Sense is counting too many floors

[Deepvalley]

My new sence dosnt counting the right floors there are too much what can i do. sg Kurt

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[MinisOnTheEdge]

My Fitbit Sense has been logging in extra floors for 3 days now. I’ve done maybe 3 but it’s showing  53. Also yesterday, It wasn’t counting my steps for hours. It kept showing a little over 1400 steps while I was cleaning up and had walked on the treadmill. Rebooted today only to still have 53 floors show up. 

[LostScientist42]

Just getting out of bed clocks up 3 floors. Restarting the Fitbit, and even doing a complete factory reset hasn't fixed the problem. It doesn't matter wether I wear the fitbit as pictured or the width of two fingers from my wrist securely especially when I'm at the gym, an excess number of floors are recorded in both instances.

[BlazeFS]

That's one thing I'm worried about - they're not going to be able to fix it and won't say anything. I tried contacting FitBit support to at least document that I have the issue. I'd have pushed for a replacement, but several people in this thread tried that with no luck.

[Alrazi]

I’m worried that the inaccurate floor count is affecting the burned calories count which would render the Sense totally useless and obsolete.

This sucks.

[Rich_Laue]

@Alrazi fitbit has never done anything with the floor count but display it for the user. 

IE: Floor counts have never been a part of any other calculation, floors have never been factored into the calories.

This is probably, even if floor counts are working correctly, they still are problematic. 

Still a barometer is used for altitude when flying, the GPS is not allowed to be the main device for altitude. However the pilot still has to re-calibrate the barometer based Altimeter several times during the average flight. 

. 

[MinisOnTheEdge]

After a reboot and factory reset, I woke up with 16 floors 😐 I guess I’ll give them a call. 

[Darwin53]

They are monitoring every message here,  Yesterday, they removed two of my posts because they found them inflammatory and against blog guidelines.  How do I know?  They sent me an email notifying me of ther action,  They are reading them so keep writing.  Write everywhere,

[down_and_out]

I doubt you'll get much satisfaction based on the FAQ they refer you to, which is little more than a list that the project team probably came up with during a spit balling session to explain to the senior managers why the problem exists (it could be air conditioner affecting the air pressure in the room, the way they swing their arm...) and to explain why its taking so long to come up with a firm answer (there are so many factors to consider).

Between the recharge issue and the stair count there may be an answer. 

Just to be clear I don't really care too much about the stair count accuracy other than it raises doubt about the s/w and h/w.  I do care very much on the sleep stats and oxygen.  I understand it is not a medical grade device.  To get it certified as such in multiple jurisdictions would be costly in time and money, but also limit how they can sell or market the device and create a massive liability issue while requiring greater reliability.  So far though I have been able to match the O2 levels with medical equipment when in for appointments.  Very minor variations but for my purposes they have been consistently close.  Now with the stair count issue I begin to doubt, especially when looking at how the company responds to the problem.

My guess is that the sensors are picking up enough dirt (dead skin, sweat, water ...) to interfere with their function.  The go to answer for the company on anything charge related is for the user to clean with an alcohol dabbed swab/cotton ball.  I expect that the company will incorporate a scheduled cleaning of the back of the watch (once a week) in addition to cleaning by exception.  That they haven't makes me wonder if they have a concern that too much swabbing with alcohol could lead to sensor degradation.  The sensor used to calculate steps is more delecate and more difficult to "clean".  Might require using canned air, but whatever solution they provide can't be burdensome on the user, be of a significant recurring cost or difficult to apply.

Good luck on your call.

[Downisup]

Prior to buying the sense, I was one of Fitbit’s biggest fans. And was a free marketing mouth piece. However, after this last purchased it has made me question their integrity. Rather than resolve issues, they police like silencing their audience will make the interfacing problems go away. I always though highly of fitbit until I actually had to interface with their employees.  I now say the same thing, good luck getting any real results other than a smack on the hand for asking question.  I have to question their quality control. 

[KritKat]

I am also having this issue on my Sense. I've had a FitBit device since 2016 so am able to see my normal floor count over the course of 4+ years. It is very clear that Sense has an issue correctly counting floors. My husband's Sense also had this issue and he was able to return it for a new device. All recommendations have been tried and the floor count still it doesn't work correctly. Customer service is the worst since Google acquired FitBit. We have always had exceptional customer service until now. Please bring back the previous customer service culture! Has there been any progress on this issue? 

[Karidee]

Yes me too. I walk up 0 floors and get awards for walking up the most floors ever. 75, 100, etc.

