Your Fitbit can be a very useful tool to track sleeping patterns, improve sleeping habits and alert you to potential issues.
But it can be frustrating when things aren’t set up right and data gets left behind.
Table of Contents
Does Bluetooth Have To Be On For A Fitbit To Track Sleep?
One of the best features that come with all Fitbit wearables, is that they don’t need Bluetooth, WiFi, or any other wireless service to keep track of your health activities, including sleep.
All they need is a little battery juice and they’re ready to go.
So long as a Fitbit has power, it tracks all of the daily activities, health, sleep, swimming, running, cycling, or whatever else you do to achieve your fitness goals—some tracking availability depends on the Fitbit device.
It also holds it for a week at a minimum, or until a connection is reestablished with a phone, PC, or tablet.
Does My Phone Have To Be On For Fitbit To Track Sleep?
Most Fitbit devices are equipped to track your sleep regardless of where your smartphone is or if it’s even on.
Fitbit devices know when you go to sleep by intuitively tracking your heart rhythms and breathing patterns.
Unlike many wearable health and fitness trackers, Fitbit tracks your entire sleep cycle from beginning to end.
Your light and heavy sleep patterns, REM, and waking patterns by detecting heart variability (HRV) patterns as you rest.
When you’re ready to view the accumulated data, turn your smartphone back on and everything will be uploaded to the app.
Open the app and wait for the app and the Fitbit device to sync.
Select “Today” at the bottom, middle of the screen.
Select “Sleep“.
Here you will get a detailed breakdown under three tabs:
Sleep Time, Sleep Schedule, and Sleep Stages.
Once you sync the Fitbit to your smartphone, all of the information gathered during your sleep cycle will upload into those three categories.
Related Article: Will A Fitbit Work In Your Pocket? (All You Need To Know)
How Does My Fitbit Know When I Am Sleeping?
Fitbit assumes that you’re asleep when it has detected little to no movement for one hour.
When Fitbit determines that you’re asleep it begins tracking a variety of sleep patterns.
What Sleep Patterns Does Fitbit Track?
Rolling over
This is indicative of a sleep pattern and is detectable by Fitbit devices.
HRV
The beat-to-beat changes of your heart pattern, including irregular, rapid, and slow rhythms and how they change throughout the night.
Deep Sleep/Light Sleep
Fitbit uses your HRV and night movements to determine the stage of sleep you are currently in.
Sleep Apnea
Fitbit is not a diagnosis device but the data it gathers will inform you as to whether or not sleep apnea is a possibility by the indications of how many times you entered light sleep.
None of this requires a smartphone.
Fitbit devices are designed to do all of this and store the data until your Fitbit is synced with the Fitbit app on your smartphone.
Why won’t My Fitbit Track My Sleep?
There can be several reasons why your Fitbit may not track your sleep including:
- Low battery levels.
- Sleep was not started automatically in the Fitbit app.
- Heart rate monitoring is set to off. Wearing the Fitbit in the wrong position on your arm.
Sometimes moving the Fitbit higher up your arm when you sleep can help it to work better.
If your data isn’t showing up, you should also try to force a sync by pulling down at the top of the home screen on your Fitbit app.
Also, if your heart rate is raised for any reason during the night, the Fitbit might think you are awake and may not track data.
How Accurate Is Fitbit At Tracking Sleep?
Fitbits are not that accurate at measuring sleep because they do it by measuring heart rate and do not measure brain activity.
When tested, sleep trackers like Fitbits tend to struggle to identify different stages of sleep, and they often over and underestimate the time you spend sleeping and the time you spend awake.
In one study from 2021, it was concluded that most wearable sleep trackers are not accurate at tracking the RAM and non-RAM stages of sleep and that they usually either underestimate or overestimated important sleep metrics such as sleep efficiency, total sleep, and total wake time.
However, over the course of the study, Fitbit was found to be one of the most accurate sleep trackers out of the eight popular commercial brands they tested.
No wearable sleep tracker is going to be 100% accurate but it can be helpful for discovering sleep patterns and identifying underlying issues.
How Close Does My Phone Need To Be To My Fitbit?
This depends on the Bluetooth capability of your Fitbit device, whether or not the Firmware is upgraded, and your Smartphone.
The general rule of thumb is no more than 100 feet away in any direction.
So long as the Fitbit is operating under its power, it can go in and out of range with your smartphone without missing a beat.
When the devices are synced, all your Fitbit tracking data is uploaded.
Also, certain features are only available—depending on the Fitbit device—such as GPS tracking.
Some Fitbit devices have their built-in GPS, but it’s generally more accurate when linked with a smartphone.
Which Fitbit Devices Are Best To Accurately Track Sleep?
Not all Fitbit devices track sleep but here are some that do along with the level of sleep detection and tracking offered:
Fitbit Ace 2
Sleep tracking activities are minimal but it does include a bedtime reminder and smartphone notifications.
Fitbit Alta HR
The Alta HR has personalized sleep tracking along with a heart rate monitor, and smartphone notifications.
Fitbit Charge 3
Like the Alta HR, the Charge 3 is just a tracker (not an actual watch) but it also collects data for personalized sleep patterns, heart rate monitor, and smartphone notifications.
Fitbit Versa
The Versa is a smartwatch with all of the capabilities of the Alta HR and Charge 3.
Fitbit Ionic
Like the Versa (and all of its succeeding generations) the Ionic is a smartwatch that provides personalized sleep tracking, a heart rate monitor, and smartphone notifications.
Except for the Ace 2, the above-listed Fitbit trackers and smartwatches also track breathing patterns, snoring, and movement to accurately convey your sleep cycles throughout the night.
With Fitbit wearables—smartphones or trackers—you never have to be concerned about whether or not your health and fitness data is accurately recorded without a Bluetooth or smartphone connection.
