help menu

Join us on the Community Forums!

  • Community Guidelines

    The Fitbit Community is a gathering place for real people who wish to exchange ideas, solutions, tips, techniques, and insight about the Fitbit products and services they love. By joining our Community, you agree to uphold these guidelines, so please take a moment to look them over.

  • Learn the Basics

    Check out our Frequently Asked Questions page for information on Community features, and tips to make the most of your time here.

  • Join the Community!

    Join an existing conversation, or start a new thread to ask your question. Creating your account is completely free, and takes about a minute.

Not finding your answer on the Community Forums?

Cancel
Turn on suggestions
Auto-suggest helps you quickly narrow down your search results by suggesting possible matches as you type.
Showing results for 
Show  only  | Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Sense distance discrepancy between walking and running

Replies are disabled for this topic. Start a new one or visit our Help Center.

‎03-10-2021 15:20 - last edited on ‎03-11-2021 17:58 by Fitbit Moderator

‎03-10-2021 15:20 - last edited on ‎03-11-2021 17:58 by Fitbit Moderator

I used the walking and running tracker options separately. 

 

1) Fitbit Sense was showing 0.92 Miles for walking 4 laps; My wife's apple watch measured 2.8 miles for 4 laps.

2) Running 2 laps - 1.3 Miles which will eventually resolve to 2.6 miles.

 

Did anyone notice this discrepancy?

 

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

Best Answer
0 Votes
4 REPLIES 4

‎03-10-2021 23:16

‎03-10-2021 23:16

Hi @vadi53,

 

you can configure to step lengths:

  • walking 
  • running

So, if you specifically selected walking but you were running the distance calculated will be wrong. The formula is quite easy: steps multiplied by the step's length.

 

To calibrate your step's length you can activate GPS in the fitting traning (running for running and walking for walking) and do walk / run a mile. Instead you can also calibrate manually the length.

Wenn dir mein Beitrag geholfen hat, freue ich mich über ein Kudos (Daumen hoch Symbol)!
Best Answer
0 Votes

‎03-10-2021 23:56

In response to sancho90

‎03-10-2021 23:56

Hi Sancho! Thanks for your response. I chose the correct mode each time; running for running and walking for walking. I am using FitBit Surge for almost 5 years, this was never a problem. Whether I walk or run, I always chose the right mode, and irrespective of that the distance should look good.

 

Also, today during my running, my GPS coordinates messed up and finally, my running map was totally ended up incorrect. I think the FitBit sense of mine is not picking up GPS coordinates properly or something...

Best Answer

‎03-11-2021 05:27

In response to vadi53

‎03-11-2021 05:27

Yes, Fitbit Surge correctly measured the distance based on GPS. For some unknown reason that Fitbit never bothered to explain to its users, starting from Ionic and up to the newest Sense, the distance is now calculated with an algorithm that has at its core the steps by stride calculation. Hence the huge discrepancy that you recorded.

You might be able to minimize the error with a careful estimation of your stride but as the stride changes with the the pace it is inevitable to have errors. Simple put Fitbit is not the right device if you are into running.

Best Answer

‎06-29-2021 12:00

‎06-29-2021 12:00

My husband thinks the distance is being calculated ‘as the crow flies’ and not as actual distance walked. 

Best Answer
0 Votes