Why isn't my Band 2 counting the floors I climbed correctly?

[InsGadget]

The altimeter on my Band 2 is definitely wonky. It is always way overboard in its readings. The Band 1 was actually more accurate in its "estimate", which I'm guessing was determined by placing the recorded track line on top of existing topographic data and reading the resulting data. I've found other altimeters in the past to also be prone to inaccuracies, and sensitive to weather conditions. Altimeters do best at least a certain height over sea level (~400 feet or so, depending on pressure conditions), and day/night changes (pressure drops at nightfall) and heavy winds (lots of little microchanges in pressure) both affect the altimeter reading. Honestly, MS would do best to drop the reliance on barometer readings for altitude, and go back to the old way of reading existing map-based topographic data. Or, allow us to manually input elevation readings at certain known spots, to help calibrate the altimeter as we go. Long story short, reading altitude from barometric pressure is hard, and requires some intelligent massaging of the data to get accurate readings.

 

[defaguim]

The floor counting is completely useless, this morning my Band 2 was already showing 11 floors even before I got off of my bed lol. Counted 44 floors yesterday and 34 floors the day before even though I have climbed only 1 flight of stairs each day (up and down) once.
Step counting also terrible, it counts thousands of steps while I am riding my motorcycle, never had this problem with my old band 1.
I understand it is not supposed to be dead on precise on these metrics, but the way it is working for me is unacceptable.

 

[Paul Miles Winchester]

My band 2 has always wildly over-estimated my floor count - I regularly get counts between 200 and 400 floors, on a normal day in the flatlands of southern England. Maybe 20 floors really climbed, maybe 50 on a busy day.

I though hardware might be faulty, but my Band 2 died and was replaced under warranty, and the replacement band has exactly the same problem; so maybe I just wave my arms a lot more than a Microsoft-Typical human? :sweaty:

Paul

 

[InsGadget]

I'm having a different experience with the refurbished unit I just received, to replace my original Band 2, which was suffering from a split strap. The altimeter is much more accurate on this new one. So there is some hardware variance, apparently. Maybe try another replacement through MS Support?

 

[phil71]

Same for me!
On my first Band2 , the floor count was very accurate at first , yet after 2 months it went all over the place. Now, on my second (refurbished) Band 2 everything is back to normal.
So, I guess certain sensors are very fragile. For me it should be enough a reason to be granted a new refurbished Band.

 

[bksalt]

Re: Not sure Band 2 is counting floors climbed correctly

Gee the barometer in my area has been dropping every single day for 5 months I have registered over 100 flights every single day, when I am 70yrs old and very seldom leave my home with no stairs

 

[DeNachtwacht]

Hmm a lot of complaining here. Don't you realize that "the" floor distance simply doesn't exist? In houses, every floor is about 3 meters, but it could also be 4 in older houses. In companies and schools, this could even be way larger. And what is the world-widely accepted standard number of steps on a stairway? It doesn't exist.

No wonder floors can't be counted correctly, I guess Microsoft uses some kind of avarage floor height that they use for measurements, and that's all that's possible...

 

[anon(8555314)]

Of course the height of floors varies. So let's say you pick 3 meters as the "normal" floor height. If I know that my floors are 33% greater than "normal," then I should expect approximately 33% more floors calculated by the band than what I actually did. Is that indeed what the Band is telling us? Or is it off by 330% or more at times?

I know that the bike climb data is off by 300-400% for me lately, making it worthless for calculating elevation.

I get that this is an emerging technology, and it is exciting to see new features added every couple of months. So I do have a tolerance for MS figuring this out as they go. However, it is 6 months since Band 2 was released. They should have it dialed in by now, unless the hardware is junk, in which case, it would have been better to have left it out with this version. Part of my decision to upgrade was the inclusion of elevation data, which I would like to have.

 

[bksalt]

Hmm a lot of complaining here. Don't you realize that "the" floor distance simply doesn't exist? In houses, every floor is about 3 meters, but it could also be 4 in older houses. In companies and schools, this could even be way larger. And what is the world-widely accepted standard number of steps on a stairway? It doesn't exist.

No wonder floors can't be counted correctly, I guess Microsoft uses some kind of avarage floor height that they use for measurements, and that's all that's possible...

But what about 100 to 150 floors every day for 5 months when I am 70yrs old no stairs to climb just walk on flat ground. I dont care what average they use I should be at zero like my fitbit surge use to show all the time. :unhappysweat:

 

[DeNachtwacht]

But what about 100 to 150 floors every day for 5 months when I am 70yrs old no stairs to climb just walk on flat ground. I dont care what average they use I should be at zero like my fitbit surge use to show all the time. :unhappysweat:

Hmm, that just seems as a hardware error to me for your specific band.

