Heart rate inaccurate on Fitbit Sense

[Cameronoates]

Hey 

is anyone else experiencing huge heart rate inaccuracy during exercise with the sense? 

During exercise with the sense it won’t ever get above 120bpm for me 

but if I use my charge 4 during the EXACT same exercise my heart rate is between 145-170bpm in the cardio zone 

It’s extremely disappointing and I don’t want to have to switch to my charge 4 everytime I exercise to ensure accurate heart rate 

defeats the purpose of having the sense 

seriously one of the most frustrating experiences I have ever had.

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[Vini]

I’ve had a case number for about 2 months now. They keep saying that they will get back to me, but that is the only thing I hear... I can’t use my sense now, the battery won’t last a day anymore - but it wasn’t much good with HR, Calories, etc anyway!  I have gone back to my Ionic...  so the Sense just sits, using up the warranty... 

[GGFitMom]

I wish I had read this prior to upgrading from my Alta HR which was phenomenal at tracking heart rate.  So disappointing and my return window has closed.  Please fix this Fitbit!!!

[SunsetRunner]

I believe HR while sleeping is accurate because we are mostly still. When you have to move or stand up, it's bad HR data all over.

I use my Sense for sleep tracking accuracy, which is good, and as a smartwatch by getting notified when I get a message or a phone call.

ECG is also a useful feature but very rarely used.

Nothing more !

No apps, no NFC payment (doesn't support by Bank), no weather-checking, no answering (bad speaker), no texting, no Alexa (terrible) and not during exercise.

It was somehow an expensive purchase. I could have bought a laptop instead or a very advanced fridge.

[Jirvine]

I’m sending mine back. I’m so disappointed, thinking of an Apple Watch

Sent from my iPhone

[Vini]

I just received a return authorization from Amazon this AM.  Mine is going back too!  Sad, I had high hopes for this unit, but it simply does not work!  Will be looking at other options now, Apple Watch looking good...

[TARPDR]

I’ve had problems with my charge 4 since I got it in October and all they are willing to do is swap it for another Charge 4 which they admit may have same known issues and cannot understand why I refuse to have another not fit for purpose tracker watch.   We to are looking to swap to Apple and over 5 years being loyal to fitbit 

[Jumpjockey]

That's such an insane marketing strategy..right..You switching to Apple will deter how many people from going with FitBit...I just don't understand that philosophy. Happy customer at whatever the cost like the Amazon strategy, is what should be every comp

[TARPDR]

Fitbit used to have outstanding customers service like Apple but sadly over the last year Thats declined 

[Richygeorge]

Watch this video on the inaccuracies of the sense heart rate detection.

https://youtu.be/7-u8VTmeDF0

[Silverback007]

Thanks. Well that explains that.  I found an app “my fitness sync “ which syncs the fit bit or Apple Watch with the other app.  It’s useful if you like the fitbit app and want to use an Apple Watch. Hope it helps. 

[SunsetRunner]

Add me to the list of people having this issue.

I noticed immediately after switching from the Charge 4 to the Sense that my resting heart rate dropped by over 10 points.  It regularly reads in the mid to high 50s, on the Charge it was around 70. The drop was immediately after switching to the Sense.  A resting heart rate below 60 means you have bradycardia and obviously concerned me enough to talk with my doctor. I wore a Holter monitor and a cardiologist looked over my results the doctor reported no signs of bradycardia and that my resting heart rate was above 60 beats per minute throughout. During the same period my Sense reported my resting heart rate as 55.

I've also had the other problems mentioned with the Sense during exercise.  I use an elliptical 5-7 days a week.  On the Charge 4 (as well as the Charge 2 & 3) my heart rate would typically follow a normal range that would almost immediately go past fat burn into cardio, even occasionally reaching peak if I pushed myself.  I came to know these ranges based on my level of exertion.  After getting the Sense I rarely leave fat burn and often won't even reach a heart rate much higher than 100-110.  I've briefly managed to achieve cardio during periods of very extreme exertion.

[kamaya86]

Blame the fire nation(google). Probably came in and cleaned the place out.

--------------------------------------

Mine was sitting at 140 for 3 weeks while asleep.. which isn't true but my god did it scare the FK out of me. 

[Amy2Qwt]

For sure. I just switched from a 6 year old Blaze and when I’m on the elliptical with the chest strap on my elliptical says my HR is 160-170 while my sense says 140-150. My old blaze was usually +/- 2 BPM off from what my elliptical HR sensor put out. 

[MSASTER]

wish I had read all of these first before I wasted $300.00.  Its garbage and does nothing advertised to do with cardio.  

[iWearKneeSocks]

Yep. I noticed from my original Versa to the Sense it severely under estimates. Also tried different bands and wearing positions. It’s really frustrating because I’m dealing with heart abnormalities. Did a stress test that reached 168bpm before I almost passed out and my sense only said I reached 90max on the Fitbit app and 119max on the Cardiogram app. Mine also registers that I’m doing flights of stairs when I’m not which my original versa never did. 
Kind of ticked off that I even upgraded and gave my original versa away - it was way more accurate. Almost makes me wish I’d just paid an extra $50 for an Apple Watch and had full smart phone features since Fitbit will never work w/ iPhone the way it does w/ android. 

[radzieus]

Still not working, now it's even worse. It basically doesn't track consistently above about 135-140. Very irritated. Can't  believe they were selling this for $300. Doesn't matter where I wear it, higher, lower, tighter looser. I've tried it all. Only slight difference is if I have it slightly off-center on my wrist, with the screen a bit more toward my body.

 

I have a polar chest strap as well. My differences show up as 175 on the Polar, 98 on the Fitbit. Completely useless as a tracking tool.

I kinda wished they started working on it BEFORE they sold it. Did they not test this feature? Do they not know how many people use the HR monitor for high-intensity workouts to track calorie burn? it's a bit ridiculous, especially since my old Versa Lite was spot-on.

Moderator edit: merged replies

[t.parker]

@radzieus Fitbit has a long history of releasing not fully tested products. As for HR, it's not only about high intensity but any intensity really. See this test I have done:

https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Sense/Heart-rate-is-inaccurate/m-p/4803833/highlight/true#M19595

https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Sense/Heart-rate-is-inaccurate/m-p/4805669/highlight/true#M19683

These are two low-intensity steady-state runs and Sense didn't handle it well (not mentioning the GPS issues during those runs). The Sense HR is the worst I have ever had experience with for this brand (or maybe any brand but Suunto has an equally bad wrist sensor). If you have H10 then you're halfway through to do the best thing - throw away Sense and get a watch that can connect to H10 so for HIIT workouts or anything that requires accuracy you have a choice - wrist HR or chest strap (I never exercise using wrist HR, only strap for serious training).

[Richygeorge]

Has Fitbit acknowledged or addressed this anywhere? I'm surprised of they haven't yet. 

Well google now. 

[gentrit.gojani]

Same here. I got my Fitbit Sense on one side and an Apple Watch on the other side, Apple Watch hart rate and calories burned were almost double.

[Vini]

Fitbit never got back to me and my case is now almost 4 months old!  I have 3 messages on their Twitter that they would get back to me soon... not a word!  Very disappointed!  Waited as long as I could, but returned it and bought an Apple Watch.  It is very accurate, and does more, but I do still like the Fitbit App better....  But if the device doesn’t work, it really doesn’t matter how nice the App is...