Versa distance is inaccurate

[Mustrum]

Nearly every morning I take a walk for about 25/30 minutes to take a break from desk & monitor - I will pretty much always go the exact same route (some minor variations), and over time I noticed that my recorded 'pace' had been growing (I walk quite slowly so was enjoying seeing the pace increase...).
Now, over the last week both the distance & pace have dropped off completely - over the same course it is now saying, up until this morning, that the distance covered was just over 1km - a 'loss' of nearly half a km for the same route and that my pace had dropped dramatically.
This morning the distance is now under 1km (same route) and the pace is lower again.
Strangely it tells me that I'm covering this route in a faster overall time...
This will not be down to the GPS on my 'phone - I have Google Fit running in the background, which will also be using the GPS on my 'phone, and Fit records the distance correctly.

Moderator edit: updated subject for clarity

[JuanJoFitbit]

@Mustrum I'm sorry for the late response. However, it's great to see you in our Fitbit Community.

I would like to follow up on the distance issue that your Fitbit Versa is experiencing even though you have made sure to take the same route.

Please restart your Versa as described in this help article. This will refresh your watch internally.

After this, check out this help article, which explains how Fitbit devices track distance. If the issue persists, let me know and I'll be happy to follow up.

Keep me posted!

[Uniquerunner]

Mine Versa just started having the same problem a week ago. This afternoon I did a 2.5 mile run on a 1/2 track and my fitbit is only showing 1.5 miles completed. It has been a bit wonky for a week but today was the worst! Is there a way I can manually re-calibrate it with a known distance? I don't have cell service where I'm running and no Wi-Fi on the track. Would this effect the distance based on stride? Help please! 

[Emma-W]

This is exactly what's happening with my Fitbit versa. It started last week, around the same time as yours. Running exactly the same routes as I always do, the distance is recording as more than a third shorter, loosing 1.5 km this evening & virtually doubling my pace!!! GPS connection is clearly fine as the recorded map is complete. Extremely frustrated & disappointed!!!!!!

[dnmwales]

I'm having the same problem on my charge 2 since the fitbit app updated a couple of weeks ago.  My usual route is a total of 3.9 miles in which I do a 3 mile run plus a 5 min warm up and cool down either side.  However at the end of my 3 mile run today my charge 2 was showing 2.02 miles when I had actually run 3.06.  I also use the mobilerun bit on the fitbit app to track my total route (including warm up and cool down) and this was showing 5 miles despite the total only being 3.91.  However when I then check the logs/map in the fitbit app I get two coming up (one for the run and one for the total route) and the run is showing 2.02 miles and the total route is showing 4 miles (not 5 as was on screen).  As it happened I had Strava running today as well in order to compare and this has imported logs from my charge 2 and is showing a correct distance of 3.06 as expected.  I can therefore only assume it's the fitbit app causing problems with GPS.

[SteveFisher]

Hi, having the exact same problem. I have a regular / daily run of about 4.2 Km that since a week ago has dropped about 1km and pace has gone up accordingly....really odd and frustrating as in general it has been very reliable....must be due to an app update gone wonky. I'm using OG versa, not new the new firmware as update hasn't pushed yet ...could have something to do that , I don't know. Would love a fix soon as rely on accurate distance / pace stats to monitor progress.

[SteveFisher]

Bumped to join the pack of other related threads !

[gregorioaf]

I'm having a similar problem. Google Fit (whichis correct)  and Fitbit showed different distances.

 

 

[Uniquerunner]

Hey FITBIT,

Seems this is not a unique to me problem.

Can you please hurry up and send us a fix!!!!!!!

[nicholasBhu]

As I've been saying this is a wide issue.  I made a thread here for the Charge 3: https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Charge-3/Calculated-distance-changes-on-every-run/m-p/3786429#M97848

They have tried to tell me it is a phone compatibility issue.  Samsung Galaxy A70.  Started a week ago.

[dnmwales]

I have a Samsung S8 but it was working fine until the past couple of weeks when the app updated!  Since then I've been having endless problems!

[gregorioaf]

My phone is a Samsung Galaxy S9+. I don't believe that is a compatibility issue because I've been using the app for more than a year without any problem. 

This issue started to happen after the last app update, on September 19th.

[nicholasBhu]

Same here.

[SteveFisher]

Yep same date my issues started after an update...welcome to view my data Fitbit techs and you will see. Almost 8 consistentl months then odd readings and some GPS connection issues....clearly something software / firmware related. I'm on OG Fitbit on previous firmware ( new one not pushed yet)

[Emma-W]

Been told to factory reset my Fitbit versa. Did thisl ast night, ran parkrun this morning. Same problem, lost 1.5 k off my distance & pace completely inaccurate again!!!

[Uniquerunner]

Hey FITBIT,

It's getting worse. Did 5 miles on a track tonight, says I only ran 1.6 miles. 10 laps x 0.5 miles equals more than 1.6, even in metric. And check out this GPS track. Only part on the track is my starting dot. Hurry up with a fix please! You were bang on the money and then your update threw it out of wack. Yes, I have reset it, even manually turned it off. 

 

[dnmwales]

Response from Fitbit...

"It appears that our team is aware of it, but may not be able to provide a fix in the immediate future. We'll continue to monitor the situation, and keep our team informed of the impact to you and other customers.  We understand that this isn't the resolution you're hoping for, but rest assured we're always working to improve our products."

The advice I was given was to keep using the 'Run' function on my Charge 2 as this will help Fitbit to resolve the issue??!!

[AgentCooper]

Same exact issue and scenario. I take a 30 min walk at lunch every day and the distance was off by almost 25% yesterday. Pixel 2 recorded the walk in Fit and the distance and map were both correct so its not an issue with my phone's GPS. Also, my notifications are sporadic and I don't get mail notifications at all any longer! I used to love my Versa but it seems to be getting worse

[nicholasBhu]

When is this going to be fixed?  Same problem with latest app update

[Emma-W]

Latest update On the 2nd October has not fixed anything for me either. So many of us  with this problem.Training for a half marathon at the moment, very difficult when you can't see your correct pace or distance. Please fix the problem Fitbit.