Distance on GPS map doesn't match with exercise summary

[Andyn1970]

Hi all

Firstly love the Fitbit Versa does everything I need also the app is great.

BUT over the last couple of weeks the distance recorded by the app is way off. 

I use it connected to my Samsung Galaxy S9+ and its always been very accurate to a tenth of a mile or less. 

But on my last few runs of about 3.4 miles it can be a whole mile out, but just the distance the route it records is spot on but the mile points are in the wrong place for example it recorded 2.44 miles in 30.29.

My wife who also has a Versa connected to an IPhone recorded 3.43 miles in 30.30 this is correct and matches our pace of about 9.30/m

Prior to the last weeks it has always been almost exactly the same as my wife as we run together. 

I have Re started the Versa and the phone, I have cleared the data in the Fitbit app and I have also uninstalled the fitbit app. 

Same result its not always out the same, a couple of runs back it got to 2.89m on the same route. Then on Tuesday it was spot on. 

Any ideas it seems like a small thing but not having an accurate record of your work turns out to be extremely frustrating.

Anyone else had this? 

Moderator edit: updated subject for clarity

[wilson23uk]

Are people still having this issue after this week's update? Ridiculous that they still haven't even acknowledged that it's a problem.

[Pete-Fl]

Stride length really shouldn’t come into the equation when connecting to the gps.

[Georex]

IPhone 10X GPS tracked my 9 mile run correctly (MapMyRun app.) and my Versa 2 tracked 7 miles.  I too have used Fitbit trackers for years and the previous trackers did a much better job in GPS accuracy. 

[TheoneVance]

Still having this problem, Fitbit is logging all my runs short, but when the same data is uploaded to Strava the correct distance is shown, I have to think something is off with the algorithm because the maps displayed are identical and it should be very easy to measure distance on a mao of gps data, I'm trying to train for a half marathon and wanted to use the watch display to help me maintain my pace but the readings are way slower because it isn't recording the right distance, I'm going to start looking for other devices I think because this seems like such a simple problem to be going on for this long 

[TheJBird]

The whole reason why I bought the Versa was to use the GPS for tracking my distance, but that is completely wrong... When GPS should be pretty much accurate...!

[RunHolmanRun]

If you are serious about running and want to run more than 5k, then get rid of the Fitbit. I did and now have a tracker which is accurate and has helped me become a better runner. I smashed my 5k/10k PBs, I am running more and don't dread going for a run to find out after I finished that I'd ran less than I thought. 

[Miketez]

...and at mě even Strava is not doing correction....uaghhh...any tip s?

[SunsetRunner]

Since 20-4 there were 3 days of spot-on measure bij the Versa. Then today for some reason the device misses bij 20%. Presented distance 6,5 km, real distance 8,1 km.

20% is too much. Come on Fit Bit!

[RucknRun]

I got a Garmin it has been great.

[Feralitas]

I have the same issue. Made a post in the german forum about it:

https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Dashboard/Fitbit-tracking-fehlerhaft/m-p/4209750#M7700

I have a Galaxy Note 10 plus. Ran 7km, displayed as 5km ...

It is very frustrating.

[Sjnoelie]

Exactly the same problem here. Walked outside, wifi off, waited for GPS to connect, started excercise on Versa 2 and started run in Runkeeper on Galaxy S10.

This resulted in 4.85km in Runkeeper and 4.3km in Fitbit app. The map is exactly the same. The exported data from the Fitbit app shows the same distance as Runkeeper, when loaded on various other websites.

Quite a large issue in my opinion...

[RunHolmanRun]

Once I went out to 21.09km, got my distance cue for 10km at around 45:00 which I have never actually ran that fast, as I was aware of the distance measurement issue I knew it was over reporting how much I had ran. This made the rest of my run a massive gamble as the would be no way to know if I had actually ran my target distance. In the end according to my old versa I had ran around 24km when I had infact only 21.64km. Stupidly enough I kept hold the versa for another 6 weeks with it constantly giving me wrong distances. Finally had enough and returned it. The Versa range is a strange device range as they aren't smartwatches and they definitely aren't any good for tracking activities, so I'm not sure who they are for. I still can't believe that this issue hasn't been resolved

[Davie1888]

Yup same here, I jumped ship about the same time as you and wont be back. I first reported it in September and gave up within two weeks and thankfully got a refund. They launched the new Versa about the same time we were all experiencing this issue and it's still not fixed so there must be a lot of people out there who aren't getting accurate readings. Even things like step count etc are way off, when I swapped brands I suddenly dropped my step count easily by a thousand a day.