[rwilson254]

Fitbit eventually gave me a fitbit sense replacement unit after numerous requests to honor my warranty. The replacement unit was fine for about a month but now is having same issue as previous unit. It had me doing 120 floors when at most I did 3. Honestly I'm tired of dealing with issues and won't bother asking for a  new unit or repair. 

I just decided to go with a galaxy watch 3 and use it as my primary fitness tracker. While it's  overall health app is not as good as Fitbit nor the battery life, I do love the looks and the  smartwatch functionality of it better and it doesn't lose its pairing with my phone which is also  a major issue with my sense. 

Very disappointed with Fitbits quality control on this product. I would have thought we would have had more firmware updates at this point in time to address some of its issues though my guess is they are looking more ahead to their next smart watch venture with Google than investing any further with this version of the sense. 

[Darwin53]

It does not matter to me what type of watch they bring to the marketplace in the future.  I am done with Fitbit and their Micky Mouse watches.  I have a Track 2 and a Sense. As soon as they break down, and they will soon, I am buying an Apple watch.  Google made a big mistake buying Fitbit if they lose their current customer base. rwilson254, the problem is with the software.  Replacing the watch does not solve the problem, as you proved it to be true.

[Downisup]

The poor customer service is associated the purchase.... ahh, now I get it.  Fitbit has lost its mission statement.  I am sure your post will be taken down by tomorrow. It is the one thing they are still good at.  

[Darwin53]

They have taken two of my past posts in the last three weeks.  Like I said, I do not care anymore.  I am done with Fitbit.

[Dheck6]

I too have gotten a replacement from Fitbit as well. So far no issues
with the replacement.

I do not believe any firmware / software updates can fix this issue. I
believe the root cause is due to the altimeter physically inside the watch,
which coding can not fix. This is either a defect in the manufacturing and
assembly process OR a failure which was not caught during dev testing and
now the issue is inherent in the design.

Curious if this issue does not exist with the Versa 3. If not, I suspect
too many features were packed into the sense, components rearranged to make
them all fit, and this new arrangement causes the altimeter to fail over
time, loose connection, or something of the sort.

If my replacement sense has this failure again, I will advise here. What I
hope is that a bandaid has been installed to the design. ie. potting on
the board, improved solder joints, or different altimeters. Too bad we can
not see a date code on the product, that would also help indicate if it is
just a bad batch or a bigger problem.

Cheers,

[BrewCityRider]

Not so sure about that theory. Got my Sense for Xmas and altimeter worked nearly perfect for about a month. It stopped working correctly after the late January firmware update. It's been totally out of whack since. Not going to hold my breath for a fix. Luckily for me it's the one feature that I really don't care much about. Otherwise extremely happy with my Sense.

[BlazeFS]

I got my Sense early October and the stair issue didn't start until December 23. Unfortunately, I don't recall when I installed the firmware as I first thought the stair issue must be related to weather changes. 

I am disappointed in my Sense and have been looking at alternatives. I've been a FitBit user for many years, but am frustrated by the lack of responsiveness to this issue. I'm testing Google Fit and seriously considering switching to an alternative watch, although the Versa 3 might be an option too, assuming it doesn't have the same problems.

[down_and_out]

Between the charging issue (2 hours being charged today and my Sense dropped from 41% to 22%)  and the data errors on the Sense related to stairs and my plan to buy my wife a sense as a present out the window.    Going to compare Samsung and Apple but will not consider the Sense.  Knowingly giving a present you know has issues is not a good thing in a relationship.

What is painfully amusing is that before my Sense recorded 2 to 4 stairs walking 60 steps to the bathroom it wouldn't record stairs I did walk up and down.  Mind you if I walked up a low slope in the yard I would get stairs recorded.  Now I get stairs while sitting at the computer.

Like many I don't have a desperate need toknow how many stairs I walked.  I don't even mind that my morning rituals record anywhere from 60 to 120+ steps - even walking the same route.- figuring it would balance out over a day.  But if the battery won't charge quickly, or not charge at all or actually drains power when hooked to the charging cable AND the watch has no concept of up and down in order to record stairs - all of that makes me doubt everything FitBit.  How inaccurate or unreliable is everything else?  Is my sleep data so unreliable I should stop looking at it?  Are we better off with something much cheaper with a similar lack of accuracy that does not require any subscription service?

Even a simple notice to owners (they should be able to post on the app) about reported unsolved issues would go a long way to restoring a small degree of confidence in the company and product.  But the silence is deafening.  These issues are likely to begin showing up in tech reviews and potentially consumer protection organisations if Fitbit maintains its silence.

[Downisup]

I have given up on their quality control measures. I now use fitbit for one function only.  I rely other devices to support my health.