Testing Fitness Trackers For Accuracy Of Steps, Calories Burned | TODAY
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- Опубликовано: 20 сен 2016
- Our “Cutting the Fat TODAY” series continues with a Rossen Reports investigation putting popular fitness-tracking apps and devices to the test. TODAY national investigative correspondent Jeff Rossen steps up to the challenge of gauging their accuracy.
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Testing Fitness Trackers For Accuracy Of Steps, Calories Burned | TODAY
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Wow. The inaccuracy pisses me off
G U it’s difficult for devices to have 100 % accuracy
he had to use the fitness bands on the left hand not the right one
youd have to be a fool to think they would be 100%
I just divide the calories burned by 2
@@sebastiantorrisi1994 It doesn't matter if you're a righty you wear a watch on your left if you're a lefty you wear them on your right hand.
I have the Motivation. I just want accuracy.
You don't need it
Javier Jaime some people do🤦🏼♂️
@@Supdarg2 are you a dog?
Javier Jaime wtf are you talking about? No, some people just like to keep accurate tabs on their exercises, calories etc... what’s so hard to understand about that?
@@javierjaime9386 you so stupid
The accuracy improves when you plug or change the advanced settings like height, weight, and your stride. You can't just have the devices set to zero aka autopilot.
They're pure garbage, kid. People like you need to come to terms with it.
@@mariopellegrino7661 I dropped 85lbs with mine so what’s up
@@rambeezy doesn't mean you give it all the credit lmao
@@_454_if it was a motivation element for him….good enough
3036 steps vs 3140 is only ~4% difference. What are you talking about, that's extremely close.
for me accuracy doesnt really matter....i am at around 3.5K steps daily right now which i know is definitely an inactive lifestyle.....i aim to take it to atleast 8-9K...who cares if the accuracy is off by 500 steps? the goal is to improve your health.
They were off by a little but honestly, 100 steps + - and 40ish calories difference don't really matter.
Mary Smith exactly
True, but over the course of a day that inaccuracy will become exponential, leading to inaccuracies of hundreds or even thousands of calories.
I got my Fitbit as a christmas gift and I was very happy because I wanted to see how many calories I burn a day and to lose 1pound a week by eating 500 calories less a day and exercise. I was uber dedicated and didnt let myself down by the number on the scale and I haven't lose anything after a month. I realized that the reason is that it was far from accurate. I calculated my TDEE and it was less than what it showed me on the watch with 200 up to 500 calories. I started eating according to my TDEE-500 calories and finally managed to lose 1 pound a week. It was very disappointing because now I use it as a normal watch that I need to charge every 3 to 4 days
40ish calorie difference is massive for 500 steps... That can lead people to seriously under exercise or over eat.
u are a moron,even 10kcal is too much if you are 8% body fat and need to have everything perfect...
But if the inaccuracy is consistent... it's still usable. Let's say every day you walk 5000 steps but the tracker says 6000, well you know if you step more or less the next day you still have a base to compare from
If it was consistent, the companies would have calibrated it.
I think the treadmill test only assume additional calories burnt from the walk as opposed to the background calorie burn, since the fitness trackers calculate your background metabolism using your heart rate?
Adam Renshaw thats true! Plus hes walking faster in off the treadmill.
And your current weight
The height it sits on the wrist affects the "swing" distance, could account for the differences.
Not saying they are "gods gift to mankind" or anything, but anything but lab equipment is sure to have some inaccuracy.
Treadmill + breathing apparatus + heart rate monitor used in this clip? im guessing around a cost of 10k+ usd.
The "watches" all together? 1k?
You get what you pay for.
Personally im fairly happy with my Ionic, Been using the calori burner calculator, registering all my foods and drinks.
Balanced out my diet and lost 8 kilos in 9 weeks.
I find them accurate enough.
They do not need to be accurate, as long as they are consistent in their approximated statistics compared to intakes and activities, it will help one to plan ones calories in vs out.
And yes, you can do the pen and paper thing, but that takes more time, i prefer to make a one time payment to save time i can use for other things.
