Sense won't track my distance accurately

[Pmt1231]

I go out regularly with a walking group . However my Fitbit always gives me a lower milage reading than the others in the group whose mileage measurement seems consistent across the group. Eg Today I walked with the group. Everyone else clocked up  8. 39 miles or very close to that. My Fitbit awarded me  6. 75 miles for walking the same distance as the others. Because this was happening regularly I bought a new Fitbit a couple of months ago thinking my device was faulty. My new Fitbit is behaving the same way as the old one. My mileage still comes in lower than everyone else on the walk. We are all of a similar age and build and walking the same distance. Why is this happening? 

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[Guy_]

Hi @Pmt1231 - do you start a walk exercise with GPS? It may give you a more precise result but check the duration is correct in case it stops prematurely.

When not using GPS, height and stride length are used to measure distance. Also start and stop times need be accurate.

[MarreFitbit]

Hi there, @Pmt1231. Thanks for stopping by in the Fitbit Community Forums. It's sad to hear that your Sense is not tracking your distance accurately. We'll be glad to help you with this. 

As a first approach, I would like to clarify that it's normal that you see a difference when you are comparing your data with another person, this is because Fitbit devices record your data based on your personal information (not just age, but also gender, weight and height).

Since this is the second Fitbit device with the same inconvenience, confirm the following are correct in the Fitbit app:

• Your wrist settings (For more information, see Does the wrist I wear my device on affect accuracy? )
• Your height (For more information, see How do I manage my Fitbit profile?)

Since we use height to estimate your walking and running stride lengths, you may want to measure and manually adjust these values if your legs are longer or shorter than average. For more information, see How does my Fitbit device calculate my daily activity?

As @Guy_ mentioned, when you track an activity with GPS, your device calculates your distance using GPS data rather than steps. If you begin moving before you get a GPS signal, your device calculates distance using your steps until GPS connects.

Sometimes, when you start walking, your steps may not update on your device right away. After about 10-15 continuous steps, you'll notice the steps catch up and start updating in real time with each step you take. For more information, see: How accurate are Fitbit devices?