A class action lawsuit against Fitbit may be bolstered by the release of a new study claiming the company's popular heart rate trackers are "highly inaccurate," CNBC reports.
Researchers at the California State Polytechnic University, Pomona tested the heart rates of 43 healthy adults with Fitbit's PurePulse heart rate monitors. Results found that the Fitbit devices miscalculated heart rates by up to 20 beats per minute on average during more intensive workouts.
The study, commissioned by the law firm behind a class action suit taking aim at three Fitbit models that use the PurePulse heart monitor, found the trackers "cannot be used to provide a meaningful estimate of a user's heart rate."
But Fitbit said in a statement posted by the blog Gizmodo that the study is "biased, baseless, and nothing more than an attempt to extract a payout from Fitbit."
