Fitbit flex inaccurate what to replace it with?
kirianna55
Posts: 459 Member
I got the fitbit flex for christmas and wore it for 2 days. On the 26th, I wore it from 5 pm to 9 pm and while playing tabletop games, it said I made 1600 steps. on the 27th, before getting out of bed and turning off sleep mode, it said I did 116 steps. The rest of the day I ended up "earning" 12000 steps. 4 hours of that was at a computer and it was counting steps with every small movement. Today just making and eating breakfast was 1600 steps. This is highly inaccurate and I turned down the settings last night but it is still way off base.
Is there something that I can get to replace the fitbit flex that would give me a better read on my steps and calorie burn? I have been looking into the fitbit charge hr but don't know if the software in the device has been fixed to make it more than a glorified pedometer.
Is there something that I can get to replace the fitbit flex that would give me a better read on my steps and calorie burn? I have been looking into the fitbit charge hr but don't know if the software in the device has been fixed to make it more than a glorified pedometer.
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I have contacted fitbit help but have not heard back. I tried to return the fitbit today but my in laws threw away the receipt so they have to return it and get the money put back on their card.0
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I don't know how accurate of an answer you'll get on here since this group seems to be endorsed by Fitbit. Personally, I wouldn't recommend purchasing another Fitbit. Despite the inaccuracies, mine died after only six months. People all over the internet complain about that happening and unfortunately I didn't listen. Their costumer service is terrible. If you are able to get your money back- go with the a different device. Good luck!0
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Thanks. I am looking.0
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If you wear your Flex on your nondominant hand (i.e. on your left hand if you're right-handed), change the setting to it being on the dominant hand. I had to do that as it was picking up too much movement while I was working and moving my hands.0
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I had it on my non dominant hand and set it to dominant hand to make it less sensitive but still got 1600 steps making breakfast and drinking my smoothie.0
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crazymommy5 wrote: »I don't know how accurate of an answer you'll get on here since this group seems to be endorsed by Fitbit. Personally, I wouldn't recommend purchasing another Fitbit. Despite the inaccuracies, mine died after only six months. People all over the internet complain about that happening and unfortunately I didn't listen. Their costumer service is terrible. If you are able to get your money back- go with the a different device. Good luck!
I have both a Fitbit Flex & a Jawbone UP24. They've each failed multiple times and been replaced by the manufacturer. After all, they're tiny computers I wear on my wrist 24/7. (I only take them off to charge.)
Fitbit's customer service is way better than Jawbone's. So much so that when people ask me to recommend an activity tracker, I tell them to buy a Fitbit.
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kirianna55 wrote: »I had it on my non dominant hand and set it to dominant hand to make it less sensitive but still got 1600 steps making breakfast and drinking my smoothie.
Contact Fitbit customer service again. Then straighten a paperclip and put your Flex in the charger & plug it into a USB. Find the tiny hole in the back of the charger, and stick the paperclip in there to reset your Flex.
Instructions: http://help.fitbit.com/articles/en_US/Help_article/How-do-I-restart-my-tracker0 -
I have reset it twice since getting it.0
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Thank you for all your comments, I was considering getting a fitbit and now I'm going to save my money for something else.0
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I love my fitbit had a zip for almost 2 yrs and customer service replaced it 3 times for me cuz I lost it, washed it, then got a defective one. I just upgraded to the charge hr off their limited release and while at first I was unsure if I'd keep it now Ive figured it out and it seems to take about a week to get to know your habits and become more accurate for me the calorie burn -500 consistently gives me a pound a week loss.
For me my initial reaso. For purchasing was motivation, I'm a numbers person and when u seen how little I moved I started moving a little more each day to were now on work days I'll hit 10k without exercise and on days I do exercise I can hit 16-20k. Love mine but I understand it may not be for everyone.0 -
You could try the FitBit One? I got the flex and returned it simply because it was so uncomfortable on my wrist, I'd never wear it. Plus I have to wear latex gloves at work all the time and it would force the glove open at the wrist and not cover it properly.
