FitBit inaccuracy

[Crolla]

I was given a fitbit alta HR for Christmas and it's been a great motivator as I'd slacked off during the winter months. Alongside my iPhone, it was a good indicator of how far I'd run. It doesn't use GPS so the distances recorded never tallied exactly, but it was reasonably close. However since mid-May, it's been wildly inaccurate, dropping distance every time I've run. After one particular run I decided to download Runkeeper last week, and on Monday that had me running 5.5k, Phone was 5.4k and fitbit was 3.5k!

On Tuesday I reset the fitbit, and although I didn't run again until Friday (due to an ankle niggle) it appeared to be accurate once more and the step count was in line with my phone. But yesterday's run sent it skewy again and it calculated me running at barely 3k over 30 minutes, when I'd actually run 4.8k according to the other apps.

Any ideas as to why it's not functioning well? And any ideas how to fix it?

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

They do have a poor reputation for accuracy.........

[Crolla in reply to IannodaTruffe]

That's a shame. It was pretty accurate for five months, but it's only since I've got faster and been cracking the 5k, that it's given up on me.

[IannodaTruffe Mentor in reply to Crolla]

I've never used one, so can only comment from the general reputation rather than personal experience.

They do need to be calibrated to your stride length, I believe.

[2718281 Graduate]

Hi Corolla, I would first check that the step count is correct. They usually tend to count more steps so having a low count would be strange. If the step count is incorrect there is not much you can do, make sure you have selected the right wrist (dominant/non dominant) as it is less sensitive in the dominant one. Finally, if the steps count is correct, you have to calibrate the stride. This setting is in the advanced settings of the app (not the tracker) is done automatically if you have a gps-enabled tracker and used it with your phone, otherwise you will need to calculate your average stride and add it manually.

[Crolla in reply to 2718281]

Thank you. I don't think the step count is correct either. At least, it's not now and started playing up two weeks ago. Last time my fitbit and phone were more or less in tune was May 14th. I have set the wrist correctly, but it's calculated the stride length based on my height, so I will try and sort that out. The other thing I've done is updated the app on the phone as it prompted me to do that, so I'll see if that makes a difference when I run tomorrow. Thank you.