Versa 3 not tracking GPS distance accurately

[karasea]

I had previously run with a Fitbit Charge 3 and connected to my phone to track runs. I found the GPS with this to be fairly accurate with regard to distance/pace. 

My Charge 3 broke and I decided to upgrade to a Versa 3 with built in GPS. After using it for the last week, I'm very frustrated with the GPS. I always turn on the GPS to track runs, but find the mileage to be off (lower by 0.1 to 0.2 miles per run) and the pace to be off sometimes as much as 30 seconds per mile. I have used several other apps, etc to compare, and the GPS is consistently off. This may seem like not much, but for me this is significant and may impact both training and racing -- especially in the current era of virtual races. Is there any solution to improve the accuracy of the GPS on the Versa 3? Or do I need to return and choose a difference device?

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[MarreFitbit]

Hi there @karasea, welcome to the Community Forums. I'm sorry to hear that your Versa 3 isn't tracking your GPS distance accurately, I understand where your concern is coming from and how you must be feeling. Thanks for the details shared in your post, I'll be glad to help you.

Fitbit devices use the formula below to calculate distance. Your stride length is determined by your height and sex. Steps x Stride Length = Distance Traveled

Please note when you track an activity with GPS, your device calculates your distance using GPS data rather than steps. If you begin moving before you get a GPS signal, your device calculates distance using your steps until GPS connects.

To update your stride length, track a run with GPS or measure your stride length manually. For more information, see: Can I change my stride length in my Fitbit account?

For more information about GPS, see: How do I use GPS on my Fitbit device?

Let me know how it goes. 

[devin_m]

Hey @karasea 

MarreFitbit kind of alluded to this but I had read that the best way to get an accurate measurement s to first do 3 or 4 runs using the phone GPS so it can calculate exactly what your stride length is. After it's calculated this, my understanding is that the watch will be much more accurate, even without the GPS. I hope that helps!

[karasea]

Thanks @devin_m  and @MarreFitbit  for the help. However, I’m not sure either comment really helps clarify for me because the GPS distance is what is not accurate. I am doing all my runs with GPS on, but still consistently coming up short on mileage and pace.

I can manually adjust my stride, but my understanding is that stride length is not used when calculating distance if the GPS is on. Am I mistaken?

[MarreFitbit]

Hi there @devin_m, thanks for stopping by and for sharing your experience with GPS. 😉

Hello @karasea, thanks for getting back. 

Regarding your inquiry, all devices with GPS sensors require a direct path to GPS satellites to calculate location. A weak GPS signal might affect the accuracy of your route and other activity data. Your device uses your step count to calculate distance until it finds a signal, so the total distance calculated for a workout may be slightly less accurate when GPS isn't available for the entire time. To learn more, see GPS.gov.

Let me know if you have any further questions. 

[Deco62]

I had an ionic until recently and had to buy a versa 3 when my ionic decided to stop working. I run with two friends one with Garmon and one with phone gps. On a 10km run the versa is consistently out by over 300m against the others. Can this be corrected ? The ionic was much better. I hate the versa 3

[aryan21]

I am in the very same boat as you. I had an ionic for 2 years and decided to upgrade this year to the versa. I have tested it on a couple of runs and it is consistently off, to the extent of nearly 700 metres on a 10K run. I always ensure GPS is connected before starting and run outside so the points above don’t help me either. For the price I expect better from this watch

[GillZissou]

Same issue here it also widely changes the pace with seconds adding and knocking of 30 secs- 1 min 

[deiG]

Fitbit, please allow users to choose between built-in GPS and phone GPS.

[Deco62]

Good suggestion 

[Maciej__ · Accepted solution]

Hi @MarreFitbit,

Today I went roller skating and I had precisely the same issue with GPS, but on a 'slightly' bigger scale: the distance of around 10.4 km (according to google maps) was 'measured' by my versa 3 as 7km! To be absolutely honest I think that this is outrageous. The GPS signal is good enough in the versa 3 - the map shows the route pretty accurately and there is no long time GPS problem, but apparently the algorithm calculating the distance and other information based on it (as for example pace) is simply crap. I cannot call it differently - there are enough data points from the GPS but the algorithm 'chooses' to calculate the distance based on some virtual step counting instead of the hard GPS data that it has! I would like to point out that the 'solution' you mentioned doesn't work even for running - if I run faster (longer steps) one day or slower (shorter steps) another day, or run in mountains - basically any change in real pace won't be measured correctly. Additionally the fact that the fitbit software is stupid (sorry for being so straight forward, but please tell me what is the better word for that) enough to mark 1 km on the map, where it actually is 1.4km is just unacceptable. This forum contains 3 years old topics asking to include more exercise activities which apparently didn't happen. Apparently fitbit is simply not interested in improving the product. To me this watch is simply useless. 