Anyone who wants to run and get decent data back would be as well steering clear as it's still not been fixed 6 months later despite all the info folk have collated.

[Andyn1970]

It's very odd, my wife still uses her original Versa on an IPhone 8 and has no problems at all both the Versa and the IPhone fully updated. 

I run with either my Fitbit Ionic using the built in GPS or my samsug galaxy watch both work perfectly.

The distance recorded on my wife's is never more than a few 100ths away from mine at 3 of 4 miles maximum on 1/10th difference. 

Yet my Versa was absolutely pants, no use at all and so is my lads versa if he comes out with us he can be 1/2 a mile out in 3 miles, that's no good at all.

I don't think they care at all, people who actually use them for running and other exercise are probably such a small persentage of their customer base we are not worth worrying about.

Very poor customer service but we are but a speck in their Very large ocean. 

[tecishere]

Interesting fact, if you run wearing your Apple Watch and take your iPhone with you the watch will use the phones GPS and not its own to preserve battery life.  This confirms to me that this issue is a Fitbit software\firmware issue and not a device issue.

[Sjnoelie]

It's definitely something in Fitbit's software/firmware and probably related to the interpretation of gps data from the phone. The exported gps file from the Fitbit app (which reads the wrong distance) on the phone gives the accurate distance, once loaded in other software.

Do we have an official statement from a Fitbit employee on this issue?

How can we get this bumped up their priority radar?

[SunsetRunner]

I've just gone for my first run with my Versa 2 which I bought after my 3 year old Blaze started having battery issues.

My usual 5k route came back as 4k and my stats were all way lower than usual. I followed what others have said here and downloaded the .tcx file, converted it to .gpx, then deleted the run on Strava and uploaded the .gpx file and the run now shows 5k.

But the watch is still inaccurate and I've lost the HR data on Strava.

Never had this trouble with the Blaze. Looks like I'll be sending it back to Amazon. Might try an Ionic and if that doesn't work, jump ship and buy a Garmin.

I've upped my stride length by about 25% and will go for another run tomorrow, but I'm not holding my breath that there will be any improvement.

[Snow_Skier]

Hi Steve,

If you go the Strava desktop website for a run uploaded automatically by Fitbit, you should see a button that says "distance (?)". If you click that, it will recalculate the distance using the GPS file rather than using the Fitbit calculated value. That way you won't lose your heart rate data.

I don't think changing your stride length will help since Fitbit only uses stride length when you are not using the connected GPS.

Finally, if you haven't yet, could you please go to the first post in this whole thread and click that you have the issue too? I suspect that Fitbit prioritizes fixes based on that.  It may be our only hope of seeing that this bug is properly addressed.

*Edited typo

[SunsetRunner]

Thanks, I've updated Strava now. Also tagged myself on the first post in this thread.

Incidentally, I just spoke to a friend of mine who has an Ionic and he's happy enough with it, but told me on an 8k route it differs from his phone's GPS by about 450m.

I used to have a Surge and got rid of it for the Blaze to try connected GPS as the Surge's built-in GPS was about 200m short on a 10k run. It would appear that the built-in GPS isn't any better on the Ionic.

Sadly it looks like I might have to jump ship and buy something else. Unless the support email I just send yields a miracle cure...

[Sjnoelie]

Went for another run this afternoon, exact same track. Connected GPS on Versa 2, confirmation before start. Wifi off, wireless earbuds in.

Runkeeper on Galaxy S10 is consistently measuring 4.85 km.

Fitbit is providing 4.3 km (Wednesday) and 4.45 km (Friday) as distance for this track.

The plotted maps look exactly the same in both Runkeeper and Fitbit.