Fitbit Versa inaccurate distance

[123rkb123]

So at first, I thought my girlfriend's Versa was just inaccurate, but now I don't know what to think.

This morning we took a 5.3 mile walk and her FItbit counted 13,275 steps but after the walk, her Fitbit said she was at 10.07 miles.  So either she's a big giant person with a 4 foot stride, or her Fitbit is woefully inaccurate.

One the one hand, I want to carefully measure her stride length and enter that, but on the other hand, the default stride shouldn't be this far off.  After all, this Versa is a replacement for a Flex which always used the default stride that was calculated by Fitbit, when she set up her profile.

[LiliyaFitbit]

Welcome to the Fitbit Community @123rkb123! I am sorry for the delayed response. 

I am glad to assist you with your concern regarding your girlfriend's Fitbit Versa tracking the distance accurately. I understand that your girlfriend used a Fitbit Flex previously and used a default setting based on her height and gender. If you feel that the step count and distance are inaccurate, confirm the following are correct in the Fitbit app:

• The wrist settings (For more information, see Does the wrist I wear my device on affect accuracy?)
• The height (For more information, see How do I manage my Fitbit profile?)

Fitbit devices calculate distance by multiplying the walking steps and walking stride length. Similarly, the running steps are multiplied by the running stride length. Since we use height to estimate the walking and running stride lengths, you may want to measure and manually adjust these values if the distance measurement seems inaccurate. For more information, see How do I measure and adjust stride length for my Fitbit device?

I'll be around if you need further assistance.

[123rkb123]

Thanks so much for the feedback. As it relates to stride length, here's
where we're at:

- Fitbit is recording the steps and mileage as though she's got a stride
of almost 40" which is almost impossible for a woman who is 5'3"
- The other day, her Fitbit said she took 9,895 steps and logged 5.92
miles
- There are 63,360 inches in a mile
- That would equate to a stride length of 37.9"
- 63,360 times her mileage of 5.92 = 375091 inches traveled
- 9,895 steps divided by 375,091 = a 37.9" stride
- The default stride length in her Fitbit (based on her height,
gender) is about 27"
- That means that if she took 9,895 steps, she would log 4.2166 miles
- There are 63,360 inches in a mile
- 9,895 steps times her 27" stride length = 267,165 inches
- 267,165 divided by 63,360 = 4.21661931818, right?
- We measured her stride over a mile and came to about 30" on a very
aggressive walk
- That means if she walked 9,895 steps, she would log 4.6751 miles
- 9,895 steps times a 30" stride lengths = 296,850 inches
- 296,850 divided by 63,360 = 4.6751 miles, right?


So whether we use her default stride or we plug in a stride length
manually, Fitbit is waaaaay overestimating her mileage. And in the case
above, Fitbit was waaay closer than it's ever come. Usually, she's
tracking a mileage that is so high, her stride would be 48".

The manifestation of this problem is that when MyFitnessPal receives this
data, it's calculating her calorie burn way too high, so she can't track
the proper amount of food that she should be consuming in order to stay on
track with her weight loss. That makes this device, essentially worthles.

Any feedback?

[LiliyaFitbit]

Hi @123rkb123, thank you for your reply. 

I really appreciate your efforts and your time investigating the issue and providing the additional details. I totally understand how you are feeling as your girlfriend invested in the Fitbit Versa and expect it to be accurate in order to reach her fitness goals. I've sent your case to our Support team so they can investigate further and provide a solution regarding this matter. You will receive an email from them soon.

If you have any questions, feel free to let me know.