Alrightthenlad only go with Fitbit or Apple Watch. The other companies are scams. They did testing for those ones and they are pretty accurate. The reason the calories might’ve been high was because of activity he was doing before he got on the treadmill. These news guys don’t know how to test things, you need to go on actual tech channels.
I hope you're right because this bummed me out. (Garmin user.)
Who really expects them to be 100% accurate. They are accurate enough to motivate and that is what counts.
The counts that dont work
A lot of people (i.e with sitting jobs) actually want to know how many steps or km they walked/ran, not get fake results for motivation(?) to work out. Most of those appliances are so off, they count steps while driving and any arm movements which defeats the purpose of a fitness tracker that you're supposed to wear on your wrist all day(& night). You can get 1000s of extra 'steps'..
They aren’t made to be 100% accurate. Also, having the trackers in different spots on the wrist, leads to inaccuracy.
Being 100 steps off out of 3,000 is really good
if you are crying about a few hundred step difference in a few thousand walked you are missing the point.. if you need those couple hundred steps to eat something extra or be lazier you are missing the point.. the calories is also obvious since the watch can't account for your metabolism just your weight and general effort.
I can understand the step inaccuracies, they didn't seem that bad. I feel that the calorie inaccuracies are bad enough that the metric should not even be included.
Glad I saw this, I wanted to know the best tracker to purchase and the answer is none. Thank you❤
@stan S Some of them can tell your heart rates or blood pressure. Does it also provide inaccurate information about them too?
@@jstinfo6995 yes it uses the light from the watch to see how much of it radiates through your skin
Do more research than just a 5 minute video.
They're still good motivators & gives you an idea. Personally, I wear a Fitbit Versa 3.
Hahaaa my apple watch counted me knitting and siting on on spot as running
they aren't made to be 100% accurate
Yes they are
If they were made to be 100% accurate they wouldn't cost 100 - 200$ but a lot more
@@Zaloomination it's impossible for your phone to do that...
They have improved alot since 2 years ago the apple even has a very accurate fall detection feature.
True, what those sportwatches don't measure is the age, height and how fit you are. Also how much muscle mass/fat mass you have.
Because the more you breath heavily and do certain movements is hard. But the standard will tell you how much calories without measuring age, how fit you are etc. Which is why it won't be accurate.
I still like fitbit, I don't expect them to be accurate to reality, just reliable.
cant be reliable if innacurate
Calories are also connected to his weight, and we did not see that process plugged in, but let's assume he was honest there. Now, fitbit also calculates what body regularly burns and the activity comes on top (e.g. you burn calories even if you sleep or lie down), so those 19 would be 29, which is closer. I am sure that if you compare apples to apples Fitbit is extremely accurate.
How is it reliable if it’s inaccurate...
@@robertjames3701 Reliable as in consistent. So, say they are 27% off from reality, as long as they are consistently 27% off and not just throwing out numbers willy nilly with a huge variance, I'm okay with that.
Guys, let me tell you why they were so off. Fitbit calculates your heart rate burn as well as your energy burned from exercise. So if the Fitbit calculates you burned 45 calories it’s probably because you burned 20 calories from exercise and 20 calories from just living and breathing. Now there is gonna be a little bit inaccuracy, but just subtract 100-200 from your total calorie burn.
Thank you!
That's why I take my pokewalker around 😂😂
I have the fit bit and strapped it on in the morning in my way to work. I did no walking for an hour. The fit bit said I walked 500 steps.
That's why I only use cardio machines and road walk
For my exercise I walk the same route every day - about 4 miles. Fitbit charge 4 says is consistently 8500 steps. iPhone app says 11000 steps!! Both on gps.
I guess you have to set your goal for 12K to be certain you’ve obtained 10K☺️💪🏽
I put my goal at 18k instead lmao
Just for good measure
😆
do you think garmin are accurate for calorie track?
Why are there ppl on the outside of the window? They look like hungry zombies drooling over human. Are they gonna eat the news anchors?
they are the robots that our government has created to worship famous people
tim garth lol pretty much
They think it's cool, to be on T.V.
Also depends on your weight right?
