Versa 3 heartrate low inaccurate during exercise

[refturner]

I work out very intensely, boot camp, spin, rowing. My old Ionic tended to shoot a little high on heart rate & calorie burn. 

My new Versa 3 (had it for 6 months now) tends to show VERY LOW heart rate numbers and, consequently, calorie burn. 

By way of example, did an intense rowing machine workout; the Versa 3 estimated I burned 6 calories per minute.  Normally I expect to burn 10+ per minute of intense exercise. Then I walked my old 14 YO dog; the Versa 3 said I burned 7 calories per minute, while ambling along with the old dog.

What's up Fitbit? Can you fix this?

[Kale-idoscope]

Which Garmin are you looking at? 

I'm done with Fitbit. It breaks every year after warranty is over and now, as I see it, it didn't even do the basics right.

HR monitoring is the absolute basic thing for a fitness watch to get right without which everything else remains inaccurate.

I thought the problem was with Fitbit Sense. Now I see the same on Versa 3 as well?

I would love an apple watch but I'm in Android phone. Besides I absolutely don't like the 1 day battery life.

Moderator edit: merged reply

[Draykana]

I've been looking at the fenix 6. But ouch that price tag. I've heard great things about it. Coming from friends who do Triathlons. 

Family just got the Samsung watch because they went through 5 fitbits and was tired of the crappy product and customer service. 

I'm waiting to see if family likes the Samsung watch. 

I'll update if I remember to which one I went with. I just know I'm tired of fitbit and their garbage. 

[Kale-idoscope]

Yeah- I have been through 4 Fitbits myself. I am looking at Amazfit and
Garmin. Both look promising at this point. Amazfit will lack support in the
US but is a better device while Garmin is good but expensive for pound to
pound features.

[lawrenc28]

I have issues with my Versa 3 read the heart rate accurately for both at rest and working out. I have a Versa 3 and I checked to see if it was reading my heart rate correctly (it seemed high), so when I checked my heart rate myself, it is 68. When I look at my fitbit it say 79. Every time I just move my hand, my fitbit reading for my heart rate shoots up to the high 80s even when I am not doing anything. In addition, my resting heart rate is 100% inaccurate. With the resting heart nor being correct is messes up all my heart rate zones.  When will these issues get fixed? It is just my Versa 3 that is the problem or it is software thing? I was promised more accurate heart rate readings and resting heart rate with the Vesa 3 and the "updated" software, but so far have found that these promises have not been fulfilled. I am super frustrated with the Versa 3, I had better luck with the Versa 2.

[AronG]

That is frustrating. But the upside is at least they are acknowledging it is an issue. When I've contacted them previously they steadfastly denied it and argued with me. They refused to do anything and told me it was working as intended. I finally found the CEOs email and provided my own data (2 different devices) and had some success.

It registers me as working out much harder taking a walk than wanting to puke my guts up with non-stop HIIT for 30-40 minutes. I am quite certain I'll be exploring Garmin and alternatives when it is time for a new device. I've had it.

[lawrenc28]

I am currently looking into getting a Garmin to replace my Versa 3, since
Fitbit won't help me. If someone from Fitbit reads this, know you are
losing customers over not listening to us and not helping. Thank you

[hikingking]

@lawrenc28 Fitbit really doesn't care about their customers anymore. I have been harping on this from a year and all the customer rep on the phone asked me to do was shut down and restart my device. Please! Give me a break!

[Kale-idoscope]

Fitbit acknowledging that this is a problem is not an upside at this point. Most people who may have bought their device 6 months ago are already out of warranty for 6 months. Considering from experience that the Fitbit devices lifespan is about 12-18 months they are just lugging around a faulty, expensive device which provides them no benefit to wear. By the time an update comes and again provided that it solves the issue most will be towards the end of the lifespan of their device. 

The only upside will be if Fitbit adds a 1 year warranty to every device that they sold. Knowing the bad customer service that they have the chances of that happening are zilch. 

[lawrenc28]

Yup! I talked to one yesterday and they told me I had an "unusual"
problem... as if they don't read this message board at all. They would send
a new one, but only if I sent in the old one first. The problem with that
is that I would be without it for 3 weeks or more. This wasn't how they
have done business in the past and I am extremely disappointed in them.

[hikingking]

Yes. That is right @AnaFitbit. I did contact them and they asked me to shut down my device and restart it again. Seriously? If that is the suggestion, after being on hold for over an hour, I find it kind of insulting. 

[AronG]

I hear you, but to me it means they are taking some ownership. All I want is a device that works as intended for what I paid. What I have now is a novelty watch.

[refturner]

Fitbit refused refund, replacement or repair (despite warranty thru September) si I bought on Apple Watch. Goodbye Fitbit!

[Minxicat]

So let me get this straight, Fitbit know there is an issue with HR tracking & have done nothing about it? Well unless you message them individually. Unfortunately then you get told all the same things which you will have already tried😠 I fervently wish that I’d not gone for the Versa 3 , it’s nowhere near as accurate as my charge 2 . Dismal failure Fitbit/Google!

[MarkMM]

@Minxicat My guess is it's the pure pulse 2 performance, and they don't have the answer for the current Versa 3 and Sense. By working on it, they mean future products won't have the exact same version of pure pulse 2. Then they also say they're monitoring the impact. There are a lot of people happy with stuff like clock faces to play with, or SP02 toys. Most aren't serious workout people. So if 1 million sold, and a hundred or 2 complainers, that's not much impact. They'll take their chances losing a few customers (like me) rather than issue a recall or something like that.

Lastly, who tests this stuff? Pure pulse 2 should not have been released as acceptable. 

[goister]

Did anyone get a fix? I'm having the same problem. Every time I'm on a C2 rower, it detects my HR as a normal, non elevated value (60-80). Then when I end, it catches up to like 130-150 after a minute. I can also trick the HRM by swinging my hand really fast. For some reason it's using the pedometer rather than the HRM to detect HR? Perhaps it's detecting that my rower stroke rate is very low?

[refturner]

Never received a satisfactory reply. Was told Fitbit was aware of the problem & hoping to come up with a fix in a future software update. Fitbit refused to refund my money even though they’d sold me a fancy fitness watch that could only count steps. Gave up shelved the Fitbit & purchased an Apple Watch.

Get Outlook for iOS

[deiG]

I found the latest FitbitOS 5.3 has a better heart rate accuracy and the readings are less lagging behind.

[hikingking]

It is a piece of cr*p. Heart beat monitor is pathetic. Beyond pathetic. Plus they don't care. I will never buy fitbit again. 

[hikingking]

Glad you did. It is a piece of cr*p. The heartrate monitor is downright bad. Horrible. Pathetic. Highly frustrated by the readings.  Does not give you a true picture. Only a matter of time before someone sues them. 

[SomeWierdness]

E

I'm having the same issue. With my Versa 1 I never had an issue tracking my spinning workouts but my new Versa 3 I can be going all out, sweating up a storm and I can watch my heart rate going from 170+ steadily down to 100-115 and its very disappointing that I spent so much money on something that works WORSE than the older versions