Versa Lite only tracks distance using steps & stride length NOT GPS - useless for Run stats!

[ilofog]

After repeated contact with Fitbit support it doesn't appear the Versa will ever actually track run distances from GPS data, and only uses stride length. It looks like Fitbit only uses GPS to draw the map, not to calculate the distance, which is absolutely ridiculous. As your stride length varies when you run / walk, this will never produce accurate results.

My parkruns come in around 3.4-3.7 km on fitbit, when I track using Strava I get 5 km. The map image drawn by both is identical. 

As the Strava app doesn't seem to work (authorised and connected in both fitbit and strava but watch keeps saying to go back to mobile app which says authorised...) it looks like I've wasted my money on a very expensive step counter. I'm now reduced to using STrava when I run, and unless I keep taking my phone out and unlocking the screen I can't see any data when I'm actually running without slowing down/stopping.

Fitbit support can't help, can anyone here?

[Rich_Laue]

According to the manual you are correct in this. 

I calculated my average stride over a 5 day period. 

[ilofog]

Funnily enough fitbit support are blaming the GPS on my phone and insisting that's the problem here, even though Strava tracks distance just fine...

Looks like I wasted £150 and as I've now had it for two months trying to get this to work I can't even take it back. Really disappointed as otherwise it seems to do what I wanted it to do.

How do you tackle doing little steps / long strides without it affecting your distance? The run stats on my fitbit are completely useless if the "distance" is out this much every time I run.