Versa 3 heart rate discrepancies

[ManuelLG]

Hello Community, I just bought a Versa 3 less than a week ago, to replace my old Versa 1, and I am noticing that my heart rate tracking is much lower than the one on my Versa 1.

When I am working out, I feel my heart pumping intensely, but my Versa 3 will tell that I am below the zones (around 85 to 90 bpm) 

I just saw a related thread on this topic, but it was from 2020, and I wanted to know if this is a persisting problem or something.

Thanks for the help.

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[MarreFitbit]

Hi there, @ManuelLG. Welcome to the Community Forums and sharing the details about the inconvenience with your Versa 3. I understand where your concern is coming from. 

Note that you might notice slight variations between your heart-rate reading on your new Fitbit devices compared with your old ones due to improvements in the heart rate sensor and algorithm.

Differences between heart-rate readings on your device and on exercise equipment are likely due to wrist or hand position. Make sure the back of your device is in contact with your wrist and that your band is snug.

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?

Hope this helps. 

[t.parker]

@ManuelLG The short answer is that HR readings never improved for Sense and Versa 3 and now Sense 2 inherited all the issues. You want better HR then use different watch.

[MartJ]

Same with mine.just had a one way conversation with a FitBit chat bot that was not inspiring. Looks like their tech is not great, probably being returning this now as the heart rate monitor is probably the single most important part of a Fitbit item.