Congratulations! You’ve clearly got good taste—the Fitbit Alta HR is a pretty awesome device. In fact, this sleek stunner is the world’s slimmest wristband with continuous heart rate tracking. But you probably already knew that.
Hopefully you’ve had time to set up your tracker and sync it to your smartphone or computer. Maybe you’ve even spent a few days getting to know your device and exploring your Fitbit app dashboard. If so, then now’s the perfect time to dig into the information below because there are a few things—ok, 5 things—that all new Fitbit Alta HR owners need to know.
Alta HR Advice You Won’t Want to Miss
Accessorize! Alta HR has more interchangeable accessory bands—including designer collections—than any other Fitbit tracker. Best of all, if you’ve upgraded from Fitbit Alta, you can still use any accessories you previously bought: Alta bands also work with Alta HR trackers. Just be aware that heart rate tracking may not work with loose-fitting accessories; wear Alta HR classic or leather accessory bands to optimize heart rate tracking.
Wear it right. The accuracy of your heart rate readings is affected by where you put your tracker, so make sure you’re following these best practices. First, let your Fitbit app know which wrist you’re wearing it on—your non-dominate hand is preferred since the extra movement from your wrist can impact your charts. To confirm your settings, go to your account, tap Alta HR and then select the either Left or Right for both “Handedness” and “Wrist”.
Next, make sure the tracker is in the right place on your wrist. In general your tracker should lay flat about a finger’s width below your wrist bone (away from your hand). During exercise, wear it a bit farther up your forearm—about three fingers widths from your wrist bone where an increase in blood flow can improve the heart rate signal.
Lastly, make sure the tracker is snug but not constricting (especially during exercise), so it doesn’t restrict blood flow.
Keep heart rate sensors on. Unless your tracker battery is low and you won’t be able to charge it anytime soon, consider leaving your heart rate settings on “Auto”. (To find this option, tap the Account icon in the top right corner of your dashboard, then Alta HR, and then Heart Rate.) Here’s why: Having continuous heart rate data bolsters the abilities and accuracy of other features. For instance, all-day heart rate tracking powers better measuring of total calories burned, optimizes exercise by helping you pinpoint heart rate zones, and takes classic sleep tracking to a whole new level by powering Sleep Stages.
Customize your display. You can add, delete, and rearrange the stats that appear on your tracker right from the Fitbit app. Just tap the Account icon, tap the Alta HR tile, and then tap “Customize Display.” Select the stats that you want to see on your device (the battery indicator is super helpful; when you see low battery it means you have about a day of usage left) and then hold your finger on each tile’s three grey lines to drag them into your preferred order.
Relax when you recharge. Having trouble charging your tracker? Plug the cable into a USB port on your computer (or other low-energy device), then clip the other end of the cable to your tracker, lining the pins up with the three metal circles. When the tracker vibrates and a battery icon appears on your tracker’s display, the connection is secure. During charging, you can tap the display to check the battery level. The battery icon will appear solid when your tracker is fully charged. Still having issues? See Why isn’t my battery charging?
This information is for educational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for medical diagnosis or treatment. You should not use this information to diagnose or treat a health problem or condition. Always check with your doctor before changing your diet, altering your sleep habits, taking supplements, or starting a new fitness routine.
Do all altas have a heat beat tracker? I don’t think mine does.
Only the Alta HR has it.
Cool! I was looking for a wristband and an app to work with my everyday routine! This one seems a nice wearable!
Can my Fitbit Alta HR be charged by plugging the USB port to the USB port that plugs into direct current (like my phone) or should I always charge with my computer USB port?
I think we can charge Fitbit by using charger of mobiles
I recharge mine with the same cable that my IPad. Putting the plug in from bracelet in the “prise” or apple. Sorry but I’m french.
my display is showing steps in metric. How do I change that?
I was wondering about that too!
tip and tip, tks for sharing
I updated from my old Charge HR (which was excellent) to the new Alta HR (as I liked the design and the sleep stages function) but sadly I am disappointed with it as the App does not record distance when doing exercises which makes it, for me, useless as I want to know how far I have run or walked. I am sure this could be easily resolved by an update within the App. I have raised this issue with Fitbit Support but I am still waiting for response before I decide to return the product and go back to my old Charge HR.
You can indeed see the distance you run or walked through the app . It tells how far and at what time etc.
I’m having the same problem. My rpm spin class isn’t recording and exercise and I work like mad!! My old one did.
Thanks for sharing the secret.
WOW! Great content. Thank you for sharing this article.
I originally register a few years ago with wrist FitBit. I also registered a clip on FitBit. Now I own an Altra HR…but cannot seem to customize the programming for it. Please help. I tells me I have reached my goal and I never entered that information.
I am having an issues syncing my Alta HR the app in on my phone. Any suggestions?
Wow! that’s really cool these tips are really awesome and I’m very glad to read this thanks for sharing.
How often should I remove my fitbit?