Add an altimeter to the Charge 5

The charge 5 would be perfect if it had an altimeter to count floors.
Please could you add an altimeter to a future charge series. For now I shall stick with my charge 3.

Moderator edit: Formatting
57 Comments
Jkohane
First Steps
My new Charge 5 does not track stairs climbed ... it was a function on my old Charge 2. The stat on stairs climbed is vital to some of your users. Can it be included as an update on request for Charge 5 user, as well as any other Fitbit models that don't currently track stairs climbed?
DavideFitbit
Moderator Alum
Moderator Alum

Hi @Jkohane, thanks for taking the time to share your feedback about the possibility of adding the option to track floors to the new Charge 5. I noticed that a similar feature suggestion already exists, so I’ve moved your post here, this helps to keeps the boards more organized. Make sure to add your vote as well to support this suggestion, this helps the team of developers to keep track of popularity and demand over time. 

 

Thank you again for your participation in the Community. 

Gazzacoul
First Steps
I have "upgraded" from a Charge 4 to Charge 5. I am disappointed that there is no longer floor tracking or Walk as a tracked exercise. The two that i found most useful!!!!
JohnnyRow
Cosmic Hurdler

You are correct that there is no floor tracking as there is no hardware altimeter in the device.

But there should be no difference in tracking  Walking. Please elaborate.  Are you talking about being auto-recognized, Exercise Shortcut on wrist in the Exercise App, . . .?

Gazzacoul
First Steps

Hi, the exercise shortcut. On the Charge 4 it could be tracked and logged with GPS.

 

JohnnyRow
Cosmic Hurdler

See https://help.fitbit.com/articles/en_US/Help_article/1935.htm?Highlight=exercise 

There are 21 options that you can select from to show on your watch as the exercise shortcuts.  I have no idea how Fitbit selects which ones show up as initial defaults but you have full control over which ones (4 or 5?) you want to show from the 21.  Walk is one of the choices you can choose, just as with the Charge 4.  The link above explains how to do that.

Gazzacoul
First Steps

Dohh!!, easy when you know how!. Thanks a lot, sorted now. 😀

JohnnyRow
Cosmic Hurdler

Easy to miss.  Lots of people don't realize that.

And the stairs is a common complaint, but since it is lacking hardware altimeter, could not be added even with firmware update.

P.S. I'm not an official Fitbit answer, by any means, just another user.

Gazzacoul
First Steps

Definately a big omission by Fitbit, not planning on climbing mountains!, but still would be useful. More a hiker than anything else. Thanks for the assistance, i appreciate it.

 

Moderator Edit: Formatting

YojanaFitbit
Moderator Alum
Moderator Alum

Hi @Gazzacoul, thanks for taking the time to share this suggestion about adding an altimeter to the Charge 5 to track floors. I've moved it into a similar request. You can learn more about how Fitbit decides what suggestions get released in our FAQs. Click on the thumbs-up to show your support.

 

Thank you again for your participation in the Feature Suggestions Forums.

sgholba
First Steps
There have been quite a number of posts and votes on these posts to request an altimeter. What's exactly stopping fitbit from adding this feature? Charge 5 is a downgrade from 4 without altimeter. Is there a threshold number of requests required before this feature can be considered to be brought back to the tracker? Thanks for considering
JohnnyRow
Cosmic Hurdler

@sgholba  It is hardware.  There is no to add hardware to a watch already out there even if you get 10 billion votes.

LizzyFitbit
Premium User
Fitbit Moderator
Fitbit Moderator

Hi @sgholba, thanks for taking the time to share this suggestion about adding the ability to track floors back to the Charge 5. Because this idea was already requested in the Feature Suggestion board, I’ve moved your post hereWhile this isn't currently planned at this moment, we have left voting open so we can keep tracking this request over time. To learn more about how Fitbit decides which suggestions get developed, visit our FAQs.

dj613
Jogger
I just upgraded from Charge 4 without checking each feature. I’ve been a Fitbit user since 2013 (possibly longer?) upgrading over time always seeing new features added, never seeing one I relied upon disappear. I live in a 3 story townhouse and a hilly area and used the floors measurement as one gauge of my activity.
YojanaFitbit
Moderator Alum
Moderator Alum

Hi @dj613, thanks for taking the time to share this suggestion about having the option to track floors with Charge 5. I've moved it into a similar request. You can learn more about how Fitbit decides what suggestions get released in our FAQs. Click on the thumbs-up to show your support.

 

You can add your vote here as well: Use iPhone altimeter to restore Charge 5 floor count.

 

Thank you again for your participation in the Feature Suggestions Forums.

BigBadBrad
Recovery Runner
I've been a happy Fitbit user since the One and now have a Charge 4.
I value altitude / floors tracking and am surprised and disappointed that the Charge 5 doesn't have this.
LizzyFitbit
Premium User
Fitbit Moderator
Fitbit Moderator

Hi @BigBadBrad, thanks for sharing this suggestion about bringing the floors tracking back to the Charge 5 with us. This idea was already requested in the Feature Suggestions board, so I’ve moved your post here. This will help us to make sure the suggestions don't get confused, or split a popular vote. Please click on the thumbs-up to show your support.

Quig
Jogger
It is on older and other versions. Why was it removed from charge 5?
DavideFitbit
Moderator Alum
Moderator Alum

Hi @Quig, thanks for taking the time to share your feedback about the possibility of tracking floors with the Charge 5. I noticed that a similar feature suggestion already exists, so I’ve moved your post here, this helps to keeps the boards more organized. This helps the team of developers to keep track of popularity and demand over time. 

 

Thank you again for your participation in the Community.  

wendiweiss
First Steps
2 things relevant to floor tracking:
• Charge5 does not have the ability to track floors, and
• all the records of floors achieved prior to the day I converted from Charge 4 to Charge 5 have disappeared!!!

I am beyond disappointed…
LizzyFitbit
Premium User
Fitbit Moderator
Fitbit Moderator

Hi @wendiweiss, thanks for sharing this suggestion about bringing back floors tracking to Charge 5 with us. This idea was already requested in the Feature Suggestions board, so I’ve moved your post here. This will help us to make sure the suggestions don't get confused, or split a popular vote. Please click on the thumbs-up to show your support.

Preacherbear
Jogger
I was so disappointed that the Charge 5 was such a downgrade from the Charge 4. Specifically, the Charge 5 no longer counts floors and the watch faces are also a downgrade. Unfortunately after a decade of fit bit use, I will no longer be buying another fit bit without the ability to count floors.
YojanaFitbit
Moderator Alum
Moderator Alum

Hi @Preacherbearwe wanted to let you know that the ideas you recently posted already exist on the Feature Suggestions Board. You can see them here where you can add your vote to those existing suggestions:


Please try to make sure you only post one idea per suggestion, so we can keep the board organized, easily searchable and see which idea other members are voting for. Thanks for participating in Feature Suggestions.

awat32
First Steps
Please add the altimeter function (floor counter), to the fitbit charge 5. I am currently using a charge 4 and would like to upgrade to the charge 5 in order to use several improved features such as the brighter color display, however, I do not want to upgrade until the altimeter feature is available on the charge 5. Thank you.
LizzyFitbit
Premium User
Fitbit Moderator
Fitbit Moderator

Hi @awat32, thanks for taking the time to share this suggestion about adding an altimeter to the Charge 5 with us. Because this idea was already requested in the Feature Suggestion board, I’ve moved your post here. Please support this idea by adding your vote, this helps our developers to keep tracking its popularity and demand over time.

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