Stair count is completely inaccurate

[Frangellica]

I am brand new to Fitbit, got my first Ionic on Tuesday (11th Sept)

I'm still not 100% sold on this product, and one thing that is really getting on my nerves is the stair count.

I wear my fitbit on my dominant hand. I put it on every morning, in my bedroom, upstairs (I don't shower with it)

I go down stairs, leave to go to work. I work on a mezzanine floor, so I go up the stairs to my office. I then go down a different staircase to the toilets and back up to the office about 5 times a day (10 stairs climbed)

When I get home at the end of the day and check my stair count, it's counted between 1-3 stairs climbed.

I've read that the stairs have to be 10ft elevation, I work in a big factory and I'm pretty sure it's higher than 10 feet. So... 3 different flight of stairs and it's only recording a couple of climbs.

The only thing I can think of is that I do run down stairs and run back up 2 steps a time. I can't imagine this would have any effect if it's done on height.

Anyone else having this problem?

[SunsetRunner]

I got up at 4 and went downstairs to the bathroom.

zero steps and zero stairs!

It does it when I am trying to be quiet!

My Charge 2 did exactly the same

[MissMT]

Hey, what I figured is that it don't count stairs. More like floors.

I live in Sweden and we have like one stair then a platform then another stair. That equals a floor.

Or if you are out and walking or biking in a big uphill then you get stairs/floors counted. But not when you go down.

[Ericws]

It counts steps when you go downstairs, but you only get credit for flights of stairs when you go upstairs. And my Ionic stair floor count is very accurate.

When outside and not stair climbing, I think there is an in-watch calculation based on elevation changes.  I ran 4 miles today, and there was an overall elevation climb of about 207 feet.  Counting that and my daily activities, I have climbed 32 flights of stairs today.  Seems right.

[SunsetRunner]

I had 147 flights on my last bike ride, so it is all on the altitude I guess.

[russmbrown]

I just purchased my Ionic last week, after 4 years with a Surge.  (Yes, I replaced the band 4 times on the Surge).  My Ionic is also not properly counting floors climbed.  I live in a two story home, I put on my Ionic after I get up in the morning.  I've been down to the kitchen and back up 4 times today (4 down, 4 up), floors are about 10 feet.  14 steps...  just over 7" pitch.   I'm going to monitor for a few days....

I really hoped FitBit had 'got it right' this time after the Surge fiasco.....  but looking at this forum, I am beginning to think I did the right thing buying an extended warranty!

[Frangellica]

It would make sense that it might only count the climb up, though I do think that should be explained. However I still don’t think I have enough counts. By my thoughts I should have around 6 a day, and I’m still getting 2 or 3. Also I think it’s strange if it is by altitude, that sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn’t register the same flight of stairs.

I will monitor this theory over the next couple of days. 

[Ericws]

How many stair flights did you get on the Ionic if you went up 4 and down 4?  You should have 4- because it only counts flights up.

[ColinWalking · Accepted solution]

I wear an Ionic as a regular watch. Went upstairs before midnight.

Went downstairs and back up a couple times in the morning.

*Drove* uphill to gym

*Drove* for coffee and back home past gym (highest point of the three)

Got home hopped out the car for a post gym GPS run - 16 floors before I got 10 feet from the car!

Whats up with that?

[Ericws]

I climbed 8 flights of stairs today.  My Ionic says I climbed 8 flights.  

[Frangellica]

That is crazy! 

So yesterday I climbed up 8 stairs, calculated 6. 

This morning, exactly the same routine as normal, have only climbed stairs to get to office. Ionic has calculated as 6. 

Looks like it works for some and completely out for others. I can’t see there being a resolution to this. So when I’m under count, I’ll jusg have to run up and down the stairs a few times to make up for it. Which isn’t nessesarily a bad thing, but still, I expected more from a £250 bit of gear. 

[russmbrown]

EricWS - LOL...  I suppose I should have posted that bit of info - it counted one.  So One counted, not Four actually walked / climbed / descended.

Again today:  I was still up at midnight, when the stats reset to zero.  Made one round trip to get a beverage,counted one.  This morning, I've just been downstairs and back up twice, - showing two where it should be three. 

