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As my Charge 2 stops reading my heart rate when on a rowing machine (I've tried tracker restarts, leaving the tracker heart rate always on, putting the tracker on the inside of my wrists, switching sides, and even trying it on my ankles), I would appreciate getting the input from my Polar H7 chest strap integrated into the Fitbit app. I'm including two pictures, one with my heart rate as measured by Concept 2 rowing, it maxes out just over 130 and is a steady red climb, the other is from the Fitbit app.Heart rate in Red from chest strapHeart rate from Fitbit
I agree!! I really want the new Fitbit watch. I wear 2 watches right now when i workout- Polar for the heart strap and Fitbit for steps etc... I know that Apple is compatible with both, you can download the Polar Beat app then sync from there and from apple Health turn on "phone tracking" but I really am not interested in the other bells and whistles that Apple comes with. If the Fitbit could be compatible with the H7 THAT WOULD BE AWESOME!!!! and i would buy immediately
Is there any update on Polar strap integration with Fitbit? I guess Fitbit have opened up their API for apps to read the fitbit recorded HR data but they haven't opened up the possibility of writing in HR data into Fitbit from other sources, eg, Polar Flow.
It seems that, at the moment, only calories burned and time of activity can be uploaded to fitbit from third party sources. Pleeeaaaase allow HR data to be written into/uploaded to fitbit from third party sources!
Fitbit either make your own heart rate monitor strap that measures the electro conductivity of the SA node on the heart or allow polar H10 to sync all of the heart rate data collected with you.
I'm also voting for Fitbit compatibility with Polar (H7) chest straps. We all purchase these Fitbit devices mainly for the purpose of HR and measure of activity. Fitbit needs to admit that this technology is not completely accurate and find a work around. At least show that you're listening to customer concerns.
I just wanted to add my support to this idea. I suspect that the fitbit generally gives accurate heart rate readings but I strongly suspect that on a couple of occasions it has been quite inaccurate. I am wondering if this inaccuracy has an effect on calorie measurements. I have bought a polar h10 to better understand the accuracy of the fitbit readings, so that I can know when the fitbit will be accurate and when it will be off. It makes sense to me to have a watch that measures heart-rate through sensors looking at the wrist which can work with a chest strap when we want more accuracy.
I wanted to add an addendum to my previous note. I know that the accuracy of the heart rate monitoring of the fitbit is a very controversial issue at the moment and this is just my latest experiment.
I just got a polar H10 (chest strap) and went on a walk to test the heart rate measurements of the polar and the fitbit ionic against the polar h10. This was a walk with some 500ft of climbing in 3 and a half miles, so I was not just walking around the block. I was not too surprised to find that both measurements strongly agreed. One difference that I noticed was that the fitbit was less responsive to sudden changes in heart rate. So when I started climbing, the polar h10 showed that my heart rate was rapidly increasing. The fitbit showed the increase as slower. When my heart settled on a rate the fitbit rapidly caught up and they both showed that I was climbing a hill with a heart rate of 135 beats per minute.
This suggests the possibility that my seemingly anomalous reading this weekend might have occurred because my heart rate increased too rapidly for the fitbit to measure. I had just climbed a very steep hill on my bike (steep enough that a 210lb guy was pulling the front bicycle wheel off the road - some of you may know what I am talking about). When I reached the top I was sure that my fitbit should be showing a very high heart rate (for me), much more than the 115 beats per minute that it showed. Maybe the fitbit had not yet caught up with the increase in my heart rate. After I was at the top I am sure that my heart rate very rapidly dropped so that the fitbit would never show the max reading.
I am planning to do an experiment with a bicycle ride soon and will make another post if there are any surprises.
I have been continuing to test the fitbit against the polar h10 and I am finding that, for the most part my fitbit ionic matches the polar h10 extremely accurately. But on both of the last two bike rides, there have been some anomalies. On the last ride, there are some differences for my entire descent back home. Strava shows that I did a "personal record" on this descent and I usually get up to 40 mph. (I try to keep up with the cars so that they won't be annoyed when I use the lane. I used to go faster but now I am limited by some combination of fear, the gearing on my bike and my ability to pedal at extreme cadences.) The fitbit ionic shows a spike in the heartrate which is not shown on the polar h10 version. I think that a factor on the descent may have been that it may have been bumpy on the way down (I try to choose a line that minimizes this but...) So it is possible that the fitbit was not on firmly enough to handle these bumps.
Also however, I have not yet worn the fitbit an inch up the wrist as fitbit suggests. I need to do a run where I try this. Last time I tried this it seemed like it would be hard to get the fitbit on firmly enough to stay in that location. I also have not tried any interval training. It has been a while since I have been doing that regularly and it has been a bit wet here.
Overall, I am impressed by the fitbit's accuracy. On my last ride, it seemed to measure the heart rate on the hill climb very accurately. While I don't have the best tools for seing anomalies, spot tests of the two heartrate monitors is spot on.
I don't know exactly what is possible given the protocols and hardware, but I have a modification of this feature request. Would it be possible to make the fitbit be compatible with one or both of the ANT+ and Gym-link protocols both as a sender and a receiver. This might open many possibilities. If I walk into a gym with my fitbit, then the fitbit will provide heartrate information to the gym equipment. If I walk into a gym with both the fitbit and a chest strap, then I can choose to use the chest strap as both a source for the fitbit and the gym equipement. If this was possible this would seem to make things very flexible.
It would be great if you could allow the Fitbit app to take the heart rate recorded through my Polar H7 HRM. I use the H7 during cycling and group exercise as my charge 2 is only accurate recording resting heart rate and walking.
Fitbit please sort this. Stop ignoring your customers who have been asking for this since 2014!! My blaze is great for my daily tracking but utter pants for a workout. The Polar best app has a great range of exercises to track and the chest strap is much more accurate. Just for once, please be a company who listens and acts on customers requests.
Yes. Please allow the Charge 2 to pair with Polar H10 (or H7, or OH1)! I LOVE my Charge 2, but the heart rate monitor leaves a lot to be desired. While it's very accurate for resting heart rate and sleep tracking, I find that it's wildly inaccurate for my power walking, HIIT sessions and weight lifting. I've tried it in just about every position on my wrist from 3" above the wrist bone to right above the wrist bone, on both my left and right wrists and all fits from very loose to snug. If you can't provide a reliable heart rate monitor, please at least upgrade your app/service to allow us to pair with accurate devices!
I know that I finally moved from my charge 2 to a Garmin Vivoactive 3 and a Polar OH1. What a difference! Finally I am tracking my heart rate really accurately.
I love Fitbit and would come back if they allowed pairing with peripheral devices. I just don’t get why they won’t support simple Bluetooth pairing.
I just sold every fitbit device, I'm pissed off once forever by them. we are asking for years to be allowed to use a **ahem** external chest strap. nothing. even apple allow doing this, and their sensor is pretty accurate, but they still are humble enough to let you pair your **ahem** H7 or the one you want.
bye bye Ionic (yes), blaze and charge 2, my aw 3 is doing all I need.
another reason for allowing the polar H7 to sync to fitbit is that, not only is it more accurate, but my charge 2 refuses to believe my heart beats faster than 152bpm due perhaps to my age. Although I've told my Charge 2 my max is 182bpm (as per my H7 and also asper ECG) it persistently tops out at 152. Very annoying.
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