I wish he had the phones too while on the treadmill
Fitbit 502 steps Jawbone 43 calories
Garmin 520 steps Fitbit 67 calories
Jawbone 559 steps Garmin 78 calories
This will detect the highest readings at NAMBLA meetings
Great show answered a lot of questions. The fact they lie about how many calories you are losing should be criminal especially if they are off by 4 times over. It's kind of like telling you there is only 5 calories in a chocolate chip cookie so you buy it and think you can still eat 1995 calories for the day when in reality you cant. We wonder why we got so many fat people with terrible corporations coddling everyone.
Just a piece of motivation while paying a huge to Fitbit, Garmin or any other of those premium brands.
wow man thanks.
Fitbit also factors in BMR idk if they calculated that
Dam. That's sad.
The garim was the closes in the treadmll 520 after 500 on a treadmill and like 10 steps toward the sit
Now the numbers revealed. Just add or subtruct those numbers from the accurate ones to your fitness tracker, then wah-lah. 😂
Welp, there's go my plan. I think looking at the mirror to see my progress is better.
Take photos too. You can compare those photos. Try taking a photo every month.
10k steps is about 5 miles people just make sure you give yourself about 1.5 hrs in the morning to walk and walk for 4 miles then whatever you get during the day is going to cover the rest.
I rode my motorbike for 8km & my smartband shows i took 1000 steps! Then I rode 250km & it says 15,000 steps! Met my target in a few hours lol!
Finally a real test. Not those other review :)...
The calories of fitness trackers might include metabolic calories with exercise calories.
Alot of these work based on information such as height or weight
The company's say the trackers are designed to motivate? Wtf
Honor Band 3 Is the most Accurate Smartband so far
I thought they were all 100% accurate and never wrong... Then this guy comes in telling me that we live in an imperfect world!?!?!
I love how they can make a 5 minute video to basically say: 🤷♂?
awesome. thx.
The difference in calorie burn: Could it be because the fitness trackers assumed he was walking on the streets and not being aided by the backward motion of the treadmill? And what do we know about the accuracy of that absurd face device in the first place?
lol you are not aided when walking on a treadmill
@@BigRed2 no wind resistance
Fitbit suggest I consume almost 3000 calories a day to lose 2 pounds a week. How is this correct?
u go right ahead and do that and watch your waste line expand
tim garth it’s a waist not a waste
Well I expend more than 3,000 calories per day, so I would be dieting if I ate only 3,000
I have a Fit Bit Inspire 2 and a VeryFitPro. The Fitbit Inspire 2 calculates double the calories the VeryFitPro. The steps are not very close but the calories are even worse! Fitbit says 2,093 steps. Burning 794 calories!! VeryFitPro says 2,817 steps and 117 calories burned! That’s a HUGE difference. I’m so confused as which is right. There’s no way a 145 lb woman burns over 700 calories walking 2,093 steps! Yet 117 calories for 2,817 steps? I’m really confused and disappointed because I paid money for these items to help with my fitness. 😩
I kind of think all these devices are a relative measurement and if you setup the device correctly with all your body statistics. For testing walk/step counts, walk the same route several times and see what the numbers say. And as most commenters here say there are other factors to consider which give the final readings. See if the device gives false readings and go from there. They are just a fitness tool to play around with.
Not hard to walk 10k steps, I do it everyday at work
There is a specific part of the wrist you are supposed to wear the watch on otherwise there is a warning that it may not be accurate
Did they add the height and weight on all 3 watches ????
My gear S3 watch said I walked 2 times as far as I really did according to Google maps.
My phone also recorded a 6.7 mile walk in a reality 4.2 mile walk. Not even close
5 years now have passed. I wonder if they are more accurate now? Follow up story?
Great product ,I like it
Impressive
The position definitely does matter
Alot of the reason for is the HR on devices. HR spikes by just lifting your hand and therefore also giving alot more calories when walking, if you turn it of it becomes more accurate.
All legends
I don’t trust a thing the today show has to say. This made me laugh
The Important thing is, you are Moving!
I use mine more as a refrence.
My mi band is accurate.. It shows aprox 20 kcal burned for 500 steps
Hold on.. did u set your age, weight and gender in the app? That changes the calories per minute you burn
I know people who burn 1000 calories measured by smart watches then eat a 500 calories cake then wonder why they are still fat :D
Rock Roller exactly!!!!
