why no SPO2 readings?

[pbug56]

Yojana,

Could you please procure us a viable explanation as to why FITBIT has still not released the long advertised feature that so many of us bought our SPO2 FITBIT's for? It's been 2 years since I bought mine looking forward to being able to monitor both heart rate AND O2 levels.

[LZeeW]

@pbug56   Fitbit released the SpO2 feature months ago, but is isn't 24/7 SpO2 monitoring, if that is what you are expecting.  It only measures it at night and it is displayed as your Estimated Oxygen Variation in your sleep details.

There are complete details here: How do I track my estimated oxygen variation in the Fitbit app? 

[pbug56]

Hi,

NO, they released a chart whose meaning is not clear, with no viable
numbers, not even a clear time chart. You cannot even clearly
correlate the chart to the sleep chart. And it's not even close to what
buyers expected when they saw that the Fitbit's they were buying had
'SPO2'. I expected;

1. A full downloadable data set (collection frequency adjustable based on
need versus battery) that my docs and I could analyze.
2. Watch faces I could look at like I would with a finger clip. It would
help to be able to calibrate it against a finger clip. Enough to see that
as, say, I exercise, about what's happening to my O2 level.
3. Imagine I'm sick. And I take a look at my watch and find my O2 level
down 10 or 20 percent. I either call my doc or 911, but I have far less
confusion as to taking action.
4. Charts that are readable with real numbers.

[Rich_Laue]

The chart shows you the fluctuation in Oxygen throughout the sleep period.

Within a week reports came back that the medical comunity was finding this chart very useful. True, it might not be what you expected, but unless you have a pre medical condition that requires monitoring of your Oxygen, this graph should be ignored. If you do have a valid medical reason for this, talk to your doctor. Or on your next visit, show the chart to your doctor, you may be surprised at what they can see.

[pbug56]

The report does not show what happens WHEN because the time markings are
MIA. You don't know what the actual readings are, just a mystery chart.
No rhyme or reason as to what the variations mean, what's actually going on
at the time in terms of your sleep level or lack thereof. There simply is
not enough information to be sure of anything. For instance, one night it
looks perfectly normal, the next night not. No way to determine why. Plus
my Versa is not very consistent on actually recording my sleep, and this
mystery chart often does not get created. So great, some people's doctors
like it. But personally, I'd question what those doctors were thinking.
Now if you had (optionally as per owners choice) 24x7 readouts and data
storage (for downloading and charting), and could match it up against the
data Fitbit does let us download, that would be very useful.

I do have issues where monitoring my O2 levels is beyond helpful, but I
can't sleep at night or walk around all day wearing a finger device. So
again, I'd like to have the feature that I paid for 2 years ago, a fully
functioning SPO2 display and data storage and downloading for use by me and
my doctors.

What gets me particularly upset is that Fitbit refuses to even explain 2
us, what, 3 years after 'SPO2' showed up on Ionic, why they refuse to let
us use it, let alone what they are thinking going forward. A fair number
of fitness / smart watches out there already provide this. We feel cheated.

[WilliamHamilton]

We don't get the SPO2 readings because they'd be wrong if we did. IMO.  But detecting a percentage change from one moment to the next is probably accurate.  So we get the variation which is easy and accurate, and not the absolute numbers which won't be.

If I'm right about that, it's no use asking them for the feature.  They'll never provide it because they can't, and they're not going to hire researchers to figure out how to improve the readings.

[pbug56]

Maybe you are right. Maybe not. But let them tell us in their own words,
instead of this silence that breeds conspiracy theories. And what sort of
inaccuracy could it be if other watches from other companies are getting
decent results. It could come with a strong suggestion to calibrate it to
a known finger reader, for instance. And declarations that it is not the
most accurate.

I don't need to know that I'm at exactly 93.015%. I need to know
approximate whole numbers, be able to put my finger thing on and compare,
and do this a few times at first, then maybe once a week or month. I need
to, on a brisk walk or run, see what's going on. I need to know not so
much variance, but does my O2 number go dangerously down at night?
Variance is meaningless if the 'normal' range is so far off from expected
norms. But we have no way to know that now.

If other companies can do it, then it's hard to see a viable reason for
them not to unless their technology is super sub par.