Inaccurate heart rate tracked by my Versa

[carenal]

I have a very low heart rate.Bradycardia / athletics heart due to a life time of cycling long distance, running etc. When I sleep, low thirties, sometime under thirty and upon rising moves to the low forties. I still cycle long distance and race at short term intervals.  I have a co2 monitor and a blood pressure monitor that render a same reading on BPM, but this firbit watch does not come close in rendering an accurate reading. I have tighten the watch strap, uncomfortable, and still the reading is off. Is this a problem with this watch or is this an inherent problem with all your brands and or all monitoring watches. 

Moderator edit: Subject for clarity  

[HeydyF · Accepted solution]

Hey @carenal, welcome aboard! Yes, the more workout, the less your resting heart rate. Let me ask you this, what is the resting heart rate amount that your Versa is tracking? And when you are exercising, how is it recording for each heart rate zone, fat burn, cardio and peak zone? 

In the meantime, I want to thank you for trying to adjust your wristband. 😉 

I'll be around! 

[amclean03]

The issue I have with my Versa is that I'm in the middle of a HIIT workout and can feel my heart beating fast, I check it and the Versa says it's at 105bpm. This happens every day, but only during high intensity workouts. I can go for a walk and my average HR is 111, but when I do HIIT the average is 105.

I've spoken to customer care, restarted the device a few times, and have moved the watch further up my wrist during workouts. I'll be honest, I'm not happy with the Versa and my girlfriend had exactly the same problem.

[HeydyF]

Hey @amclean03, thanks for taking the time to contact our Support team and follow the troubleshooting steps they advised to you. Then try one more thing. Please go to the settings on your Versa, and turn the heart rate OFF, then restart your Versa and sync it. After that, please go to the settings again and turn ON the heart rate monitor. Wear it for a couple of sessions and if the issue persists, I urge you to get in touch with our Support team again, so they can further assist you with this. 

Let me know the outcome! 

[amclean03]

Hey @HeydyF thank you for replying. I've taken the steps you've outlined already, and it was the same when I worked out this morning...average HR of 107 and a max of 124, which is about the same when I go for a walk! Actually, my average HR when I go for a walk is higher than when I do a high intensity 20 minute workout! I'll contact Support again as you suggested.

Thanks!

[georos]

Right on, my Versa is useless for heart rate monitoring. My wife bought me the Versa because I had heart issues and need to work out. I wear it to my cardio rehab which wires me for Heart rate and the difference in readings is so out of whack that I feel my Versa is useless. I have also tried the things you did to no avail. Come on Fitbit, what are you doing about this issue??????? 

[SunsetRunner]

Hi there. Another extremely dissatisfied customer here. I have the opposite problem. When I start an intense workout, my Versa shoots my heart rate up to unrealistic levels. I have workouts where I spend 15 minutes or more with a heart rate over 200. I have called FitBit 2x now and have an email from them saying the know about the problem, are working on a fix and don't expect to have one soon. They are als are monitoring the impact to customers. That's a nice way of saying they are trying to see how many people figure out that their watch doesn't track heart rates correctly. The reality is, since every other stat on the watch is a function of the heart rate, the watch actually doesn't track anything correctly. Basically, its a watch (it does seem to keep time correctly).

[georos]

I agree, it's terrible business the heart rate is so inaccurate they should
never even offer the feature.

--
*George*

[Fitgypsi]

Same here. My versa says my heartbeat is 86bpm when I'm in the middle of cardio on the treadmill. Everyday for the last couple of days, I've tried a different  treadmill and they each say I'm averaging 155-160 bpms. Meanwhile, the versa is still saying 86 bpm. I've tried everything including the steps above to fix it. Nothing works. This watch is trash and I'm sorry I purchased it. 

[georos]

Sad but they don't seem to care.

--
*George*

[Amubh]

I am going through same issue and host of others  .. I had contacted the customer service numerous time via email and phone but no help other than asking to restart.. my versa is less than a year old but looks like warranty is a joke . Will never buy Fitbit junk again ..looking into apple watch 

[larry147]

I have the same problem I even went to cardiologist because of it. My fit say 180 bpm and I put on pulse meter it reads 90. So I know it’s watch bought another fit bit same thing. I wish they could correct this 

[Fitgypsi]

Do you have tattoos where you wear your fit bit? Or are you deeply
melanated?

[georos]

Neither

[georos]

👍

[larry147]

No tattoos it goes wild for about 3 minutes and then back normal. But is shouldn’t do that I adjust where I put it also. 

[wenjenaz]

Over a year later and Fitbit has done NOTHING to solve the HR monitor inaccuracies. I too do a lot of HIIT workouts and I know what 130+ bpm feels like. My watch apparently does not because when I'm huffing and puffing it thinks I'm sitting watching TV. It's ridiculous how off it is and yet with all these complaints Fitbit ignores the problem. I will never buy another Fitbit product again. Useless. 

[Fitgypsi]

I asked because I read an article (and someone with tattoo's on his wrist posted in the Fitbit forum somewhere) that Fitbit watches only use green led sensor lights which can have a hard time picking up reflected light on darker tones since more light is absorbed than reflected. Thus causing inaccurate heart rate readings.The kind of red light sensor (infared?) that other watches like Apple or Samsung use are more accurate- and I think one of those watches uses both green and red light sensors (cant remember which). Anyways, I hope your Fitbit watch troubles worked out.

[Fitgypsi]

Yeah it shouldn't do that. Mine would just read inaccurately for at least 10 minutes every time I worked out. Super annoying because that's literally the only time when I really cared about an accurate heart rate. 

[Blanche123]

When I go for a walk, either brisk or slow, the heart rate monitor spikes unbelievably high. I have tried many fixes and it is still inaccurate. 

I can’t even get my heart rate that high during an intense spinning class. 

Very disappointed because I have AFib and the first time I went for a walk with this Versa Lite watch it was freaking me out.!