Inspire HR: Step accuracy

[franskemper]

Hello,

I am using my Inspire HR only a few days, but find that the step count is way off. Only today I put the Inspire to charge and already the count show 1.662 steps. (1.32KM) We do not have a small house, but to walk that many steps will not happen. This was my confirmation of suspecting the same during the past few days. Since I used the Inspire, it gives me consistent way more steps, and distance, than I actually did. Is there any way to fix this?

Thanks.

Moderator edit: Subject for clarity 

[Treetop10]

No... it’s not a joke. It’s frustrating but over stressing about something we don’t have control over is very bad for each of us, including you, dear one

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[Lonefred]

Come on, will Fitbit please recognize, that ther is a problem. I have both an Alta HR and a brand new Inspire, and the Inspire is way to sensitive, and way more sensitive than the Alta, how do you explain that?

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@MattFitbit wrote:

Hi folks. I've merged a few threads here to help keep the community tidy. 

First and foremost, I would like to thank each of you for providing such detailed examples. I will be sure to forward this feedback to our team. 

When working at a desk, cooking, or performing other activities with arm movements, a device on your wrist may add some steps. For most customers, the number of extra steps added by arm-based movement isn’t significant when compared to your overall stats. For more information, see How does my Fitbit device count steps?

I can also recommend checking this article on the accuracy of Fitbit devices in general. 

It might also be a good idea to give your Inspire a quick restart. This may help to refresh your tracker's system.

Hope this helps! Feel free to let me know how your Inspire or Inspire HR is recording over the weekend. 

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[Barb1260]

As all the posts have stated. All this has been tried and do not work. Can we have a REAL solution? What happened to the “we are working on an update”?

[Barb1260]

Really Matt?  How many times do your customers need to say these fixes don’t work for the problem. What happened to the software update that we were told was being done?  

[Lonefred]

Any news on the update?

[Barb1260]

Doesn’t seem that they are even working on it with all the bs responses by FITBIT 

[Houseman]

Here’s a strange one. I’ve had my HR just over 2 weeks now and I’ve had all these probs but...in the last day or two the inaccuracies are getting less and less. I figured that my HR was over calculating by, originally, about 30/33%. That dropped a week or so to about 20% and I thought that was a bit better because it was in accurate but consistent. I just kept multiplying by 80% and getting a reasonably accurate result. Now the HR is giving slightly better than that and, lo, when on a ‘walk’ it’s suddenly now spot on with time and steps. I know from long experience that I walk at 100 steps per minute (1000 per 10 min) and a 10 min walk with the dog this morning recorded the steps accurately.
This makes me wonder if you keep it on all the time does it find your biological rhythm somehow? I don’t know but mine, at least for now, seems to be improving. The calorie counter still seems off but does it take into account natural calorie burn as well as step/exercise burn? Your body needs about 1300 calories per day even if you never move a muscle due to just breathing, blood circulation and brain activity. Anyway this could (stress COULD) be good need, who knows.

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[LunaLu1999]

Thank you and others for trying to help get this on track.  I actually returned mine already. Unfortunately, it just doesn’t work. I will stay tuned for future improvements, but for the time being, I preferred  to not lose my $.  While I understand the devices are intended to be close approximations, the discrepancies made it too hard to truly gauge output.  Respectfully, FitBit would do well to have a “recall” or whatever term makes sense as this would maintain customer confidence.  The lack of fix, along with a promise of a fix, has eroded that for me.  

[Lonefred]

Hello,

My Inspire is way off, just this morning I had recorded about 10.000 step,
should have been about 3000. I did do some functional training and biked to
and from the gym, but that would not have been registered with the Alta as
step, huge difference in the two products. I think I will return the
Inspire only thing is, that it is very hard to find a new original band for
Alta.

[Treetop10]

Aaaamen!:musical_notes::musical_notes::musical_notes::musical_notes:

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[Treetop10]

🙏🙏🙏

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[Treetop10]

I love a positive thinker!👍👏

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[Lonefred]

I agree, particularly because it is so bad compared to the predecessor Alta, which also means that the technology is available

[YojanaFitbit]

Hi everybody, nice to see you here. It's always great to see new faces around, welcome to all new members around. 

Sorry for the issues that you're having with your Fitbit Inspire accuracy. Please make sure to check this recommendations and restart instructions. Our team is working on this. You feedback is really important for us, at this moment we don't have more information about it. As mentioned before, we'll have to wait for the next update. You can try the steps suggested here too: How accurate are Fitbit devices?

Please note, that on bumpy roads or in a car with a stiff transmission, your device may add some steps. For most customers, the number of extra steps added when driving isn’t significant when compared to your overall stats.

If you want to remove the steps from your daily total, manually log the driving activity for the time you were in a vehicle. For more information see How do I edit or delete Fitbit data and activities?

Thanks for your patience! Feel free to let me know if you have additional questions. 

[Treetop10]

I have a question on sleeping info... I wake up at 5 a.m. but fall asleep again but the info only covers until 5.....?

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[hmcrabtree]

I bought my Inspire HR last week and have been enjoying getting more walking in. But I noticed comparing it to my Health app on the iPhone and a pedometer app, the Fitbit WAY overcounts steps. I need an accurate step/distance measurement to prepare for a 5K. 

Sunday was my "rest day" and my phone and app say I walked about 1,500 steps, but the Fitbit had me over 5,000!

I wear it on my non-dominant arm too.

[Houseman]

A lot of people with this problem and it IS a fault. However to help you I have found the following as I have had mine about a month now. If you set it for exercise (bizarrely ‘run’, you can change to walk when you’ve finished) it is very accurate on steps, I know this because I have had a Pacer app on my phone for a long time and I know it to be very accurate and the stats compare well. Similarly if you walk any length of time (the default is set to 15 minutes but I have mine at ten) it auto kicks in to exercise and this is also accurate. For general walking about it is massively out but mine has now settled down to being consistently 20% over so whatever it says multiply by 80% and you won’t be far off. I’ve stuck with it because I do like it and am hoping for the promised software update to put it right. To make it easier I’ve set my daily target to 12500 steps then when it celebrates I know I’ve done my 10000 ‘real’ target. It helps if you know what is normal for you, for instance I know that I walk 100 steps per minute normally so I can guess pretty well my steps over a time period. The watch is great if I forget my phone because I can work things out accordingly. Hope this has helped. The HR has other faults (calorie count and mileage being two) but I think it’s worth sticking with. Here’s hoping.

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[Treetop10]

I don’t pay any attention to my Fitbit for my step count 😩

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[Treetop10]

Thanks for sharing your successful method

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[Asb51]

Regarding accuracy...you suggested manually entering data (or deleting). I
was able to enter data from my treadmill exercise, but since more than six
months ago everytime I input the data I get a ridiculous amount of steps
such as 180,000 plus. This suggests the issue is in the software. Now even
if I go outside and walk one hour, Fitbit reads less than a mile. I have
reset both of my devices to no avail.