Phone App Calculates different calorie burn for logged activity than when using Dashboard web

[njpatentdad]

Tracker: Inspire HR Firmware v. 34.20001.88.11

Phone app v. 3.63

Trying to log a past activity in the phone app seemed to be calculating the same calorie burn (324) each time that I logged an hour of circuit training for different days which made me think that my fitbit metrics for the relevant time (HR, steps, etc) wasnt being taken into account.  So I logged into the dashboard and logged circuit training for the same time period and it calculated a calorie burn over 500.

Why is there a discrepancy and what can I fix?

[JohnnyRow]

1) The only reason to log a past activity is if you were not wearing you tracker at the time. Otherwise, you should be using the Exercise App on the tracker to record the workout to use the actual data Fitbit recorded.  Otherwise, Fitbit ignores the data it actually recorded.

2) (1) above is why you keep getting same total when logging in phone app.  But also there is an intensity field you must be bypassing, that will give you different calorie burn totals.  There is a slider labeled "Precise" which defaults to mid-intensity. Move the slider to the other side to adjust the intensity and get different calorie burn values.

3)  I don't remember if there is some similar variable input in the fitbit.com dashboard because I never manually log a workout after the fact because that defeats the whole purpose of wearing the tracker.

[njpatentdad]

Thank you for taking the time to answer @JohnnyRow .

Fitbit phone app ignores the tracker data UNLESS I use the tracker's exercise app was the bit that I needed. 

Using the exercise app on the tracker doesn't work for me because I often do circuit training which isn't represented on the app, sometimes I have difficulty working the interface quickly enough, and I also forget.  There is no technical reason why the tracker exercise app needs to be used at all.  The tracker is always recording my metrics - steps, heart rate, etc.  All the calorie algorithm (whether phone app or web dashboard) needs is to know which activity was undertaken during what time period in order to grab the right data from the tracker, and preferably factor in your age and weight, to come up with an accurate calorie burn.  The web-based Fitbit dashboard does this just fine.  Activating the tracker based exercise app is just a convenience so one doesn't have to bother with manual entry.  Why the Fitbit phone app wouldn't use the captured data is both inconvenient and inexplicable to me.  However, knowing that is useful so, again, thank you @JohnnyRow.

I did see the intensity slider bar but it's useless and even in it's conception is a poor approximation of the actual data the tracker possesses (how many steps per minute cross referenced to my heart rate).  Intensity compared to what?  My best effort? The effort compared to some cohort I belong to? Anyone who has ever used the app?  Even if I knew what it was supposed to represent, what if my effort fluctuates or I lie to myself or was tired so it seemed "hard", etc.

For me, the "whole point" of the tracker is to have it constantly and accurately track my metrics with as little intervention from me as possible so I can use that data as I see fit.  Right now, I want to understand the calorie burn from each activity.  While I wish the phone app used the tracker data more intelligently (which it could do as demonstrated by the web dashboard), at least I know what it is doing and how to adapt to it.  Thanks.

[JohnnyRow]

I was just trying to explain how it does works, not necessarily defending it.  I certainly can understand thinking it should work otherwise.  If you want to offer your suggestion to Fitbit about how you think it  should work, you might want to try the Features Suggestions Board .