My Surge under counting my steps

[Sheldon1682004]

I have been using my Surge (it is a Christmas gift) for more than 10 days.  Unfortunately it has not been able to count my steps right, not a single time.  For example, yesterday I walked 20.89 km.  Surge gave a correct path track (GPS was on), and diatance calcualtion (I also used another device to track).  But it only counted 19,271 steps.  it is no way I can walk more than 1 meter per step for over 3 hours.  When I check my log in Fitbit.com, my Surge has under counted my steps about 20% (although I set 80 cm as my stride length in my Surge ) on every walking exercise.  I guess it must be a hardware issue, isn't it? 

[Sheldon1682004]

I walk almost everyday for years so I know my walking pace pretty well.  I have been using several different types of devices.  When displaying my steps over a time period, all other device will show a pretty even bar chart unless I am stopped for traffic lights or tieing my shoeses.  But Surge have been giving me up and down bar charts in my Fitbit account, for every of my walk exercises.  I am confused. 

[AndreaFitbit]

Hey hey hey, thanks for stopping by @Sheldon1682004 . Mmm that amount of steps doesn't look right. How are you walking (fast or with a normal pace)? Do you stop when you are walking? Have you set your stride length according to our website?

Keep me posted.

[Sheldon1682004]

Thank you for replying.

Yes, I had set stride length (80 com).  I also tried to wear my Surge in different way (face out or face in, left hand or right hand) but no help.  It just doesn't count the steps right.

From the step chart in activity log, I can see the steps counts varies from every 5 minutes interval.  That is not right, it should be consistently "smooth" if one walks in a consistent pace.

I guess I walked a bit faster than normal people - about 6 km per hour.  I don't stop during my walking.  In another thread I saw several people have the same issue.

[AndreaFitbit]

Thanks for getting back to us and for your feedback @Sheldon1682004. Could you please try to restart your device and let me know if it changes the way your Surge counts your steps? 

Keep me posted.

[Sheldon1682004]

Hi Andrea, I will do as you suggested tomorrow morning.

Here is a actvitiy log screen snapshot of my walk this morning.

[Mrs-C]

Hi, I got my fitbit as a Xmas present and have not really taken it off since I got it.

I am getting very disheartened however as it just not correct 😞

I have tried all of suggested tips i.e. Calculated my stride length to be 69cm (measured that twice and yes I am 5 foot nothing), changed dominant hands, and restarted the fitbit.

For example i walked 9km the other day and it only gave me 6390 steps

A 5.72km walk = 4137 steps

Just back from another walk and I did a 6.2km walk and I earned 5062 steps

I am a fast walker I think (6km an hour) and when I do have to stop at lights I pause the device etc

I have lost two challenges since Xmas and that is getting annoying as I know I am doing a heap more than them.  I know its not all about that but I going to stop doing challenges because it kind of seems pointless!!?

[bbarrera]

Have you tried a step test, where you walk 100 or 1000 steps and verify the Surge is accurate.

Your Surge counts steps, and if in GPS mode it also calculates distance using GPS. Everything else is an estimate (including heart rate).

Stride is only used to estimate distance when GPS tracking is off.

[djekov]

I guess its not a hardware issue. The processing power of the Surge does not seem good enough, though. I think it is a software problem. I was experiencing the exact same issue. And the undercoundting percentage you mentioned (20%) was almost the same for me. I was able to resolve this issue by switching the clock face from Flare to Digital. Yes, that sounds ridiculous but it worked. I guess the Surge needs extra computational power to calculate the bars lenghts and draw them on the clock face and on the heart rate screen too. And it has to do it every single minute. So I guess it might be dropping some steps while the CPU is busy with the presentation logic. They need to work on improving the accuracy with the Flare clock face. Hope this helps.

[Sheldon1682004]

Hi Andrea, I did reset my Surge as you suggested but it still the same - under counting steps.  Please see the activity chart snapshot I just taken.  What else should I do?  Please advise.  Thanks.

[Sheldon1682004]

Hi djekov, thank you for the advise.  However, it won't help fix my my Surge issue because it has been in digital display all the time.  Lucky you. 

[Sheldon1682004]

bbarrera, yes I did my step test.  Several times on a standard 400 metres track.  So I am pretty sure my stride length is about 80cm per step. 

[Sheldon1682004]

Mrs-C, truly it is totally unacceptable for a product with a price tag over $200 yet can’t count steps right (plus/minus 5% would be ok but definitely not 20%).  Years ago even a freebie pedometer distributed in conferences/shows could count steps fairly accurate.  I can’t believe Fitbit’s top line product can do this basic function right.  Hopefully my case is just an extremely unlucky one.  Meanwhile I am going to contact customer service for a replacement see if it is merely a hardware defect.

[djekov]

Do you wave your hands when you walk? I found myself waving my hands vigorously thinking this would help my Surge catch up and stop undercounting. However this turned out to be interfering with Surge's step counting and my device tracked almost 50% less steps. Here's what I'd suggest, hard reset your tracker. Turn off all the extra crap such as Bluetooth classic, notifications, automatic backlight and so on. Leave it to the digital clock face and try walking 500 steps without stopping. Be cautious not to wave your hands vigorously. Just walk and try forgetting about your fitbit. Of course, count your steps yourself. With my Surge it cited exactly 500 steps, not more, not less. Looks like the extra stuff they put into the Surge to make it closer to a smart watch prevents it from doing it's main task, count steps.

[Sheldon1682004]

I will try that when winter storm Jonas is over.  But, it is a $250 range device...

[AndreaFitbit]

Thank you for your screen shots and for troubleshooting your Surge issue. Could you please try @djekov´s advise and if it still doesn't work, contact Support.  

Welcome to the Community @Mrs-C. Please follow this advise and let me know how it goes?

Thanks for joining us @djekov and for your great advise.

Keep me posted.

[Mrs-C]

Thank you everybody for the advice.  I will try @djekov advice as it seems very good.  However after a bit of reading other discussions there seem to be a lot of very unhappy Surge customers.  My friend has the Charge HR and that appears to be accurate she said.  I will change my clock settings and turn off everything else and see what happens and head out for a walk during lunch later on.... 🙂

[Mrs-C]

Hi me again, tried all of the advice and still not counting correctly.  Did a smaller walk today due to the rain and I walked 4.7km and only achieved 3399 steps.  Really over this product now, and feel bad for my husband who spent the money on it!  Wonder if the new blaze is as bad, perhaps i could trade up and pay the difference??

[Sheldon1682004]

Sidewalks are still coved with snow in my area so I have not had a chance to have a relatively long walk yet.  May test it tomorrow lunch time. 

[AndreaFitbit]

Thank you for troubleshooting this issue with us @Mrs-C. I would recommend to contact Support. They will take good care of you. 

@Sheldon1682004 let me know how it goes.

Thanks for stopping by.