Sense records inaccurate heart rate readings

[SunsetRunner]

Some bugs appeared lately making the Sense even more unbearable.  

The heart rate is becoming even more innacurate as time goes by and I noticed that 10 days after wearing it.  Asking extra money for premium data doesn't make sense any longer. Sorry.

What's going on with this device guys ?

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject and updated label

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi @SunsetRunner. It's good to see you around the forums.

Thanks for taking the time to share your feedback about the Sense and the Premium service. I understand your point of view about your watch not recording an accurate heart rate reading which affects the rest of your data. Before anything else, may I know if this happen when doing a specific exercise or during your daily activity. Have you checked this help article which explains what factors impact the heart rate? If you've not done so, please restart your watch and wear your Sense on top of your wrist, making sure the back of the device is in contact with your skin. During exercise, try moving the band 2-3 finger widths above your wrist bone.

I'll look forward to your response.

[Clear-Enough]

Lizzy,

the problem with the heart rate determination is a problem with the device itself.   I refer you to this discussion:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-u8VTmeDF0

I have been using the sense for about a month in conjunction with an ionic on my other hand.  I have found the heart rate determination when exercising can by widely off although it improves with time.  I will tell you today my ionic registered 144 bps at the same time my sense registered 105.   A physical count by pulse showed 148.

In my opinion the sense should be recalled.   I am 67 years old and if I did not trust my physiologic response to exercise over the sense HR I could easily wander into an unsafe hr.  I suspect there are others out there that have not been so lucky.

I have lost faith in the Sense.  How can I return it for a full refund?

Thank you in advance for your help.

[NeilFinny]

Hi Lizzy 

it isn’t like this persons post is out of the blue, there has being loads of posts on the issue of the heart sensor, majority of which have being ignored by the moderators. A lot of us have opened support tickets. It has being documented on DCrain and quantified scientist YouTube channels. To be blunt the heart rate monitor on these two watches is not fit for purpose. It scores so badly in tests. I now wear it with my charge 2 as I have no confidence in it. You look at it and it displays something like 76bpm that over the next few seconds drop down to 64bpm. It jumps around all over the place when inactive. If you don’t move it is between 3-7 bpm higher then a ionic or charge2. In exercises it is slow to react and so is not accurate.

we have heard nothing from Fitbit on fixing this dysfunctional algorithm.

if I could get my money back I’d probs get a Apple Watch, this is from a person who has had fitbits for years and defend them a lot, but the heart rate monitor simply doesn’t work properly.

[Fit058 · Accepted solution]

There are many people sharing their experiences with the accuracy of the heart rate monitorig and most of them come to the conclusion, that the heart rate monitoring does not work as fine as it should. I am settled in germany, so I am also atcive in the german section of this community and also there are many users from the german community, who have similar expereinces regarding on the heart rate monitoring.

it is really disappointing, that the lead members (Mods, CCs and Technical Support) are always sharing some random help articles, which could help in case of a wrong usage. But it should be clear, that there are definetly some hardware of software issues and it does not help the users, if the company even do not or can not accept, that there are issues, which has to be solved.

Big hope, that the devolopement teams are working on those issues in the background, but please, stop defending functionalities, which are not working properly - time will show.

I think everyone, who bought the Sense, really had the expectation, that this will be a big step forward, but it seems, that this is a inofficial beta phase and we are the product testing group - and we have paid for it. 😄

[MenaceDennis]

Can Fitbit please admit there's an issue with the immature Purepulse 2.0 technology as highlighted by repeated wearable reviewers and roll out a timeline to fix this with a Software/Firmware issue.

So many long-term Fitbit users are having trouble with the heart rate on the latest generations of this watch. It is insulting to keep insisting we are wearing this incorrectly. I have used many Fitbit watches, had very little trouble, I know how and where to wear a Fitbit, it's not me, it's the watch.

[SunsetRunner]

Well said everybody. I wish they stop defending it. I know these are moderators and should blindly defend and support the product no matter what. They follow guidelines from the company and I would have done the same if I were to have a position in the company.

But please, do something to correct it. If all here can't wear the watch properly, then look at other tech forums and YouTube test videos. But who am I kidding, I am sure they already know what they released to the public.

[Fit058]

Has someone, who got the new update, made some new tests with activities like walking or running? Are there any improvements regarding accuracy and stability?

[caha460]

I thought I stumbled upon a post earlier which seemed to suggest OS 5.1 fixed the issue. Of course, it would help if [a whole five days after release and announcement] we were actually able to update and test. Some weeks back, I did get someone at Fitbit to acknowledge the problem, but all I could get was a request to be patient, with zero clarity as to whether 5.1 is, by design, supposed to fix the issue.

On a side note, I would've also been great if earlier today I didn't get yelled at about this by a belligerent, wildly-uninformed manager in customer "support" today... Apparently, according to this expert, if I have the same issue with multiple Fitbit devices, I must be the problem... She's apparently never heard of faulty designs (nor did she take "Customer Support 101" in school).

[Fit058]

My Sense is updating at the moment, so I will make some tests regarding on GPS improvements ... but I expect, that I will be disappointed. 😄

[allenrn]

I am finding even the resting HR is way off as well. The HR detection in general is flawed. I’ve had the same issues during activity as you and I also did compare manual reading, charge 2, and another -elite HRV sensors. If HR detection is not close to being accurate then all the readings based on HR are inaccurate. I know my HRV readings are so sporadic. I’ve measured my HRV for a couple of years now so I know my trends. The sense has HRV readings jumping between 20’s - 80’s. Information means nothing if it is inaccurate. It can even be harmful to people who have the HR alerts set for low and high HR. 
I am hoping that they can fix this through updates. Right now the sense is inaccurate and misrepresented and I feel cheated out of my money and disappointed that they are not taking ownership of this so we know they are working on a solution. 

[Dwayne73]

I don't care what article they ask us to read or to contact customer support- the sense is lackluster in so many areas- I am really sorry I bought it now. The heart rate is not accurate- period. I don't care what they say. My ionic didn't have this issue. I wish they would just admit to their mistakes and fix it rather than sending everyone to support all the time knowing this watch has some glaring issues. 

[SunsetRunner]

Well 8 months later after I posted the initial disappointment of the Sense's HR, the situation hasn't changed at all.

I can only guess that the HR sensor is not good enough to measure the HR correctly and without lag. Otherwise they would have fixed it already, why wouldn't they wanna, right?

[m-umar]

Anyone with the update about this issue or all have given up on it!

[NeilFinny]

Sadly, I moved to a Apple Watch

[m-umar]

Trouble is not all of us can just go out and buy another device after investing in this sense! It also doesn't send the right message to these corporates.