How does Versa estimates my calories burned?

[Carylinn]

Since I switched from Blaze to Versa, my daily overall calorie total has risen from 1500-1800 calories a day to 1900-2200 a day. I always felt that the Blaze over estimated my calorie total because I would have to eat 1200 a day or less to maintain my weight. It does seem that the overnight calorie increments are the same, 12.3-12.4 calories per 15m increment, so I suspect my daily activities are being incorrectly monitored. I wish I was burning that many calories, but sadly, I suspect Versa is less accurate than the Blaze. For reference I am 5 feet tall, 42, and weigh 127.

Moderator edit: subject for clarity

[Shay88_J]

I didn’t wear my watch for two days. However, when I looked at my watch today, it says that I’ve burn 1200 calories. There’s no way I could burned 1200 calories when my watch was sitting on my table for two days. Oh and by the way, it’s still sitting in the same spot and still says I’ve burned over 1200 calories. This is the worse purchase that I’ve ever made. It’s certainly a waste of money. I should have purchased the Apple Watch from the beginning. It’s so much better. 

[Tandrani]

Hi Alejendra, I am using fitbit versa and it is no way showing the accurate or near to accurate calorie burned. I have already updated my height and weight accurately still it is over estimating my calories burned. I have done normal morning office prep work ( i.e, getting ready and eating breakfast) but no way I have burnt 600+ calorie in it. 

[Lsumner812]

My versa says I burned 3,400 calories today! I did not have a work out and only did around 6k steps. It’s way, way too high! I didn’t burn anywhere near that many calories. I wish! 

[owen85]

i find the versa grossly overestimates calories burnee. went for a 4km walk for 43 mins today. im 208 pounds.5 foot 10 and 33 years old. fitbit says i burned 473 calories!!must b a joke. whats worse fitbit customer support days there is no fix for it

[julianri]

I just got Versa as well and comparing to my Blaze it does add at least 200 calories extra during  the same workout. Both devices are updated to latest firmware.

Could I please get an explanation to that? It is impossible (I am a certified trainer) to burn this amount of calories, so something is off with the Versa workout calories calculation.

[dubB0425]

I agree. My Versa also shows a high number for calories burned. I have my age, height, and weight entered correctly. Today I have only been awake for two hours and I am already at 800 calories burned and all I have done is get ready and drive to work. This past week, according to my Versa, I have averaged over 3,000 calories burned a day. I am active, workout 3-4 times a week, stand all day at my job, eat healthy, but I feel like the calories burned count is still unrealistic. My diet alone is proof, I know I don't eat over 2,500 calories a day so if I were burning calories like the versa shows (3,200-4,000 a day) I would be losing weight like crazy. This is disappointing as I went with the Versa over the apple watch because of price but now I'm considering if another $200 would be worth better accuracy for a device that I use every day.

[owen85]

i agree. its very frustrating. i dont understand why fitbit cant tweek it to reflect a more realistic calorie burn. il be getting a different brand the next time for sure

[KatieNk]

I understand BMR. I am wondering... Does the fitbit calculate activity calories based on HR? If so, can you explain how. 

[Duke12345z]

ok, so basically I have to minus 200-400 calories off my total calorie burn off my versa so that would more or less make my 'actual' calorie burn?

please i just need some sort of confirmation

thanks.

[JeffGT]

It is 8:43 in the morning and all I have done is walk around, sit on my couch drinking coffee, and reading. My fitbit says I have burned 745 calories today. Ive only had this a week but there is no way this is possible. Doing HIIT I burn 700 calories over 60 minutes. What is going on? The fitbit 2 versa does not seem to be accurate at all

[dubB0425]

What's frustrating is not one representative from fitbit has reached out or commented on this discussion. This has been a problem for over a year. Pretty lame on their part. 

[julianri]

When I joined this discussion long time ago I was not educated, but now after finishing some metabolism studies I can say this.

Bad news are:

There's not a single calorie tracker that will actually tell you how many calories you burn, it is simply impossible. What they do is a simple estimation based on your heart rate, weight, height, age and length of the activity. ANY tracker would WAY over-estimate your energy expenditure. 

Good news are:

There's a way to calculate YOUR OWN daily typical energy expenditure and eat based on that (this is my profession, I am a health coach specializing in such things).

In addition, these trackers ARE useful in terms of monitoring. They are consistent, so if you not look at the actual amount of calories but rather at trends it will give you a good indication of how hard did your workout go.

If makes sense.

[JeffGT]

Completely agree. I just received the versa 2 as a gift. I was hoping at a minimum someone would say adjust this or that. Honestly the #1 thing the versa is supposed to do is track your heart, calories etc and it sucks at it. Im returning it tomorrow 

[JeffGT]

They are not consistent with anything, imo

1. My resting heart rate fluctuates from 72-80...normally low 60s

2. They were made to track fitness and they suck at the 1 thing they were created. Variance of workout calories burned is 1-thing but it showing I burned 800 calories while I'm sleeping and drinking coffee is nonsense

3. It tracks steps while I'm driving in the car. I mean, seriously wth

I could go on. Not trying to be mean or disrespectful to you. Just super frustrating that my wife spent 200 dollars on the versa 2 and it does none of the things it was created for with any accuracy. Im returning it and wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

Regardless-Thanks for your response 

[Stevew5883]

Burning 800 calories while sleeping is fairly normal over 8 hours.  The average human is burning 2000-2500 calories doing nothing.  

[JeffGT]

Awesome news. I will stop working out haha

Seriously though, interesting info

[Blinsmac]

While my versa 2 was on charge I apparently burned 589calories so when I placed on my wrist in the morning I was already at 600 calories. It’s not measuring heart rate, it’s basing it of what it think you should be burning. 

Iv always had Garmin, Fitbit is being returned today

[Kido2801]

Hi Carylinn..

I took my fitbit off and set it on the table for an hr do why is the  alone count rising when I'm not even wearing the watch🤔🤔