Fitbit flex vs. MapMyWalk

ScottH_200

I walked a few miles this morning. I used both my Fitbit flex wristband and MapMyWalk app on my cell phone.

I compared the readings at the conclusion of the walk and Fitbit calculated me walking over 10% farther than MapMyWalk. One of them is incorrect.

I suspect it's a little of both...

suremeansyes

Have you set your stride on the Fitbit? That might account for the difference. I found MapMyWalk/Run to be fairly accurate.

nentecular

I find it the opposite. All the tracking programs I've used (MapMyWalk, Endomondo, Runkeeper, etc) show a greater distance then my FitBit.

I don't really care though, the important thing to me is the number of steps.

Regarding calories burned, Runkeeper is closest to the number reported by FitBit and both are pretty similar to an online calculator which takes into account distance, time and incline. I feed in the distance figure reported by the app and check the calorie burn given by all three and they're generally within 100 of each other.

jonathandavid_t

Mapmywalk will give a correct distance if your phone has a decent GPS signal.

Fitbit has to guess the distance based on either guessed or user-inputted step length multiplied by counted number of steps.

If you set your stride length on Fitbit it will be more accurate, but it still has to assume that each step is the same length.

I use GPS-tracked stuff for "proper" exercise (running, decent length walks) and Fitbit to keep count of steps around work, the house, etc.

ScottH_200

I have Verizon service with 4GLTE service and a great GPS.

My stride settings on my fitbit are set at 30" per stride, at 6' tall and long legs I think that's pretty accurate. I tend to think MapMyWalk is off. When I look at the fly over feature of my walks, it shows me walking though buildings, in the middle of the road, etc.

I'm not stressed over it. Just realizing that all this technology we use to measure ourselves has it's limitations.

jonathandavid_t

Maybe it's worth manually creating a route on mapmywalk of a route you've walked, to see what it calculates as -- that would (presumably) be the most accurate, assuming you can plot your route reasonably accurately.