Versa 2 is tracking my heart rate too low

[hdmcs05]

My fitbit randomly read my heartrate at 42 while I was in the middle of being active. It went from 110, to 42, to 96. My heart rate has been running in the high 50-60's while resting, however, I was being active. I think that my watch may be messing up. Has anyone else experienced this issue?

Moderator Edit: Personal info removed

[MarreFitbit]

Hi there @hdmcs05, welcome to the Community Forums. I'm sorry to hear that your Versa 2 isn't tracking your heart rate accurately, I understand where your concern is coming from. I'll be glad to help you.

Keep in mind that there are several factors can affect heart rate, including air temperature, stress level, alcohol or caffeine intake, immune response to illness, and medication use (source).

Exercising in cold weather can make it more difficult for your device to track your heart rate, as environmental conditions can affect skin perfusion (the amount of blood that flows through your skin). Spikes in your heart rate during sleep may be caused by sudden movements (for example, waking up and getting out of bed), or a weak signal due to wrist placement. 

As with all heart-rate tracking technology, accuracy is affected by personal physiology, device location on your arm, and type of movement. For a more accurate heart-rate reading:

• Wear your Fitbit device on top of your wrist, and make sure the back of the device is in contact with your skin.
• When you’re not exercising, wear your device a finger’s width above your wrist bone.

• During exercise, wear your device a bit tighter and higher for an improved fit. The band should be snug but not constricting (a tight band restricts blood flow, potentially affecting the heart-rate signal). Many exercises such as bike riding or weight lifting cause you to bend your wrist frequently, which could interfere with the heart-rate signal if the watch is lower on your wrist.

To resolve common issues, see our troubleshooting steps in What factors can affect my heart-rate reading on my Fitbit device?

[JPhoto]

Yep....This is exactly what I have. Fitbit replace the device, but the new device is doing the same thing. Here is a plot from today's bike ride:

I have not seen this when I do an indoor elliptical workout.

[Mike2304]

I have the Inspire 2, and when I’m really cranking on the treadmill - and the treadmill reading is 160 bpm - the Fitbit is 105.  It used to be very accurate the first couple weeks, but now it seems to be always reading very low compared to my actual heartbeat when working out. I’ve restarted it twice, but that doesn’t seem to help. Do I need to exchange it for a new one??

[Mike2304]

I have the same problem when doing cardio with my Inspire 2. It seems my Fitbit records a much lower heart rate than my actual heart rate.  I’m thinking of returning it - possibly getting another one - or maybe another device?