I swapped it for the One because it just clips onto your bra or pants/belt or in a pocket. It also counts stairs climbed (has an altimeter) that the flex doesn't have. I'm glad I got the One because a lot of people talk about the flex counting steps from using your hands.. typing, cooking etc. That would be terrible for me as at work I am using my hands constantly, waving them all around, pulling, pushing, doing little movements all the time and I type a fair bit at home (and I only use 2 fingers and move my hands more than a person who touch types lol)
As for people saying they fail... well I've only had mine a week so I can't comment, but they have a 1 year warranty. I don't expect it to last forever, it's pretty tiny and it gets used constantly. But I really don't have a problem if I had to buy one every year or 2 for 100 bucks. I'd say the battery is probably designed to last a year if the warranty is a year, but that's just my speculation. I've read stuff online about fitbits "dying", I would assume the battery dies and there's no way to just replace it yourself. Well, no approved way, I'm sure people try lol. But I wouldn't worry about what everyone else says about that stuff. I felt bad about my fitbit at first because I found the instructions on how to use it with my fitness pal a bit confusing. Upon searching for answers to my questions, I came across forums with people saying it NEVER syncs correctly, it NEVER counts their steps correctly, every aspect of the software on fitbit dashboard and MFP fail every day.. and I'm thinking geez what is the point. But I hooked everything up and I haven't had a single issue. It syncs to MFP immediately after I sync the fitbit or if it does it automatically. Anything I put on MFP with exercise shows up in fitbit dashboard immediately. My steps are very accurate. I counted 203 steps yesterday and the fitbit said 202. Then I did it again and it was one step above what I did, and then again it was spot on.0 -
I have found the customer service excellent and so has a friend of mine.0
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Try this. They sent this to me. Quote from an email.
1. Put on your Fitbit Flex and make sure your dominant/non-dominant hand setting is correct. (To find this setting, click the gear icon in the upper right corner of the screen and click Settings › Devices.)
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. Tap your Flex until it vibrates and displays two alternate lights blinking continuously.
4. Walk 100 steps, making sure to count a step each time one of your feet hits the ground.
5. Tap your Flex again until it vibrates and the lights move side to side. Your tracker will now be back in regular mode and will show your current activity goal. 6. After your tracker syncs, log into your dashboard and find the activity record (Log › Activity › Activity History) to verify whether the steps counted.
Fitbit trackers should be at least 95% accurate for step counting, which allows for a 5 step margin of error for every 100 steps. "
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You could try the FitBit One? I got the flex and returned it simply because it was so uncomfortable on my wrist, I'd never wear it. Plus I have to wear latex gloves at work all the time and it would force the glove open at the wrist and not cover it properly.
I swapped it for the One because it just clips onto your bra or pants/belt or in a pocket. It also counts stairs climbed (has an altimeter) that the flex doesn't have. I'm glad I got the One because a lot of people talk about the flex counting steps from using your hands.. typing, cooking etc. That would be terrible for me as at work I am using my hands constantly, waving them all around, pulling, pushing, doing little movements all the time and I type a fair bit at home (and I only use 2 fingers and move my hands more than a person who touch types lol)
As for people saying they fail... well I've only had mine a week so I can't comment, but they have a 1 year warranty. I don't expect it to last forever, it's pretty tiny and it gets used constantly. But I really don't have a problem if I had to buy one every year or 2 for 100 bucks. I'd say the battery is probably designed to last a year if the warranty is a year, but that's just my speculation. I've read stuff online about fitbits "dying", I would assume the battery dies and there's no way to just replace it yourself. Well, no approved way, I'm sure people try lol. But I wouldn't worry about what everyone else says about that stuff. I felt bad about my fitbit at first because I found the instructions on how to use it with my fitness pal a bit confusing. Upon searching for answers to my questions, I came across forums with people saying it NEVER syncs correctly, it NEVER counts their steps correctly, every aspect of the software on fitbit dashboard and MFP fail every day.. and I'm thinking geez what is the point. But I hooked everything up and I haven't had a single issue. It syncs to MFP immediately after I sync the fitbit or if it does it automatically. Anything I put on MFP with exercise shows up in fitbit dashboard immediately. My steps are very accurate. I counted 203 steps yesterday and the fitbit said 202. Then I did it again and it was one step above what I did, and then again it was spot on.
Hello, I am buying the One tomorrow. Can you tell me what is the best way to address my 30 minute walking workout? does the one track that becuase it is steps and adds that to my mfp or will I need to manually enter my walk?
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Hello, I am buying the One tomorrow. Can you tell me what is the best way to address my 30 minute walking workout? does the one track that becuase it is steps and adds that to my mfp or will I need to manually enter my walk?
Your walk is exactly the type of workout it's best at, along with slow running.
Your "steps" will not be "added" to MFP with anything to do with food.
If your walking happens to make you burn more for the whole day than MFP thought you'd burn, then that will become an adjustment on MFP under Exercise, and therefore increase your eating goal, which was based on NO exercise being expected until actually done.
Don't manually log your walk on MFP or Fitbit.
Do you even use the Exercise Diary log or reports for anything?
If you want friend's list to see you walked or did any exercise - just make a post about it with the details you want them to see.0
