Fitbit Strikes Out Again

 In the latest On Tech newsletter by the New York Times, it says in part:

Health data isn’t always useful: Is it useful for people to regularly measure their blood oxygen saturation — a feature new to the Apple Watch and in some other smart watches? Probably not for most healthy people, my colleague Brian X. Chen wrote after asking medical experts. 


I’ll say. On the Fitbit Versa, the data they collect to come up with your SPO2 is faulty, just like counting your arm swings to calculate the amount you step. I can’t even say it’s close. The step count is invariably low by 30-40% and the specific oxygen level is off by several percentage points. 

I have a dedicated, reasonably accurate oxymeter that has an app which passes the information to the Apple Health app automatically. It measures my SPO2 usually at 98-99%. The Fitbit watch face measures 91-93%. This difference is sizable, and dangerous to give out. The site that it takes the measurements, your wrist is never used either by the oxymeters you can buy or the ones in your doctor’s office. They use a clamp on the tip of your finger. From the documents I’ve read on the internet, it’s best to take the measurements on the middle finger, because it has the strongest reading. All of which is thrown out the window by the Fitbit watch face. 

As I’ve reiterated through several posts, my Fitbit Versa is just a shitty product with several glaring issues, the SPO2 fiasco just adds up to another misstep. 

I’ve already deleted the watch face, and have no intention to reinstall it, and recommend against using the data for any health decisions. If you’re interested in your blood oxygen saturation, get a real oximeter, preferably not one of the cheap ones. Mine cost $35.

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