chair and read a book, went up 1 floor, brushed my teeth and got in bed. 

That’s 225 steps, 170 meters, 5 floors, 151 cals difference. Sitting and reading,  going upstairs, brushing teeth, getting in bed. 

 

[GregThePeg]

It seems to be quite random. Sometimes mine does actually record the
correct number of floors, then another day it is wildly inaccurate. I have
seen floors appear when mopping the floor and on other occasions where no
change of level has occurred. I wonder if it is calculating floors for
activity that doesn’t involve steps because of a bad algorithm or the
counter isn’t being reset properly. Whatever the cause, I am sure it is bad
software.

[SunsetRunner]

So, finally, after having tried everything, communicated with support via Twitter and e-mail, and having had a daily increase of floor count (from 60 to over 90), I was sent an offer for either a replacement, or a 50% discount on another tracker. This, because still under warranty. 

I have to say that I turned sarcastic and lost all confidence of getting this sorted, but most of the support team are just doing their job and remain friendly. There’s no real answer on firmware updates, fixes, or product improvements, but once support understands the device is not operating as advertised, they are quick to assist. 

I just hope that the replacement device will not have the same problems eventually. 

[SunsetRunner]

Received my Charge 3 replacement and have been putting it to the test. All readings are as they should be. Have been comparing with a Charge 2 and two health apps. Did some rowing, walking and stairs to compare. So far, so good. Let's see how it holds up over time.

[SunsetRunner]

We have 3 x Charge 3s in our house and all of us noticed a sudden spike in floor count after one of the Android Software updates a few months back. It never settled back since...

We've also noticed that we're all sleeping better as of the last big update.

None of us have the inclination to get involved with customer support.

And given how poor the  list of supported Android devices is, it simply teaches us that the next set of wearables are unlikely to be Fitbits.

[SunsetRunner]

Quick update:

See the chart for comparison. This is August '18 until March '20. You can clearly see the upward trend after the switch from Charge 2 to Charge 3 (early '19). And again the immediate change after replacing the Charge 3 (early '20).

[Ffionx94]

Mine is the opposite to most of these comments! I work night shift in a 2 storey care home and my last shift was a bad night and I swear I went up and down the stairs at least 60 times!! Yet my fitbit said 13 floors 😬

[Bubblywines]

And because of these outrageously inaccurate stairs, my calories are also ridiculous.  How can I trust anything this Charge 3 days?  I’m sorry I bought it, but my charge 2 screen cracked and I thought I’d upgrade.  I’m going to call them tomorrow and see if they will do anything.

[SunsetRunner]

Another update: this seems to prove that the replacement keeps on doing a good job. Ever since the switch, the floor count is consistent and in line with the Charge 2 I had before.

It would be good to see this graph from others and compare results.

BTW: keep your Charge 3 away from water and do not swim with it. It is likely the cause of the misreadings.

[Adrienna27]

Thank you, Rbiemans.   Update from me, as well: Fitbit eventually replaced under warranty my Versa 2 which had suddenly started having a wildly inaccurate stair count.  I've had the replacement for nearly a year now and have had very accurate, reasonable stair counts with it since the beginning.  I have carefully avoided swimming with it, however, since swimming while wearing it seemed to be what broke the Versa 2.

This is disappointing and frustrating since one of the reasons I picked the Versa to start with was the advertised ability to wear while swimming.  I don't dive, so it was never in water more than about 3 feet deep, but it couldn't handle it. I would definitely agree that it's a hardware issue, not software or firmware.

[SunsetRunner]

Quick update:

No swimming, no water near the device. It still seems to be accurate. 2020 has largely been without long drives, no air travel, nothing that could trigger any misreadings. I feel tempted to take it for a swim... 🤔