HR Not Accurate

[Superrep]

I am a regular at the gym rat. I had a Fitbit Versa for a number of years and have been pretty pleased with it. Part of my routine is using the elliptical set for 2 min high intensity, 2min low intensity. The Versa was fairly accurate with both heart rate and number of steps, usually within 5% of the machine's readings. However the Sense is way, way off on both counts. The elliptical will show a heart rate of 150 and the Sense will show 109. Also the elliptical will show 4000 steps and the Sense will show 2700. Are there any fixes to this problem or do I need to look for another fitness tracker? I really like the other features of the Sense but I do need an accurate tracker to gauge my workouts.

[Guy_]

Hi @Superrep - the heart rate issues were raised over a year ago but since then there has been no known updates to fix it. The good news is that the heart rate is accurate when you are still for a while. The Versa 2 smart watch might be a better fit for heart rate monitoring, and the Versa was a great watch, shame it is no longer available.

[Rich_Laue]

I didn't know that a person took steps while on the elliptical. Your tracker looks at the motion of the arm to determine what is going on with the feet. The movement of the handlebars are probably not what Fitbit wants to see.

[SunsetRunner]

I just bought the Sense and after 2 weeks of use I notice that although there are a lot of cool health widgets, none appear to be accurate. As @Superrep says the readings are way off. Every step I too counts as 2, The BPM is accurate when the arm is immobile. I compared the HPB on Sense and the Samsung Gear 3 Frontier: the latter provided better metrics. "The Quantified Scientist" did some excellent comparisons on YouTube between Fitbit Sense and the Polar chest strap. Sense readings are only reliable one low values. 

Who knows if the other readings on HRV and SPO2 are close to being right?  So, if anyone from Fitbit is reading this: I don't think you tested this well, when's ETA for the fix?  

[Superrep]

Thanks for your response Guy. Yes I was fairly pleased with my Versa. Being that my vintage is 65 years old I really wanted the ECG functionality of the Sense but now I don't trust any of the results. I am.going to look at other fitness trackers.

[Superrep]

Thanks for your response Rich. All I can tell you is that my Versa was consistently within 5% of the step total that was on the elliptical as well as the heart rate data. I was hoping fir the same results with the Sense.

[Guy_]

Hi @Superrep - the ECG will be accurate, unless the watch is faulty, as the heart rate is accurate when still and the device is medically certified.

And therein lies an issue perhaps as to why the heart rate has not been fixed since it's release, as it would mean redoing all the work for recertification again and that might be a very expensive and time consuming process.

It doesn't help those monitoring heart rate during physical activity though.