FitBit Step Count Review

I tested the step counting accuracy of the FitBit Charge 3, FitBit Charge 2, Xiaomi Mi Band 3 and Spire Stone. Surprisingly, both the FitBits are by far the worst and the Xiaomi Mi Band 3 is the best!

Jump forward:
1:43 Results 10,000 steps test
5:33 Results walk test
6:23 Results activity test
8:14 Single day step graph

Your FitBit is bad at counting steps!
10.000 steps a day, that has become a goal for many of us, and tracking your steps is easier than ever. Now-a-days, Step counters, also called pedometers, are standard features of most smart-phones and wearables. However, as a user of several different step counters, I really started doubting their accuracy. At the end of the day, I often see big differences between the step counters I use. In this video I analyze the accuracy of several step counters, and see what they do right and wrong. In short, I find that all step counters are good at counting steps when you are actually walking, however, some step counters count many false steps when they are not supposed to.

“Bus” by i cons
“Car” by shashank singh
“dumbell” by Arif fauzi hakim
“Train” by Gergor Cresnar
“ergometer” by Falco Bosser
“Cycling” by Adrian Coquet
“Walking” by Irine Hoffman

[AleksiJoensuu]

My girlfriend's Fitbit Inspire HR congratulated her on a good swim after she was done drawing and cutting fabrics for some clothing she was making :D

[RichardWerbin]

I have a test suggestion.
I am 78 years old. When walking slowly the Charge 2 seems to count steps accurately.
But, the Versa 2 counts half the number of steps counted by the charge 2.
If I walk briskly, the steps counted by Versa 2 and Charge 2 are approximately the same.

Can you recruit and older, slow walker and test step count accuracy?

[gwerjio]

Amazing. Could you do the same with the latest trackers as of end of 2022 please? I also started testing a couple of bands after suspecting that my new Fitbit Charge 5 is overcounting steps but my calculations are nowhere near as sophisticated as yours. I also noticed that all the bands/trackers are very accurate when walking outdoors, but some overcounting when at home.

[jasonengel]

Does your phone track your activity too? It would be interesting to see if your phone was more accurate. My hypothesis being that because your phone has GPS it can calculate velocity etc. As I am an Android user I have noticed that google is pretty good at tracking my daily activities and knowing when I am taking a cycle and stopping off at a shop or park - even if it's only a very short stop. Thanks again for all these great videos! I only stumbled across you today but I've watched and thumbed them all :-) Cheers

[charlottelumley]

Really cool video! Just wondering whether when cycling/home training you were using the built in functions on Fitbit to register those exercises as cycling exercises & steps were counted regardless, or were the functions not used? Also you seem to be wearing the fitbits on different wrists - did you alternate wrists to account for having a dominant hand? Could explain why FBC3 counted so many more steps than FBC2 to some extent.

[StatesideBeast]

Fitbit Versa 2 - I walk 100 steps I will get 128-158. I take 8 steps to the bathroom and I get 174 steps... I have contacted support. I have reformatted 5 times! I think I'm done with Fitbit.

[cfrost]

My fitbit charge 3 usually counts a couple hundred steps while I'm sleeping. I guess I move around enough to make it think I'm walking. So my step count is probably overestimated by 300-500 steps a day, but I don't expect it to be perfect. As long as I can get a good estimate, I'm ok with that. I think trackers like these can be helpful in getting people to be more active. Mine even has a setting where you can have it remind you to move every hour, if you've been sitting and not gotten up to move around.

[MagisterVeritas]

Very nice work. Subscribed within the first two videos of yours I watched. Maybe also invest in some foot pods (Garmin has them for example) which you tie on your laces. I am curious if those track steps better. For example I have a Garmin Fenix 3HR and at some point I saw it tracking steps while riding the tram. Good luck!

[sidbrun_]

Could you do this test using different phones? Since almost everybody tracks their steps using their phone, would be interesting to see which are the most accurate.

[zapiekank]

I am considering switching from Fitbit to something else because, besides the fact that I've already had 2 replacements, steps and sleep seem to have gone mental. I'm still on Versa 1, first one died for no reason and the 2nd the screen popped out, again for no reason, no impact or anything causing it. Now on my 3rd Versa, sleep is all over the place, half of days of the week doesn't even pick it up and also it counts way too many steps. This week I bought an Amazfit GTS to try see if it's better. I've been wearing the two all day, one on each wrist, and at the time of writing this (10.30pm UK, also bear in mind I've not been on a proper walk because weather wasn't too pleasant) Amazfit has counted 7513 steps and Versa says 13805 steps. Yes, Versa was on my right wrist, so when I was cleaning the kitchen cupboards it counted steps. But 6000 steps from cleaning my kitchen is a tad much? Now, I don't know how accurate Amazfit is, but in my less than scientific opinion, Versa seems to most certainly be taking the piss here.
Thank you for your dedication, time and effort reviewing these bands! You're awesome!

[ChantelleDinkel]

Interesting content! Quite detailed tracking! Thank you! Did you by chance also keep track of floors and how accurate that was? I'm really interested in that as I like to hike and maybe will go on a long-distance multi-month hike and thought elevation gain would be interesting to keep track of, not just steps, though that's interesting as well. :)

[AleksiJoensuu]

Probably most Fitbit owners will have had one of those days when you haven't gotten outside of your apartment and your Fitbit is showing hundreds of steps. Where the heck did I walk to? :D

[hectornonayurbusiness]

Why is this a problem? When you are on your trainer or cycling you are still active. I would think they are equivalent to steps.

[georgev.]

Do you have data about the battery duration?
Great video thanks.

[yozy]

Excellent Job...Thank you for sharing your time and effort..

[TracyHill-fi]

My Fitbit Versa calculates when I am driving it is soo annoying any advice please?

[Dftne]

Yep... Switched to garmin, and found out.. All the 10k's before with fit bit were sweet little lies.

[retrieverlover]

So helpful because I bike a lot (outside when the weather is nice; and now inside because it's horrible!) and my steps are way off (I have a Charge 2; glad I didn't get the 3 now!). Not sure how to resolve this other than taking it off or guesstimating how many extra steps I am getting per 10 minutes of riding. It is really frustrating because steps and cycling (mileage) are both important to me and I have my Fitbit synced with My Fitness Pal app (I have been inputting cycle data manually which means I have basically doubled up the activity) and Map My Ride app (outdoors only obviously). UGH! If you have a different suggestion for maintaining some level of accuracy other than trying to remember to take it off when I ride, I would love to hear it! 😊 Thank you for this video. Super interesting and you took a lot of time to do all this!

[aprilsmiley]

My issue with my fitbit versa is, I go to bed at night with the steps accurate, but in the morning, it shows that I have like 31, 000 steps or this morning it's showing 21, 000 steps. I try to resend and resend and it doesn't fix it until usually the next day

[monideun]

Would be cool to see how a phone's step counter works in comparison!