One of the most annoying things is a inaccurate tracker
All you have to do is swing your arm while standing and it will use that to track steps. You don’t even have to walk take it off sit down and shake it it will track steps. Is the biggest scam out there!!!
That camera man walked more than 1000 steps
How many times a night should you wake up?
Just my opinion but wouldn't it be more accurate to be placed on the ankle instead of the wrist?🦵 It's going off dominant hand right, so what if you don't move your hands as much as u move your legs 🦵
i couldn't leave this video cuz someone locked me in.
Fitbit wins overall then :)
Best is a heart rate monitor with a chest strap
Yeah
The polar watch wasn't accurate either
Bought the new Fitbit Charge 4 brand new and it doesnt work. Such a waste of money
My garmin forerunner recorded over 1000 steps in 30 mins today, while I was driving
My phone app also records when I drive with less than 10km/h (stopping on trafic lights, slowing at speed bumps, slowing at walkways/zebra crossing, looking for parking spot). And my mother's fit band records, when she is washing the dishes
AND THAT IS WHY I HAVENT PURCHASED ANY FITNESS TRACKERS.
I have had a Garmin for 9 months. I know it's not 100% accurate, but those numbers were really, really off. Sigh. This is disappointing.
What happened to that guy Matt?
Pedometer step counting apps are the best for weight loss!
They probably do it on purpose like to encourage you 🤔
SHOUTY SHOUT!
The phone is the best
Woaahh don't blame google fit blame the hardware on your android phone. And I guess 20 calories for 500 steps is the best estimate for calories burned so I'll keep that in mind.
The foods are under calories, and the watches/trackers are over calories, soo unfair
Does anybody think we will be able to do the real numbers ever or the companies haven't made one that can do it on purpose cause it's been lots of advances in tech in cars phones and other stuff
It doesn't make sense to me that they really can't make a watch that can show the real numbers
They did a test on the today show 6 years ago and the difference was like the same now with these watches
hahaha.. designed to motivate.. lol.. you just pee on me..
Yeah this is wrong it dont the fitbit accounts for what your body normally burns to not only what you burn through excercise.
Ridiculous. A couple hundred difference on 5000? That is accurate enough for the intent.
Treadmill is designed to give calories burned for human bodies at rest( no transnational motion) . Fitness trackers are designed for moving bodies. During actual walking, energy is also required to translating body. So both are correct.
so the point is dont buy fitness trackers
My girlfriend just bought me a Fitbit charge 2. It says I burned 700 calories and I only drove to work
CVillatoro11 it’s supposed to account for your BMR as well, not just calories burned from movement. It will count your calories burned based on gender, age, height, and weight even at rest. It takes calories just to live.
I recently spent $160.00 on the fitbit charge2. what a mistake...
steps, distance, and heart rate never accurate.... terrible
lol I just bought a pedometer watch on amazon for $40 and it is literally the same thing as a fitbit maybe even better since it doesn't lie about calories burned lol... I just watched a fitbit charge 2 review and I was amazed at how the $40 one on amazon has all of them same features. Probably wont last as long but we will see :)
Steps and distance is accurate
I'm not disappointed at all, because of the fitbit I'm a better walker than ever ! Not a big deal if it's off by 100 or so.
Pog Champ Do you have a link to the one you bought on Amazon?
Okay, I'm just gonna get one thats 30 dollars from china and call it a day now.
From all fit bands comparison videos I saw Xiaomi and Huawei have less than 2% inaccuracy ( +/- 19 steps per 1000 steps). So maybe you are right
100 percent accurate,,cmon,,,these things are a joke,,,,i have tried several from friends and all extremely overestimate calories,,i maintain at 2000 calories,,lose at 1500 and gain at 2500,,,these things all have me above 3000 calories,,the weight would be falling off me,,the public is soooooooooooo gullible
Exercising is not the only way we burn calories.
It tracks the pulse rate and this dude put multiple at the time so it obviously won’t work right
if ur gonna sweat why wear white pants?
Is noone going to point that the name is pedometer???
The jawbone is the only one right on his wrist.