Confused about calories

[Cirofee]

I've had a charge hr and I have a surge. I also have had a couple of garmin trackers a vivo smart HR and vivofit 2. I've compared the fit bits with the garmins with hr and with out + all my stats equal on all devices. What is really confusing to me is the great difference in the calories burned between the Fitbit devices and the garmins. The resting calories are the same but through out my day about 2000. I am on my feet pretty much and average about 20000 steps a day the Fitbit averages about 4000 calories a day which seems to good to be true and the garmins seem to be way to low between 2500 and 2800 calories. A difference of about 1500 a day. One extreme to the other. I'm forced not to believe either of them. Fitbit to good to be true and garmin no way I burned that few calories. How could there be such a difference on two different high quality brands?

[SantiR]

@Cirofee Welcome to the Fitbit Community! That's because each device have different algorithms that interpret data. One brand device will never be exactly the same as another one. To make your tracker more accurate I will recommend to adjust your stride length and the dominant hand setting (check last sections on that article). Another way to get accurate data is by manually logging an activity. Also, if you feel it is not tracking all the data, perform a restart. 

Try that and let me know how it goes! 

[Cirofee]

Thanks. I'll give it a try. By the way I'm wearing both today and steps and distance are pretty close but as far as calories, Fitbit 2650 garmin 1898 and still 9 more hours left in the day.

Sent from my iPhone

[DBlair]

I have a very similar issue. I recently upgraded from a Charge to a Surge and my calorie reading has increased by 25% for doing exactly the same output but wearing my Charge. How do I make changes to my Surge to be more accurate?

[VivisFitbit]

Welcome @DBlair and @Cirofee! As @SantiR mentioned different technologies will give different results. Remember that your calories will be different on trackers like Surge, Charge HR and Blaze, that count with heart rate monitor. If the difference is really big, I recommend contacting our Support friends. 

Hope this helps! 

[DBlair]

Hi fitbit. Are the Blaze, Surge and HR more or less accurate than other fitbit devices for calories burned?


Danny Blair
Franchise Manager

Moderator Edit: Removed Personal Information

[VivisFitbit]

Welcome @DBlair!  Thank you for your question. All Fitbit trackers that have the heart rate feature, use the PurePulse Technology. The LED lights on the back of your tracker, reflect into the skin and detect blood volume changes.  So if you have a Surge, Alta or Blaze, you should get the same readings. 

Good luck!