Bit dissapointed with my Versa, am i doing things wrong?

[CptChronic]

Hello everybody, sorry if these have been asked before, ive tried the search but cant seem to find anything that relates fully to my questions.

The wife got me a fitbit for my birthday last week, i have been wanting one for a while but after using it i feel quite disappointed. Im sure its just something im doing wrong or they surely wouldnt still have this great following.

Anyway, to start with, it tracks loads of steps that i do not take in a day. I did search this on here a couple of days after getting it and found i needed to tell the watch i am wearing it on my dominant hand, which i did but it is still adding a crazy amount of steps so this function really seems pointless. I can be sat down when i buzzes to tell me "well done, thats 250 steps this hour!"

I have been really excited to get into the gym and give it a try, this is one of the main things i got it for but while doing what i know is a high intensity weight workout (chest and biceps with 30 seconds rest max between sets) the majority of the time it was saying i my heart rate was at 80bpm. I had to sit with my arm in a certain position for it to give me a real reading which was between 120-150. I also noticed while finishing off my session on the stationary bike that my heart rate was different to the reading the bike gave me. Sometimes this was only a few bpm which i would have no problem with but it was often around 20bpm out. I find this very frustrating as i was really excited to use it in the gym and with it being so far out most of the time it just seems pointless.

I do hope theres something i can do to make this better any help is greatly appreciated

[wtksk8r · Accepted solution]

The unit uses the LEDs to measure movement of your skin when the blood pulses through the veins. The location of the unit is somewhat important to get a good reading. The manual (link here) has more information.

As for the steps, the unit is simply a collection of accelerometers that measure motion and try to interpret whether the motion represents a step or not. If you have a lot of hand motion when sitting it is likely to interpret some of that as walking. Some of it can be subtle. I note that a lot of folks complain that when walking with, say, a grocery cart they do not get any credit for walking. I have never had that problem with any of the Fitbit wrist units so I must have some up and down motion of the wrist even when I am holding on to the grocery cart that the unit interprets as steps. 

[XenDazzle]

It's not you, it's the versa. I took mine back and got a full refund because it doesn't work as advertised. It had all the workings to be a great device but  missed the mark.

[Rich_Laue]

Please remember that the Versa mounted on the arm. Like an AW will only be monitoring arm motions, not feet movements .It does this by looking for movements it expects see when the feet are stepping. What i are the arms doing when the extra steps are recorded? 

As for heart rate, it is looking for changes in heart density. Reviewers have said the Versa is better than the other fitbits during weights. It still may have problems if the unit is to close to the flexing of the wrist. Try moving it further up the arm.