Over counting steps causing calories burned and distance

[SunsetRunner]

Step Counter has counted over 2000 steps from sitting at my desk.  I chatted with tech support for about 30 minutes with no resolution to problem.  Tech support said that the product is possibly recording steps from typing(not joking).  According to the device i have burned over 1500 calories and covered 1.35 miles without breaking a sweat and all while sitting at my desk typing.  Makes me wonder if the sleep tracker and heart rate monitor are also inaccurate.  I will exchange for a new device.  If problem continues, i will return it.  After speaking to tech support, i am not confident this issue will get fixed.

Moderator edit: Updated subject for clarity.

[Swalsh3]

As a very happy user of the flex for over 2 years, i can not say how disappointed i am in the Inspire and how wildly inaccurate/high the steps are. Based on the flex, i know exactly how much to expect from regular days and high exercise days, and this is about double that all the time. Strangely, it is reading better sleep than I actually get, i can be up in the middle of the night and it will not read it at all. I did discover that I was wearing it too loosely, and if you tighten up the band it is much more accurate. But uncomfortable.

I'm so sad, i'm going to return it and don't know what to do next :*(

Perhaps the Charge, but this was less $$ and i like the water-proof and ability to scroll through notifications. 

[CiscaS]

Bought Inspire HR yesterday. This morning I apparently swam 40 minute whilst being in my office! Also step count ridiculously high. I returned mine, seems way too unreliable 😕

[CiscaS]

Bought Inspire HR yesterday. This morning I apparently swam 40 minute whilst being in my office! Also step count ridiculously high. I returned mine, seems way too unreliable .

[Swalsh3]

UPDATE - i tightened the band on my wrist and also turned off all the exercise options (swimming, running, eliptical, etc.) and it started counting steps normally! Because i also was swimming on my way to work LOL.  i guess i'll have to turn on those options if i want to do any of those things and have it counted, but typically i'm just interested in steps i walk.  Also i take it off when i'm exercising, like pilates.  Still a bummer, it's not working as well as the flex did.

[Adamawesome]

Mine is also doing that I walked for about ten minutes slowly and it said I burnt 1,079 calories and it said I walked 1,753 steps probably only actually walked 3-4 hundred steps

[VillaBritta]

I have done all the BS things the moderator has said to do (put the Fitbit on my non-dominant arm AND set the app to dominant arm in order to decrease sensitivity, reset the Fitbit, reset the Fitbit while it is connected to the charger, turn off the exercise functions like swimming, etc) and this $#%! device is still overcounting actual steps by at least 20% per day. I am still racking up steps in the shower, while making coffee, and typing at my desk. Besides watching the step count increase on my phone while I’m working at my desk, I also know it is overcounting by comparing steps counted during identical time periods/distances walking to work in the mornings (counted on my Fitbit flex) as well as comparing steps that my phone records in the Apple Health app during the same time period of walking. So there appear to be two separate issues- oversensitivity to non-walking motion, and then overcounting of actual walking steps. Interestingly, even though Fitbit inspire hr is wildly overcounting steps, at least the phone gps function has it tracking approximately the right distance that I walked. This is really unacceptable and I’m going to return my Fitbit for another brand’s tracker if it isn’t resolved very soon. I bought the inspire because I didnt want one of the bulky watch-like models but still wanted to monitor HR... now I don’t believe it’s accurately tracking my sleep or HR either.

[cksconcerns]

I do find it has helped wearing on my non dominant hand and setting for dominant. It's gone from over reporting about 25% to about 10%. Still too much in my opinion, but way better.

[cksconcerns]

Right! I'm also worried that the other data the device records is inaccurate. 

[Faseem]

My inspire HR counts exact steps while walking but once I stops...it adds a few more steps for no reason..without any movement. What is the solution for this?

[faunny]

I am having this same issue, and I can see from this thread that this has been an issue for a year. Is Fitbit going to fix this, or do I just need to return my device and find a different brand?

[SunsetRunner]

hey there, 

has this been resolved? I got my Fitbit today and have stayed inside the house all day (small house!) and it’s saying I’ve done 1,755 steps! I wear it on my dominant hand, but have listed it as so in the settings on the app. 
I have also restarted and removed and added back the inspire HR to the fitbit app. Please advise ?? I will have to return if it’s still an issue as it’s the main reason I purchased ! Thanks 

[TerryJB]

Take it back and get your money refunded. It is a piece of junk.

[Bernadette1101]

I have the same issue. My Fitbit inspire counted 200 steps while I watched a movie. I never got off the couch once. It’s very inaccurate. Same thing happened to my sister. She has the exact same Fitbit. 

[Alexxxa74]

My Fitbit has counted over 12,000 steps whilst I’ve been on a 9 hour drive to Scotland (as a passenger).  Am disappointed as was hoping for an accurate track on Ben Nevis tomorrow. 

[Barbershoppop]

Hi,

Just bought the device yestersay, nearly a year after you made this comment and I wanted you to know that the issue is still there, the device overcounts steps and counts steps while driving.

Is this a fixable issue or should I just return the device

[Andromedus88]

Just return it. Mine is somewhere in my house collecting dust. I bought another tracker a long time ago. I don't think they'll ever fix it. I don't even think they care. Too bad I liked fitbit but not after this.

[Dangerblip]

I second Andromedus88, return it. The issue still isn’t fixed. The step counting is very inaccurate because it still over counts steps and counts steps while driving. Furthermore, it also counts steps while typing; I sat in my office one day (pre-pandemic, of course), might have gotten up to use the bathroom a couple times and to make lunch, and my step count was thousands of steps higher than when I arrived at the office. So, yeah, outside of a wild urge to try it again every once in a while, mine also mostly collets dust in my junk drawer.

[BilalTheBeard]

Even with changing the dominant hand the tracker still over counts everything