 

[bksalt]

Hmm, that just seems as a hardware error to me for your specific band.

May be but this is the 3rd Band2 with the exact same problem what are the odds of that happening???????????????

 

[DeNachtwacht]

May be but this is the 3rd Band2 with the exact same problem what are the odds of that happening???????????????

Maybe you move in an irregular way that makes the bands think you pass a lot of stairs. Have you entered your weight and length correctly in the Microsoft Health app?

 

[Jazmac]

The Band can't count stairs? There's a surprise.

 

[VFC]

Hmm a lot of complaining here. Don't you realize that "the" floor distance simply doesn't exist? In houses, every floor is about 3 meters, but it could also be 4 in older houses. In companies and schools, this could even be way larger. And what is the world-widely accepted standard number of steps on a stairway? It doesn't exist.

No wonder floors can't be counted correctly, I guess Microsoft uses some kind of avarage floor height that they use for measurements, and that's all that's possible...

I have both the Fitbit Surge and MS Band 2. The Surge has no trouble counting floors. I get credit for one floor whether it's the 7 1/2' basement stairs or the 12' stairwell at the office (4 x 12' stairs with landings between each set of steps. I get credit for 4 stairs).

Plus the Surge correctly gives me credit for going up steps only; not up and down like the B2.

I stop wearing my Band 2. Not only was the stair count largely inaccurate when I walked up stairs, I was getting 100+ floors during days where I was sitting in my office desk (or home watching TV) and the weather (i.e., Barometric pressure) was changing outside. My record for one day was 215 (actual stairs count was ~20).

 

[Jazmac]

I have both the Fitbit Surge and MS Band 2. The Surge has no trouble counting floors. I get credit for one floor whether it's the 7 1/2' basement stairs or the 12' stairwell at the office (4 x 12' stairs with landings between each set of steps. I get credit for 4 stairs).

Plus the Surge correctly gives me credit for going up steps only; not up and down like the B2.

I stop wearing my Band 2. Not only was the stair count largely inaccurate when I walked up stairs, I was getting 100+ floors during days where I was sitting in my office desk (or home watching TV) and the weather (i.e., Barometric pressure) was changing outside. My record for one day was 215 (actual stairs count was ~20).

That's it. I'm getting the Fitbit Charge and call it a day.

 

[NinerJet9]

That's it. I'm getting the Fitbit Charge and call it a day.

Keep in mind, there is no one device that checks all the boxes. There are plenty of complaints on the Fitbit forums from HR to pairing, etc. I have the AW and the Band 2 and I had the Fitbit Blaze. They each have their merits and deficiencies.

 

[Issac72]

I owned/returned the Fitbit Blaze. Floor counting was no better/worse than Microsoft Band.

From what I understand - mostly reading stuff on DC Rainmaker's site - is that the tech used to measure stairs climbed (in warables) all functions poorly. So buyer beware.

As an aside, the HR monitoring in my MS Band2 is far superior to my former Fitbit Blaze.

 

[poit57]

In my experience, floors are fairly accurate if most of my day is spent indoors and the wind isn't blowing too hard. I usually climb 4 to 6 floors per work day. The distance for the floors at my work is around 6 meters. On these days, the floor count from my Band usually ranges anywhere between 4 and 12.

Where I usually see an unreasonable spike in my floor count is when I'm outside in windy conditions. I'm training for a marathon and have been spending a lot of time running outside lately. I ran 16 miles this past Saturday, and my floors climbed was 192. It recorded 7 floors between 4:00 to 6:00 PM when I was at my aunt's house and made a few trips up and down her stairs. Most of the floors counted were while I was on my run, including a peak of 85 floors in one hour. Some of that might have been due to the hilly roads I was running, but I think most of it was because of air pressure changes caused by the wind.

 

[Jazmac]

Keep in mind, there is no one device that checks all the boxes. There are plenty of complaints on the Fitbit forums from HR to pairing, etc. I have the AW and the Band 2 and I had the Fitbit Blaze. They each have their merits and deficiencies.

Good points all. My issue isn't so much the sensors as it is the build quality. Sensors come in a close second. I remember Fitbit dropped an updated fitness tracker "Fitness Force" that had bad materials causing some people to get a bad rash. Fitbit in their wisdom pulled it. Microsoft has yet to respond to the materials in their fitness band. My money is on the same materials in Band 3. I hope I'm wrong because I want the Band.

 

[hollygolly]

I had the same problem today. I turned off my Band 2 and then turned it on and tested it by climbing stairs. It works again now.