Do you trust your Fitbit?

I bought a FitBit Charge in December and really don't think it's accurate at all. The HR is never even close when I am exercising. For example, I was Kickboxing and it said I was at 92 BPM. My heart monitor said I was at 140.

I've had a Fitbit (first the Force, and now the Surge) for years. I have learned much about them, and think I can give an informed answer to your question.

First, understand that the Fitbit is a tool, and it has limitations like any other tool. I found that the Force (which did not have a heart rate monitor) did a decent job of estimating my calories burned. My Surge overestimates my daily calories burned by 1000-1500. For example, on March 11 I had 19,000 steps (walking), didn't lift weights, and Fitbit estimated I burned 3974 calories. I'm a 5'7 male and I weigh 160 pounds; my BMR is about 1600 calories per day. To say I burned ~2400 calories from walking that much is ludicrous. That's supposedly 125 calories per 1000 steps. No way. Probably more like 50 calories per 1k steps, which would mean I burned about 2500 calories TOTAL that day, 1500 less than what Fitbit reported.

It's staggering how wrong it is in that regard, well outside the tolerance of +/- 10% that Fitbit says I should allow. So, I have to ignore it.

It's great for step counting, GPS tracking a hike or whatever, showing floors climbed, and other metrics. But calories burned are just plain bad, and I blame the HR monitor. Either the HR monitor doesn't accurately capture my HR, or there's a screw-up in the function that converts heart beats to calories.

I can look past this and determine my calories burned in other ways, but if I do decide I want a different Fitbit some day I'd probably get one without HR.

No, my husband threw it in the trash 3 years ago now.

Mine seems to be pretty accurate although it has a hard time with non step-based activity. As a result, it tends to underestimate my calories burned on days I do aerial silks or pole fitness.

My charge HR has been accurate in step counts. I had trouble at first until I did the stride test. I also had doubts about the heart rate/calorie burns. Pushing up the band about an inch on my arm during walking workouts has helped alot. I also start/stop the timer whenever I am seriously walking as this gives me the steps, HR and calories for that time only. Pretty cool to see on the fitbit graph too. Honestly, I have found mine to be very accurate but it also doesn't give me crazy numbers that others have been seeing.

itsthehumidity wrote: »

I've had a Fitbit (first the Force, and now the Surge) for years. I have learned much about them, and think I can give an informed answer to your question.

First, understand that the Fitbit is a tool, and it has limitations like any other tool. I found that the Force (which did not have a heart rate monitor) did a decent job of estimating my calories burned. My Surge overestimates my daily calories burned by 1000-1500. For example, on March 11 I had 19,000 steps (walking), didn't lift weights, and Fitbit estimated I burned 3974 calories. I'm a 5'7 male and I weigh 160 pounds; my BMR is about 1600 calories per day. To say I burned ~2400 calories from walking that much is ludicrous. That's supposedly 125 calories per 1000 steps. No way. Probably more like 50 calories per 1k steps, which would mean I burned about 2500 calories TOTAL that day, 1500 less than what Fitbit reported.

It's staggering how wrong it is in that regard, well outside the tolerance of +/- 10% that Fitbit says I should allow. So, I have to ignore it.

It's great for step counting, GPS tracking a hike or whatever, showing floors climbed, and other metrics. But calories burned are just plain bad, and I blame the HR monitor. Either the HR monitor doesn't accurately capture my HR, or there's a screw-up in the function that converts heart beats to calories.

I can look past this and determine my calories burned in other ways, but if I do decide I want a different Fitbit some day I'd probably get one without HR.

I just love the challenges. Just like the situation above yesterday I mostly walked. For 21k steps I got a fitburn burn of about 3100. I also wear a Garmin and I got a total burn of about 2300 for the same activities and approximate steps. It works great for some people. I guess the key is are you losing weight or maintaining? Then trust it. If you are not, then dont.

Mine has nver been accurate. It says my hr is always around 70ish, but I have tachycardia and my normal resting hr is 130 lol

veliia wrote: »

I've only walked 356 steps today , according to mine wrist band i've burned 868 calories. There's no way that's possible. However once I connect it to my app it tells me my active calories are 7 which sounds more reasonable.....i have a different brand tho.

what is showing on your wrist probably includes what you burn by just breathing. the active calories are probably over and above that.

I don't really trust the calorie burn it gives me, particularly if I'm doing a lot of intentional exercise. I have looked at MET calculations for various types of exercises (especially walking), and it seems like my Fitbit overestimates my exercise intensity fairly often.

I have the One (had a Flex before that) and have found it to be accurate. I was skeptical at first because the numbers seemed high, but I don't gain weight when I eat as much as it tells me to eat.

I think it's different for every person and there's some trial and error involved in seeing how well it works for you. I've found the burn it gives me to be really accurate. The math has been adding up almost exactly when I eat back 75-100% of my fitbit calories. It adds about a 1000 for me each day.

I'm currently 245 pounds and 6'4''. I'm a 32 YO male and I walk about five miles a day (12,00-15,000 steps)

I threw my fitbit chargehr in the trash it was so inaccurate in mt step counts, it was off by 5000 steps a day from my previous pedometer Polar loop. It said I climbed 57 flights of stairs when I only walked 2 miles on a windy day save your money.

veliia wrote: »

I've only walked 356 steps today , according to mine wrist band i've burned 868 calories. There's no way that's possible. However once I connect it to my app it tells me my active calories are 7 which sounds more reasonable.....i have a different brand tho.

@veliia - That calorie burn includes your BMR. So it's BMR (from midnight to time you looked at it) + steps = 868 cal

Azercord wrote: »

There might be a setting mix up in there somewhere. I'm new to the fitbit realm as I just got a Blaze but even on my heavy burn days (10 mile + run with yoga in the evening) I don't seen adjustments much above the 500 mark. I've seen a few other people complain about fitbit making outrageous adjustments but I haven't heard of a specific issue causing it.

@Azercord
What's your activity level set to on MFP?

Large adjustments typically mean someone has their activity level set to low.
Mine is set to lightly active and my adjustments start getting close to 1000 when I'm in the 18k - 22k step range.

I just started to use my blaze, but my previous Fitbit trackers (flex and surge) were extremely accurate, as long as I logged my non step exercises separately. The NEAT calories tended to be spot on, in that I consistently gained or lost within 10% or so of what was predicted based on my calorie balance.