Sense heart rate sensor not accurate

[arturmeireles]

My post is one of many that was posted before about inaccurate heart sensor from fitbit sense. What's going on Fitbit?! are you not going to correct it or what?!? It's been almost 6 months since the release of the Sense and still thousands of complains from Sense owners. I bought the Sense yesterday and I was shocked to see that my heart beat was away of during my afternoon workout. I'm returning it today!!! Just for you guys to see, look at the picture and compare my workout today with the workouts from yesterday with Charge 4. The Sense does not even count zone minutes!

 

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject, updated label and formatting

[Cedarpup]

Mine did improve with the last update but still is lower than my Garwin.

Sent from my iPhone

[Rich_Laue]

I've only had a Garmin for 2 days, gift from Sprint/Tmobile. 

Heart rates are within 5% 

[LazyKelly]

Cannot tell it was improved in terms of heart rate measurement during exercise. I still read ridiculous data last week. But it was less frequent stopped during exercise mode.

By the way Fitfit just allowed SPO2 to be downloaded in my country.  As usual,  it didnt work at all. 2 nights sleep no data show. I cannot see where to report.  

Sense or Fitfit has no creditability.  

[Giampi71]

I link this discussion as it has quite few interesting posts about the NOT accurate HR sensor.

[dyys]

I own multiple smart watches, I suggest you do the following and test out again, 

1. just before work out, try to wet the sensor(of the watch) and your wrist. As wet as possible.

2, wear tight,  more tight by one holed of the strap.

3, for outdoor workouts,  wait for the watch display “GPS connected” before you start your work outs. 

[Dougyboy73]

I’ve got an open issue with Fitbit with regards to the issue you have posted but haven’t heard anything since

[Treehgr1]

I just returned my ionic due to the recall and got a sense.  Today was my first day working out with the sense.  Same workouts where my HR was 140-150 now has an overall of 74 with a max ot 103?!?!?!  WTF Fitbit.  That's crazy.  I paused and took my own HR over a minute and it was 135 and the Sense said 73.  That's ridiculous!!!!   Come on Fitbit, it works on other devices fix it!!!!  Top workout was with the Sense and others with Ionic.  IDK why it's all blurry.

 

[eezeepee]

@Treehgr1 I know the heart rate inaccuracies are real but that doesn't seem right at all. I gotta ask but you are wearing it snug but comfortable and above your wrist?

Screenshots and pics are heavily compressed when uploading in mobile view. It's much better if you go desktop view on your phone. 

[W_J_C]

Exact same story with me.  Replaced my fantastic Ionic with new Sense yesterday.  Usually get 50% or more in "Fat Burn" during morning yoga workout, with average BPM of 115 or so.  Today was 0%, with average BPM of 82.  Total BS.  Looks like I'll probably be returning this piece of junk.

[knicolesmith86]

Yup, same here. I replaced my charge hr last year for a Sense and it is total garbage. I’ve done everything they said to try and get it to work and nothing works. It broke my heart but I switched to the Apple Watch. It’s a lot better than the sense but still not as good as the old Fitbits. 

[sabagilo]

I am in the exact same situation.. I returned my lovely Ionic for the fitbit sense ,and after 2 days with my sens I feel like crying of frustration.
The HR is so inaccurate it's not even worth wearing..😐

It also do not register my walks properly, today I took a 66min walk, google fit got the whole thing correct, and my sense left out 18!! minutes?! and said I only walked for 48min!
That was about it for me so now I'm searching for another watch that can handle/register a simple walk and register high HR-activity during workouts..

And oh, I did not have the gps connected because the gps only worked 1 time and now I cannot get it to work again..

So a watch that have such inaccurate HR is pretty much useless, because of that the calories burnt during the day or during a workout is also waaay off. Totally pointless.

I have been using fitbit since the first fitbit charge, jumped to the ionic and I never had any problems with that watch. The Ionic had absolutely perfect registration of heartbeat during long elliptical workouts. My old ionic will forever be missed.😭  

The sense is no useful at all so after many years I will be leaving fitbit and look for another watch, If anyone have any suggestion on watches please let me know.

[DoriM]

Well I guess add me to the list...   I have owned my Sense since it was released and I have to say I check it often again medical grade equipment, trips to Dr and ER unfortunately, and it was always spot on.  For the past month I noticed my RHR has been increasing daily and started to get concerned.  I had multiple appts and checked again my home equipment and go figure.... my Fitbit now seems to be registering higher than anything I compare it to.  I have rebooted it, changed clock faces, even worn my original Versa on one wrist and Sense on the other and still don't feel I am getting an accurate reading.  Does anyone have any other suggestions other than to chuck this paper weight?  

[IgorR11]

I like the metrics used by fitbit and the user interface, my first fitbit was a versa lite, and I loved it, I've had other smartwatches from the main competitors. I decided to buy a fitbit sense and since then it was just a disappointment to go months without using it and I decided to go back to check if fitbit had already fixed the problem, but unfortunately not.
I'll be buying a competitor's fenix 6, because in several reviews I've seen through specialized channels, the sensors and metrics are highly reliable.
I feel disappointed by the fitbit to throw your trump card (sense) away

[Rujoe9]

Customer service says they are aware of the issue.  Basically the heart rate tracking is terrible for exercising.   Only had watch for 3 months and fitbit will not do anything. I doubt it ever gets fixed.  False advertising if you ask me.

[KB9WNS]

Yep.  I started out with a Blaze in 2016, FitBit's first smart watch.  It had 2 flaws in it, both of which was correctable.  It had some syncing issues which may have been partially an Android problem and the HR sensor window was susceptible to stress corrosion cracking caused by skin oil.  I was able to correct the sensor window issue by using a clear tape over the window.  Not able to correct the syncing issues.  Accuracy seemed to be rather decent, watch band well made and the charging system experienced no failures.  The Sense not so good.  It is my last FitBit and is now in comparison testing with the G-watch and a $35 Chinese knockoff.  

[TommyIzzo]

@KB9WNS You liked the Blaze band? Went through about 5 of those I think. But looking back, I think the Blaze heart rate liked a tight band. They kept separating at the base. Blaze was the first watch of any kind that I wore in probably 30 years. I  had a lot of patience with it. Restarting, restarting phone, forget in Bluetooth, all to get connected GPS working before a bike ride most times. I wouldn't put up with that anymore, and yet my 6 year old Blaze still works. 

[KB9WNS]

The Blaze liked a tight band along with the clear tape over the HR sensor with decent (not medical grade but decent for a watch) repeatable accuracy. I had extra bands from Amazon for when the bands failed but they did not fail catastrophically like the Sense's band does.  Typically the band would start to stretch and then crack giving me ample warning of impending failure.   My Sense's band lets loose and the watch ejects from my wrist and is now shattered. The band failing and shattering led me to buy a competitor's product so I am done with FitBit. I had constant syncing issues with a Samsung S7 but not with my previous phone, a HTC M9.  I think the syncing may have been either Android/Samsung issue or some other strange issue.  The Blaze was also readily repairable with 4 screws holding it together.  I spoke too soon. Now the Sense is not showing my exercise details or my heart rate details on the mobile app after this afternoon's lunch walk.  Works on desktop.  Luckily the Sense is no longer a primary device.