Maciej

[Maciej__]

I'm afraid it's not a good suggestion: first of all: the problem is with algorithm that calculated the distance, whenever there is a 'problem' with GPS signal you will have crappy distance calculation independent of the GPS source. Additionally I would like to point out that one of the main selling points of versa 3 is the built in GPS, so it actually sounds quite terrible (almost like advertising it that it supports spotify if you know what I mean;) ). And as a cherry on top: from my experience the versa 3 GPS is actually pretty ok - I didn't have trouble with it - the route is pretty accurate when I look at the map - the problem is that the fitbit algorithm that calculates the distance is not using the GPS data that the watch has...

Maciej

[K2tlin]

I just bought Versa 2 and within two days I understood that the distance has nothing to do with GPS track. The track is accurate, but the distance is almost like made up numbers. I know my walk was about 7 km long, I have done it almost every day and tracked it with Mapmyrun (Endomondo), but now Fitbit said that my distance was about 3 km. Like whaaat??? Okei, I was walking with stroller so my hand was quite still and Versa 2 don't understand that i'm actually walking, but if I have an accurate GPS track, then why the hell it tries to calculate the distance from my steps? Please take the distance from the map/track. The fairytale about poor GPS signal is crap. If I let my hand loose from the stroller, it automatically starts to increase distance, when i put my hand back on the stroller, the distance increase stops. So theres nothing to do with GPS at all. And the mapmyrun counts the distance all the time, no GPS problem.

So please Fitbit team, please finally consult someone who knows something about maps, GPS and distances. How hard can it be, Put a few algorithms in the script - a) if I'm using GPS, take the distance from the map, the track is okey, b) if i'm not using GPS, calculate the distance from the steps. You're definitely not doing this right now, so please stop fooling people. 

[Giampi71]

I've been trying my best and complained about this absurd distance calculation algorithm since the release of Ionic and i have always being ignored even if I produced measurable data.

I'm sorry to say but I concluded that fitbit doesn't care about this aspect and it is not striving to listen to the users and improve the service.

Bottom line if you are a serious runner (or just a runner of any type) Fitbit is not for you.

[EMajc]

I concur with the others. The GPS in Versa 3 is not at all accurate and therefore not useable. It tracks my running route accurately, but distance is off quite a bit. When I track my run using the Fitbit app on my phone (using phone GPS ) it is very accurate. I bought the Versa 3 because of the GPS but it is not useable, so very disappointing. I also tried to use a golf app with the Versa 3,to track yardages,  but because of the GPS inaccuracy it’s not useable. 

Summary: if you want accurate GPS info for running, for tracking golf yardages to the green, etc, you won’t be satisfied with a Versa 3. You’ll be better off with an Apple Watch, which calculates distances very accurately. 

[MouseSpunk]

I've extracted the data from my Versa 3 and loaded into my GIS software.  The the track was solid.  The Fitbit said 3.1 miles, my buddy's Garmin Oregon said just shy of 8 miles, my GIS software said just over 8.  Fitbit GPS calculations suck.

[Ismail20]

I had the same issue. I have been using Fitbit Versa 3 for about a year. The GPS for the was is not accurate at all. you need to be in an open space like even if there are some trees near you while you running, the signal gets blocked. One of the things I did to measure how accurate it is is that I went running on a track and calculate my run manually and with the watch. it turned out that my pace is less in the watch in about 30 seconds. 

[Jimbilly]

This answer does not answer the question, and implies that the Versa 3 is using a stride length formula for distance instead of GPS.  I cannot believe Fitbit would use such an inaccurate method when a properly functioning GPS would provide a consistent and accurate method.

I have had similar issues with previous posters.  I have tested the Versa 3 over multiple distances and modes (run, walk, hike, and bike) and compared the results against other GPS devices (Charge 4, RunKeeper app, a Garmin GPS device). In every case, the Versa 3 shows a lower distance than all other devices; the other devices consistently agree on distance.  

The Versa 3  maps appear accurate, so I can only conclude that there is something wrong with the way Fitbit is generating the distance numbers.  

Please advise on a solution.  Thank you

[MouseSpunk]

That was surely my understanding as well.

[EMajc]

My belief is that Versa 3 has the correct information since it maps my runs accurately. It’s simply a math problem that it does not calculate the distance correctly. It should be a simple fix which makes me wonder why Fitbit hasn’t released a patch for this issue.