Which Fitbit Tracks Stair Climbing? And How?

Which Fitbit Tracks Stairs Climbed And How

Fitbit are part of everyday life for many people, they use them to track vital stats about their body and hold a firm faith in them. Stair Climbing like many of those metrics happens to be one of them. However, in recent times, a shift has been seen, interestingly enough not just from those who used to track their stairs climbed record, but from the Fitbit itself.

So the question weather which Fitbit is able to keep record of the case is the one that should be asked. As we are asking today to not only find the answer but seek the meaning behind the feature that everyone seems quite fascinated about.

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Information You're Finding!

Apart from Fitbit Charge 5 recent releases from Fitbit can all track Floors & Stairs Climbed. However, one thing is certain, and it is that accuracy of metric is heavily inflated and isn't always correct.

Fitbit’s That Can Track Stairs!

If you’re new to Fitbit utopia you’d be probably very confused given the large disposition of trackers available in the market. So for your ease feel free to check our guide on how to find out which kind of Fitbit do you have (if you have any). Either way, as mentioned before, variety in the company’s portfolio means that not all devices are the same!

For instance Fitbit Versa 3 was the first smartwatch that had built-in GPS so features like treadmill workout were rare to find before it. In any case once the company has figured or added – in this context – a certain feature it’s rare for them to take a step back on it.

Interestingly, in the case of Stair Climbing the opposite did happen. So the list of Fitbit trackers that can record stairs climbed is recent, and it is this the one below:

  • Fitbit Versa 3
  • Fitbit Versa 4
  • Fitbit Sense
  • Fitbit Sense 2
  • Fitbit Ionic (Discontinued)
  • Fitbit Charge 3
  • Fitbit Charge 4

Basically any Fitbit tracker that have Altimeter can count the stairs you have climbed. Now, usually what happens is that Altimeter is not a super unique sensor to have in smartwatches, it’s quite common. Yet the Fitbit Charge 5 remains the eloped one. If you’re wondering why, don’t worry you won’t have to for long time.

How Stair Climbing Works?

Regardless of the company wearables uses the Altimeter for variety of purposes. One such happens to be stair and floor climbing and the technique implemented is not hard to understand:

The altimeter in a smartwatch is like a little machine that uses something called air pressure to know if you are going up or down. When you start using it, it learns what the air pressure is like where you are, so it can compare it to later.

As you move around, the altimeter keeps checking the air pressure. If it notices a big change, it thinks you climbed some stairs. It has special rules to tell the difference between stairs and other changes in height.

Fitbit Calculates Floor Climbed

But it’s not always perfect. Things like the weather and how different people are can make it not work exactly right. Still, it helps you keep an idea of how many stairs you climbed and encourages you to stay active.

Note: Floor Climbing is marked with stairs icon. If you feel stuck we have crafted the guide for Fitbit Symbols and Icon with meanings mentioned.

Then What Is Floor Climbing?

Stair Climbing is actually one of those things that are used to measure how many floors you climbed. So if for example imagine you were on first floor and then you went to the fifth floor with your Fitbit on you. Now logic and Fitbit both should tell you that you’ve climbed 5 floors. But question is how does Fitbit do that?

Well, according to Fitbit 10 feet gain in altitude is one floor climbed, so if you would’ve climbed 50 or even 55 feet your Fitbit tracker will show you the big number 5. If not well, then you are more likely to see smaller or bigger number.

In either case it goes without saying that Fitbit’s stair and floor metrics are very relative and they don’t always give 100% results. Results could vary with gush of fan or strong air, you need to be very careful in your usage of Fitbit device.

Why Fitbit Charge 5 Couldn’t Track Floors?

While both Fitbit Charge 4 and Fitbit Charge 3 were capable to record the stairs climbed when Fitbit released the Charge 5 in 2021 it didn’t take long to notice there was no altimeter around this time. As a result it added another to the list of “one of those features” that Fitbit tracker fails to provide – Fall Detection, Airplane Mode, and so on.

Twitter Interaction By Fitbit Support

Although the reason is stated by the company’s support it’s difficult to understand the reasoning behind the decision. Surely adding Altimeter to the tracker which is solely marketed for its capacity to track wouldn’t have broke it. Surely, there would’ve been a way to give the users best of both world.

After all the same people who decided to remove Altimeter are the ones who are doing research on making Blood Pressure tracking available to Fitbit utopia. A task deemed quite complicated by some and impossible by many.

“My Fitbit Recorded 506 Stairs Climbed!”

Now this isn’t new sight for us. Fitbit’s are not inherently 100% accurate. We’ve seen that with heart rate. We’ve seen that with calories burned. But they are definitely one of the best option we’ve got today. So if you’re seeing magic numbers like these even when you haven’t moved a inch from your couch it’s alright. It’s not Fitbit saying ‘I’m faulty’ but it is Fitbit reminding you what it is after all ‘a health tracker.’

Health Trackers/Smartwatches/Wearables can never be 100% accurate regardless of who is making them. They just don't have the capacity.

However, you can do somethings that might turn the tide on your favor. For example make sure that your Fitbit tracker is always updated to the latest patch. Many times the reason for the biggest of issues is because of dated OS patch.

Secondly check for the sensitivity of your tracker. Often the reason you’re seeing huge numbers like these are because your tracker is being misled by external factors. Now those external factors could be anything from silly hand movements to extreme workouts.

You could also do little care by making sure your Fitbit tracker is always cleaned and free from debris and dust. While not always sometimes the reason for wrong reading is because sensors in the device are facing obstructions from outside.

Do We Even Need Stair Climbing?

Now this is a million dollar question.

So the answer that we think is that yes you do need stairs climbing, and we have our reasons for it. Stairs Climbing like many other metrics plays an important part for your Fitbit tracker to keep track of your health.

Note: Since stair climbing is awarded with Fitbit badges, check out our guide about Fitbit badges and how you can obtain them!

For instance if we take VO2 Max into account, Fitbit states that it uses personal information to reach to a conclusion. Now Fitbit doesn’t explicitly state what is this personal information, but we can guess that it could be anything, and in anything Stairs Climb is included. So even if to you this (Stairs Climbed or Floors Climbed) seems like a waste of time, it shouldn’t be forgotten how even the smallest of thing can help to reach bigger and better conclusions.

Frequently Asked Questions

Fitbit Versa series apart from Lite and Fitbit Sense series are all able to record Stairs and Floors.

Not much. They are always off by some distance.

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