swim

[sdame]

Which Fitbit works best for swimmers?

[NellyG]

I have used flex 2, Ionic and Versa. All have worked well for me, though I prefer either the Ionic or the Versa (which i currently use) as you can see the lap count and other stats on the screen, whereas with the flex 2 you cant see any details until it is synced to the app. I havent had the pleasure of using a Charge 3 so cant comment on that one! Versa and Ionic are both excellent.

[lenny4d · Accepted solution]

Note that none of fitbit's swim-capable watches actually count strokes! They count laps by detecting when you change direction, and that is all the units do. This means that there is no point in using a swim-capable fitbit for open water swimming! Only pool.

There are also many 'complaints' about the (pool) swim-stats not being relevant, many threads/posts on this. Also, the units don't track heartbeat while swimming. There are mixed experiences with using the gps on the Ionic while swimming in open water.

[sdame]

Thank you for the input. Stan

Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android

[Holmstrand]

Thx for the clarification - been driving me bonkers. I swam 700m today but it only counted 550 😕 and i cant change it jn the app...

[Rockymount72]

No you can't edit it.  You just have to write down the info you think is correct and then delete it and add a completely new activity.

I know this sucks, but in general the all fitbits used to swimming suck.  They aren't designed correctly and the customer service / tech support doesn't care about their swimming customers.  We are just not important.

[knickerknockers]

I think you should just enjoy your swim and be thankful that we can swim

[GMaRJL]

I have gone through two flexes and three versa’s .... the three versa’s were over only a two year period. I don’t believe Fitbit is made for swimming. Water resistance does not account for hours in the pool.

[LJSwimmer]

I am having issues with my Versa and swimming.  I can handle that the lap count is rarely accurate...I count as I swim so I don't really need the Versa to tell me how many laps I've done.  I'm more interested in the total minutes being recorded in the app.  The problem I'm having is that my first Versa quit working after about 10 months so I received a replacement one month ago and this morning during my swim it quit working totally.  I called customer support and was told that I need to put the Versa in rice for 12 hours and call them back to see if it will respond.  I thought that a device that is made to count laps should at least be water proof.  Is anyone else having issues?

[Rockymount72]

I've been very lucky.  Have had my Versa for about a year.  I swim everyday (well maybe i miss a day here and there).  But basically everyday and have had zero issues (lap count will go off by 1 length sometimes) but the time and number of laps is accurate.  No issues with water.  Tells you that Fitbits quality control sucks if they have so many that fail and only a few that work correctly.  My guess is that they have multiple suppliers in China and they have an issue in certain factories.  A friend had a Versa that lasted one swim.  He changed to the most expensive model (forget it's name) and have not had any issues since changing.

It still sucks that you can't get the swim data after the swim but that's an app software issue not a device issue.

[GMaRJL]

Absolutely, I have gone through 3 Versa’s in the last 2 years. The first, I swam with for 7 months ,,, it died and I was still under warranty so FITBIT replaced it. My second Versa lasted in the water for about 3 months …. FITBIT replaced again under warranty …. So, I’m on my third Versa … I do not swim with it for most of year, because, I truly believe that VERSA is not made for “time in the water”. It can go 50n meters,. But not for hours at a time FitBit has told me that I am out of my warranty … so, as far as I am concerned … onto other vendors and products that really work in the water ,,, I am a swimmer … I don’t care about all the other features for dry land activities … the VERSA is not made for swimming

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[LJSwimmer]

Thank you for responding. Please let me know if you find a device that actually works for swimming.  My third fitbit is do to arrive today.  I thought about switching to the ionic but I thought it was too masculine and ugly.Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone

[BarbJS]

I just got the Inspire HR and really wanted to use it to calculate laps in the pool. It sounds like there are snags with accuracy. Might anyone have any more input on this? Thanks!

[tmaggy]

Even worse now. Always adding new features but don’t fix the problems.  The only good thing is time seems to be right. Also don’t understand why splits can be seen on watch but not in app.

[tmaggy]

Have not had issue with it dying but lap counting is ridiculous. The good thing is timing seems to be ok so as long as you count laps or know about what your time is it works better than anything I know of. 

[schanecka]

I have a Charge 5 and it does not count laps accurately, always undercounting. For example, I swim 2250 yards (90 lengths) and it shows 1950 yards.  If the mechanism is turns, then hard to understand why it's not accurate.  Also, the problem would be resolved if I could edit the laps and the algorithm should calculate correct calories expended.  Shouldn't be hard to fix if editing were available.  Disappointed in that. 

[Rockymount72]

It might be obvious, but make sure your settings has the right length of pool.  If the pool setting is setup to be an incorrect length then you can get wrong results.   I don't have a Charge 5 so I don't know all the settings for swimming.  But on my Versa it lets me set the length of the pool.  Is the number of length swam accurate? 

[schanecka]

Thank you for the reply.  I checked my settings and I have them correct.  Yesterday, for example, I swam 50 lengths of 25 yards each which would be 1,250 yards.  But my summary shows 40 lengths and 1,000 yards. So it's way off.  This means, too, that my swimming speed and calories are not accurate either as it under computes both of them.
As swimming is my main exercise, it's irritating.  I suppose as a workaround, I could eliminate posting a food item I eat during the day with similar calories as the ones I know I am expending swimming.  But shouldn't need to do that. Seems it's an easy fix if Fitbit allowed the exercise choice to be edited as you can with food and  sleep parameters.  Why not allow someone like me to edit the swim function and put in the correct laps/yardage and the algorithm computes new totals for calories based on my averages.
I looked at community posts and most were from 2020 and before so it seems Fitbit would have fixed this by now.
Not happy.

[Rockymount72]

Another option (again one you shouldn't have to do if fitbit worked correctly) is to add an additional swim to the day that makes up the difference under https://www.fitbit.com/activities   look for "Log Activities" (see below) and click on the swim icon.  You can use a prior swim that Fitbit recorded to figure our how many calories you burn per lap or length.  My problem with this solution is I constantly loose count and rely on the Fitbit to keep track.   One other thing.   Are you swimming the same kind of stroke the entire time?  Fitbit often has trouble counting correctly if there is a cadence change which happens if you change strokes.  Also, I've been told but haven't seen it, if you do flip turns then the Fitbit may not recognize the change in direction.

[schanecka]

Thank you, Rockymount. I swam 100 lengths yesterday and it did pick up 98 so almost correct. Somewhere in these posts or elsewhere in the swimming categories, it was mentioned that turns are measured by the length of the pause as one turns and suggested lengthening the first stroke to increase the seconds the device is "paused."  I did that yesterday and it's the first swim that had it almost correct.  I'll continue doing that -- lengthening the first stroke after the turn.

On another matter, the calories it attributes to my swimming undercounts. For 98 lengths yesterday, it said I burned 495 calories.  But according to this calculator for a 225-pound guy swimming "front crawl" 100 laps in an hour burns 889 calories.

https://caloriesburnedhq.com/calories-burned-swimming/

Moreover, one day I walked 31 minutes and expended, according to Fitbit 305 calories.  I swam 30 minutes and Fitbit says I expended 245 calories. Now you tell me, what burns more calories, swimming or walking, both at  moderate pace?  Swimming, of course, by a lot.

What's amazing to me is that these would seem to be easy fixes.  Why wouldn't Fitbit do it?