[MarreFitbit]

Hello everyone, hope you're doing great! Thanks for taking the time to test your Fitbit Ionic for the stair and step counting, nice way to go! 

As you may know my friend, Fitbit trackers that count floors have an altimeter sensor that can detect when you're going up or down in elevation. Your tracker registers one floor when you climb about ten feet at one time. It does not register floors when you go down. So I would like to take that into consideration at the moment to verify the amount of floors that your Fitbit has tracked. 

10 feet is an average between residential and commercial floor heights. If the floors you're climbing are shorter than 10 feet, you may find that the Fitbit tracker's floor count doesn't exactly match how many floors you've gone up. For example, if you climb 3 floors that are 8 feet tall (for a total gain of 24 feet), then the Fitbit tracker might only tell you 2 floors because it assumes that each floor is 10 feet tall and this is what happens to my at my granny's home. 

Another cause of inaccurate floors is moisture. Have you checked that already? For example, the pathway to the altimeter on the back of your tracker can become clogged temporarily with sweat. 

And keep in mind that Fitbit trackers do not count elevation gains on a StairMaster, inclined treadmill, or other stationary exercise equipment because your body does not change in elevation by 10 feet. Plus, make sure your're not holding onto the handrail with your Fitbit arm. If the tracker doesn't see that your walking, no stairs will be rewarded.

On the other hand, if your tracker is counting too many floors, here are some of the possible causes for the inaccuracy:

• The tracker may track floors while driving, on an elevator or in an escalator
• Due to the Charge 2 is a wristband tracker, it may track floors while opening doors, from a weather change, or from a gust of wind (i.e.  pressure changes)

Occasionally your tracker may detect pressure changes unrelated to elevation gains, such as a gust of wind, weather change, or opening a door. Exposure to excess moisture can also result in extra floors being counted. This happens if the pathway to the altimeter on the back of your tracker becomes temporarily blocked with sweat or water. I recommend that your tracker be worn loosely during exercise. 

I haven't experienced this before, I'd recommend checking what I posted above to see if something listed there is causing the discrepancy.

For the step count accuracy, I'd recommend taking a look at this post of mine. 

Give this a go and let me know the outcome! 

[jwebb72]

Check out Desfit on Youtube, he just compared different Garmins, a Samsung, and an Apple watch on 10 flights of stairs. They ranged from 5 floors to 11 floors. Inaccurate floor counting is just the nature of the beast, not exclusive to Fitbit.

[SalmanShami]

My Ionic is perfectly accurate. Each time I climb a floor it counts it. Its possible different floor heights might confuse it. E.g different buildings might have higher ceilings so to get to the next level might take more steps. This might confuse things.

[MarreFitbit]

Thanks for jumping in here @jwebb72. If your watch is not counting your floors accurately, please take into consideration what my friend @SalmanShami shared here and what I provided in my post above. 

Hey there @SalmanShami, it's nice to see you around! I'm glad to hear that your Ionic is perfectly accurate, it seems that you've been having such a great time and experience with your buddy. So happy to read this! 

I'll be around if you need further assistance! 

[SunsetRunner]

My 1-year old Fitbit Ionic lately has been totally out of whack with stair count and is also messing "elevation gain" when biking. Very frustrating. How do I fix this? Have done factory resets twice in July and does not help. Today, for example,  before I ever climbed one flight of stairs, already had 10. Ended the day with 79 floors. This is RIDICULOUS.  

[russmbrown]

I've completely given up on my FitBit products - had a Surge, then an Ionic.  Each lasted just over a year before total failure.   Floor count only the start of the inaccuracies.   Once one sensor starts to fail as yours has, pretty quickly everything fails.    Very happy with my Samsung Galaxy Watch 2....  it even acts as a phone!

[SunsetRunner]

Thank you for replying.....throwing away this piece of junk. You gave me the push I needed and just purchased an Apple 5. At least I can sell it in a couple of years and upgrade. This is my 2nd Ionic (1st one replaced by warranty) in 2 years. Good looking watch, works well for a while, but terrible quality.