Versa inaccurate during exercise

[MasterHigg]

Just went for my first dog-walk with Versa. It was reporting my heart rate @ > 140 during a leisurely stroll. For one I'd feel it if I was at that heart rate, but a check of my pulse manually confirmed it was < 100. On the Versa, the heart icon was pounding away, and I can't tell you what it was measuring because it wasn't my heart rate. Never had this problem with my Charge 2. Anyone else experiencing accuracy problems during exercise?

[FitFiend]

Although I don't have my Versa yet, I had the same issue with my Ionic. I would see 177 during walks when in reality I was 75ish. I sent it back after a month, several updates and resets later and it was still off. Wouldn't accurately count floors either. Never had these problems with my Surge (the band on the Surge was the issue there!)

I saw in another forum that the location and tightness of the band can impact the reading. I don't have the patience if it was that finicky!

Now I'm wondering if the Versa will be worth the hassle. 😞

[aharvey0812]

I went for a walk today with my Versa, same route I normally do, had the same heart rate I had with Charge 2. Perhaps you need to reposition it. I swapped out the SE woven band for the classic black band because it keeps the Versa from sliding down my wrist when I want an accurate reading.

[MasterHigg]

It was reasonably tight, and I was literally doddling along. I'll try tighter next time, but I shouldn't have to crush my wrist to go for a walk. 

[ErickFitbit · Accepted solution]

@MasterHigg @FitFiend As @aharvey0812 said, there are many factors that can impact the accuracy of the heart rate monitor - I've discussed some of them in this post. One suggestion with regards to tightness is to make sure the band is snug, but loose enough that it's comfortable. Feel free to take a look, and hope that helps.

@FitFiend As for your floors concern with your Ionic, something to note is that your device registers one floor when you’ve gone up about ten feet, which is the average between residential and commercial floor heights. If you climb long staircases you may find that the device's floor count doesn’t match how many floors you’ve gone up since the staircase was taller than ten feet. You can find more information on how floors are counted here. 

[MasterHigg]

I went for a longer more vigorous walk today, having tightened the Versa to the next notch up. Tighter than I want it honestly. I got normal heart readings this time. So that's good. Somewhat disappointed I have to tighten it so much just for going on a walk. I can understand for weights or sports or swimming. Wasn't a problem with the Charge 2. Here's to hoping the swim tracking works well. We will find out soon.

Generally I avoid early adoption with any device. I saw all the issues from people not getting HR monitoring to work at all, and became concerned about the quality of the product. Overall I think this is an unfortunate launch for what otherwise seems to be a good product. 

[Gadams99]

My HR has been all over the place so far when working out or doing cardio. I’ll try wearing it tighter and see if that helps

[Tfisher87]

I have the same situation. It doesn’t matter what I am doing. I could be laying in bed and my versa shows my heart rate over 136 bpm. I am wearing the watch snug enough and never had this issue with my other fitbits. There seems to be an issue with the accuracy of the HR monitor on the versa. 

[Nicholacameron]

I agree. Inthink it's hopeless. Inwas on a 2 hour car journey today and mine rexorded I'd walked 2500 steps

[pierce200]

My first workout today with the Versa and wildly inaccurate heart rate readings.

Completely unacceptable.

[LAM517]

I agree, totally frustrating to upgrade and lose functionality.  My HR goes from 150's to 60's during activity on my Versa when my equipment shows it steady around 135.  Disappointed!