Endomondo showing a different distance than Fitbit Force. Anyone else?

[KNDavins]

So, I went on a long walk with my husband today. I tracked the walk with Endomondo on my Android App. and it calculated that I walked 4.79 miles in 1:20:46 minutes. When I got home, I noticed that after syncing, my Fitbit Force only shows that I have completed 3.22 miles of my 5 mile daily goal. Endomondo and Fitbit Force are synced with eachother AND NO OTHER APPLICATIONS (as my researched showed was the best way to get accurate readouts.) Why is this happening? 

[StephanieFitbit]

Hi @KNDavins - Thanks for joining the Fitbit Community! I noticed that you don't have a reply yet, so I decided to go ahead and help you with your distance inquiry. 

Your Fitbit Force calculates your distance by multiplying your walking steps and walking stride length. Similarly, your running steps are multiplied by your running stride length. And this will not necessarily match a pre-measured distance, nor will it show exactly what a GPS device will show like the one Endomondo uses.

Since your Fitbit Force implements a 3-axis accelerometer to measure your motion in any way that you move it will make its activity measurements more precise than older, single-axis pedometers and GPS default settings. 

[Starkman78]

Ok, that doesn't make sense. You're saying that the motion sensing from the Fitbit Flex calculates distance MORE accurately than GPS? I find that hard to believe and I would say that the proof is in the pudding. I walk or run almost every day and use Endomondo or Motoactv to track my distances (among other things). I also participate in 5K and 10K races in which the set distances are clearly confirmed and the GPS calculations from both of these programs are a pretty close match with those mileages. The Fitbit distance is way under. Today (my active "rest" day), for instance, after having been up and mobile for a few hours, I set off for a brisk 4 mile walk in order to get my steps completed and take it easy for the rest of the day. Having gotten a start with household activities, by the time my walk was over, I had covered a distance of at least 5 miles. My Fitbit activity log had only counted 3.1. That is an unacceptable margin of error and it is frustrating. I don't mind putting in a little more activity to compensate for a slight underestimation. I am a little less enthusiastic about needing an additional 2 miles to make up for Fitbit's shortcomings. If a GPS calculated distance comes in from a 3rd party activity tracker like Endomondo, that distance should override the distance calculated by a simple motion sensor.

[StephanieFitbit]

@Starkman78 Thanks for your observation. It will depend on what you would like to monitor. Your Flex is a step based tracker, so you can get an accurate estimation of your step count. If you want to track distance and see it on a gps/map, you can use a third party app or now with the MobileRun feature for iOS. These type of activities override your tracker's data with pre-measured distance, steps, calories and active minutes. 

If you what to, you can check your Flex's accuracy with a step test. To do so:

1. Put your Fitbit on your wristband.
2. Pause for several moments. (We want to make sure that the mounting of the tracker is not affecting your step count. Pausing should prevent this).
3. Walk 100 steps, making sure to count a step each time one of your feet hits the ground).
4. Pause, sync and then check your tracker to see your step count. Your Flex should be at least 95% accurate for step counting, which allows for a 5 step margin of error for every 100 steps.

And I wanted to know where are you wearing your Flex? Is it on your non-dominant hand or on your dominant hand? You have to use it on the same hand that your settings have. So you don't get a discrepancy between your steps. Perhaps this may be the reason why you see a difference.

Changing this setting to "Dominant" will decrease sensitivity of step counting and should reduce over counting of steps when your body is not moving. Using the "Non Dominant" setting will increase the sensitivity of step counting. Let me know if you have another question.

[KNDavins]

My Fitbit Force broke this summer so I traded it in for the Flex since I was still under warranty. I've had the Flex for about a month now and I LOVE IT! It seems to be more accurate with my step counts and I actually enjoy the simplicity of it. My battery goes longer in between charges, I don't have to "scroll" through the different goals (steps, stairs, active minutes, alarm...) to figure out how I'm doing. I find myself less frustrated and more motivated to get out and move because I feel like it's actually calculating what I'm doing. I'm a happy girl now that I found a Fitbit that works for me 🙂

[Starkman78]

I wear my Fitbit on my non-dominant hand as per my settings and I always have. And I have also always used a third party app (Endomondo) for logging my workouts. Endomondo does override calories and active minutes but apparently not miles. On the morning in question, my activity log clearly listed that a 4 mile walking workout had been automatically uploaded from Endomondo while still showing that I had only moved a total of 3.1 miles since having woken up. Considering the other elements that Endomondo overrides, this seems to be a function of design and your previous response seemed to indicate that Fitbit considers its motion tracking technology to be superior to GPS in determining distance. I do love my Fitbit and the Fitbit database, but on that I would have to say that Fitbit is wrong. And since data precision during workouts is the reason that users partake of Fitbit's affiliated third party apps, it seems odd that it would allow some of the information to override while discarding the rest.

[StephanieFitbit]

@Starkman78 Thanks for adding those details. Is it with all your activities? Your Fitbit should sync your Endomondo's distance too. However, they have a special option: workout with no route (when the workout doesn't have a route like yoga or if you just went to the gym). For them it really makes no sense to use the GPS tracking during this activity, so this may be the reason why you don't see their distance in your Fitbit account. You can read more here: Endomondo workout.

And I apologize if the comparison wasn't equitable. Both track different objectives: steps / distance. That's why they complement each other, and extend your tracking experience! 

[Anupamck]

Unbelievable! It's 2020 and I have the same issues with my fitbit Charge 3, which routinely underestimates my distance and pace when compared to Endomondo.