Heart rate readings too high in Fitbit Versa

[tiim]

I just went on my first run with the Versa and found the heart rate wildly off. I've had several other Fitbit devices that have registered a peak rate between 160-165 bpm for the same run, on the same wrist, with the same wrist placement. This run shows a lengthy section where my heart rate peaks at 209. I'm in my late 40's... No way that is accurate. Anything I can do to fix this?

Moderator Edit: Updated Subject For Clarity.

[matt5555]

@RobertoFitbit: What information do you need to help investigate it? I recently moved from a charge 2. I can pass along tsx files for the same run with the versa vs the charge 2. 

Here's the HR data from my run today with the versa.

Here is the same route with my charge 2 

You can see there is a spike at the beginning of the work out. 

It's frustrating because I like the watch, but I have no insight as to if this problem is being taken seriously. 

Thanks

[BamIAm]

@matt5555, your Versa track definitely looks like a loose band, or positioning of the sensor.

Mine worked best on my dominant arm, turned inside the wrist during workouts.  Could definitely duplicate your problem by wearing it like a normal watch.

Sent mine back for a refund.  It was relatively accurate during my activities, but I'd get "runaway HR" doing normal stuff during the day.  It would shoot up from my normal 68 - 72 BPM without any real increase in pulse rate to over 120 BPM.  Seemed like some kind of software glitch, it would go back to normal if I restarted it.  I decided it was a lot of trouble for a $200 device.  Back to using my Charge 2 and Blaze, neither is as problematic.

[Jess55]

I contacted Fitbit about my issues.  Basically said they were working on it, but we wouldn’t be told when it was fixed.

i asked them about returning it with the warrant,y because it doesn’t work as it should.  They said since I didn’t purchase it directly from them I’m **ahem** out of luck, they won’t refund my money or even let me pay the difference and get a Ionic.  

Well I’ll they have lost a customer.  Never again will I buy a Fitbit product, nor will I recommend them.  I now have a $200 tracker that gives me falsely elevated HRs and subsequently increased calorie burns.  I’m really pissed, it’s been over a month now and nothing has changed.  I don’t understand how it could be THIS in accurate if all the other products work fine.  

Fitbit is awful!

[dclarknow]

Same here - HR spikes too high at the beginning of the run.  My Polar chest strap never had these spikes on the same run. I was also having a problem where the HR would go too low a little later in the run - during the most difficult section when I was running up a huge hill and several flights of stairs.  It *seems* like the .15 update might have fixed the issue of HR going too low. But I'm still having the problem with the spike at the beginning of the run.  I want to love this watch, but it's hard not to feel that other devices must be better.  I'm hoping Fitbit is scrambling to fix this. Maybe Fitbit is trying to manage this to avoid a snowball of returns or people avoiding the watch altogether. Feel bad for people who were hoping for a fix and are past the return window.  

[gmdoria]

I’m having the same “problem” .. when I jog my heart rate goes up to 150-170s. My heart rate never went up to 140s today and my calories is 200 off from

the treadmill counter ..

[Dazrox]

They all use standard response. Might as well talk to a chat bot.

I suspect there are multiple causes and they have no idea why. Hence the
deafening silence on this matter.

One thing I would recommend is to do a factory reset, allow all the updates
to load. Do not add any 3rd party app or add ons. I suspect these may be
contributing to the problem.

See how that goes.

[MsFLGirl]

Thank you. I will need to check the ad ons as I am unfamiliar with how to do them. i may have some 😳.

Thanks for the advice.

Sent from my iPhone

[Denise211993]

Ok. I just got my versa yesterday.  I'm sitting down now after transplanting my vegetables.  My hr registered at 117. Couldn't understand it because I feel fine . It scared the hell out of me.  I thought my icd was going to kick in. But my phone hr monitor was registering 59. Relief.  Glad to see it's not me. Hope they can get the issue resolved soon. My other Fitbit charge hr never gave me any problems.  It always matched my other monitors. 

[BamIAm]

@Denise211993, this was the exact problem I had with mine.  Usually would "take off" like this at least a couple of times per day, when I was at rest.  Finally returned it, it was too unreliable.

Got an "open box" Ionic coming from a return-friendly seller today, hopefully it won't have the same problem.  We'll see.

[MsFLGirl]

Thanks will keep in mind.

Update: 

Oh wow. Thanks for the reply and info.

Sent from my iPhone

Moderator Edit: Format

[RobertoME]

Hello there Versa friends, my apologies for not posting anything lately. I understand the frustration you may have regarding this issues with the heart rate on your Fitbit Versa.

So far I haven't received any recent update, beyond that we are already investigating this issue. So, I appreciate the offering of your assistance @matt5555. Rest assured all the information has been compiled and is under review to find the root of this problem.

I have mentioned this before, but if you are new on this discussion, please make sure to try the basic troubleshooting steps to address the heart rate issues. If the issue continue, try to perform a restart on your Fitbit Versa: How do I restart my Fitbit device? Or a Factory reset from the Versa settings.

Once again, I'm sorry for the issue you're having with your watch and thank you for bringing this to our attention; we've passed it along to our engineering team. 

We appreciate your patience as we work to resolve this issue.

[BamIAm]

Had the exact same problem with the Ionic as with the Versa.  Returned the Ionic too.

No issues like this with my Charge 2, Blaze, or Surge.  The Ionic / Versa both appear to share a bad sensor design, or something is wrong with their software.

[DMAC90]

Just bought a new one of these in the past week having the same issued with HR being too high only with the versa. Any update when this will be fixed? 

[BamIAm]

@DMAC90, your best bet is to take it back and get a Charge 2 instead.  HR sensor is a bad design on both the Versa and Ionic, works fine on the Charge 2.

[DMAC90]

Ill wait for the update bit thanks

[Tvoyak]

Same here, I looked and my watch said my he was 119 just sitting.  Checked my pulse and it was really 65.  My sleep stages don't work either.  I changed position of the watch but nothing helped.  I turned the heart rate off and on again and it read correct again.  I hope they fix this soon because I really like the watch but hr and sleep stages are obviously a huge part of the overall reason I purchased this.  It seems to work sometimes and then it goes haywire.  I don't know why.

[Che4]

Exactly the same with the ionic, works some days then goes haywire! Most frustrating.

[LWW73]

That's exactly what I did. Not the "solution" I wanted, but it worked.

[Tvoyak]

I noticed my time on the versa was off by a minute from my phone yesterday, don't know why but after that I set versa to not update with time zones and my phone to network time.  Previously, it was set to manual time on the phone because I live in the edge of a time zone split and if my phone hits a tower across the line it jumps ahead an hour.  My sleep stages and heart rate were all good after that.  I'll see if it worked over the next few days but the clock/ time would obviously affect the heart rate tracking and sleep stages so we'll see if that's my issue.

[iSashaUS]

Well, glad it worked for you.

Interested here if it will work for my table/desk. See the video of table with a heart beat 🙂

https://youtu.be/yrQGceoSjAI