Fitbit Inspire 3 : Is The GPS Tracking Accurate?

Just like its predecessors, the latest generation of the Inspire series does not have a built-in GPS sensor. You will need permission to allow the Fitbit App to use your phone’s GPS sensor to track your distance.

So is the GPS tracking on the Fitbit Inspire 3 accurate?, well in my experience the answer is yes. I have just recently done multiple tests on the level of accuracy and the end result of the GPS tracking accuracy absolutely surprised me.

In comparison to the Huawei GT3 which has 5 built in location sensors with L1 and L5 dual band frequency, The Fitbit Inspire 3 wasn’t that far off. I will show you the comparison in the article.

Also I will be sharing with you the 3 different tests I have done, which will give you an idea how surprisingly good the GPS tracking is. Not to mention, the tests will somewhat replicate the typical routes that a user will use.

Please note that during these tests I am using an android phone, Samsung Galaxy S10+ which is 4 generations behind the new version that is out. You could say that my mobile device is fairly outdated. Unfortunately the tests won’t involve an IOS.

My First Planned Route : Level Of Difficulty Easy

In this first test, I am going to find an area that the Fitbit Inspire 3 should pass with relative ease. I planned a route that had no overhead coverage,

Distance : 0.60 km
Duration : 8 minutes
GPS Tracking Difficulty : Easy, no tall buildings, low height trees, telephone lines on side of the road
Result is 100% agreement
End result : Pass

Fitbit Inspire 3 : Test 1 passed, GPS tracking is very good at a easy level.

This planned route is fairly short but it really did track nicely. After reviewing the GPS tracking, it’s very close to the footpath track that I was following. So a real good result here with an end result as a Pass.

My Second Planned Route : Level of Difficulty Hard

In this second test, I have planned my route through the township. The level of difficulty will be hard because I will be walking under awnings at least 80% of the planned route. Also I will be surrounded by tall buildings. Also with a Bluetooth connection, there will be a possibility of interference, which may skew the tracking further.

Distance : 0.77m
Duration : 11 minutes
GPS Tracking Difficulty : Hard, walking under awnings, surrounded by tall buildings, possible interference to bluetooth connection.
Result is Partial agreement
End result : Pass

Fitbit Inspire 3 : Test 2 results, tracking starting to skew a little once I arrive at Four Square.

I had trouble getting a GPS connection at the start of the planned route. After reviewing the GPS tracking, it started very badly. The tall buildings and awnings started once I arrived at our local Four Square store. Although the start wasn’t the greatest, and the tracking was reasonably good I would still consider this as a pass result. My expectation was not this at all, and I was expecting the result to be far worse, but overall it wasn’t a bad result.

My Third Planned Route : Level of Difficulty Very Hard

In this test, I am going to be walking in a dense forest. I will be surrounded by big tall trees and won’t be able to see the open sky much. I will also be walking in dense forest for at least 80% of the planned route. There will be zero bluetooth interference.

Distance 0.61 km
Duration 9 minutes
GPS Tracking : Very hard, dense forest, surrounded by tall trees
Result is 100% agreement
End result : Pass

Fitbit Inspire 3 : Test 3 worked really well, and the results speak for themselves. I personally didn’t think it would track this accurately

Huawei GT 3 : This is a test I did earlier in the month. The Fitbit Inspire 3 is pretty close considering it has 5 location sensors and L1 and L5 dual band frequency

I was absolutely surprised with the result that I got. After reviewing the GPS tracking, it really followed the track nicely without any too much deviation. I was curious as to why I got a more accurate result in this test versus the test I did prior through the township. I expected the result to be far worse but exceeded my expectations. I have also supplied a screenshot of the Huawei GT3 GPS tracking as a comparison. As you can see for yourself it’s very close.

My Fourth Planned Route : Level of Difficulty Very Hard

Because I was very surprised with my third test, I decided to do another test. This time I will be following the third planned route but take the off tracks to go deeper into the dense forest track.

Distance 1.75 km
Duration 26 minutes
GPS Tracking : Very hard, dense forest, surrounded by tall trees
Result is 100% agreement
End result : Pass

Fitbit Inspire 3 : Test 4 results showed that the tracking is pretty good.

After reviewing the GPS tracking I was very surprised with the end result. The GPS tracking followed my route fairly well and I was very impressed with that. I never expected the Fitbit Inspire 3 to do so well, but the watch proved me wrong.

Final Conclusion

Although the Fitbit Inspire 3 does not have a built-in GPS sensor, its ability to track your planned route/navigation is very good. The 2 difficult test’s that I thought would fail, didnt which really surprised me. Tall buildings, power lines, trees normally skew the devices ability to track your location, but in my case of the 4 tests I have done it clearly isn’t the case.

Also in the third test I did in comparison to the Huawei GT 3. I was surprised that the Fitbit Inspire 3’s GPS tracking via bluetooth connection was very close.

So is the Fitbit Inspire 3 GPS tracking accurate?, the answer is a surprising yes. It’s definitely proved me wrong, especially with the tests I have conducted.

Thank you so much for reading and hopefully you have found this article useful. Also if you need help setting up your Fitbit Inspire 3, I have just created a YouTube channel with video tutorials to get you started. Thank you for reading.