Bluetooth 4.1 or Higher Ionic Headphones

[BuzzThomson]

Ionic is only compatible with Bluetooth 4.1 or higher.

After Multiple rounds with tech support and their only suggestion to purchase flyer headphones, I stumbled across a forum where someone did a tear down of the Ionic, revealing it ran on the Bluetooth 4.1 Chipset, which specifically supports Bluetooth LE or “Low Energy”. 

The the good news is Bluetooth 5.0 is built around the LE requirements, and 3 Bluetooth 5.0 headphones I’ve now tested pass with flying colours.

Below is a link to a decent pair on amazon for under $50

Soundcore Spirit X Sports Earphones by Anker, with Wireless Bluetooth 5.0

Thats not to say, that the Ionic won’t work with earlier versions of Bluetooth headphones, but it has been my experience, that version 4.0 or earlier will only work indoors, outdoor connectivity is unusable.

Spread the word, maybe Fitbit engineering will pass this info along to their customer service team, and will post this information on their packaging before someone is forced to blow $170 on their Flyer Branded Headphones, on top of a $400 device....

Moderator Edit: Removed Advertising

[SantiR]

@BuzzThomson Welcome to the Fitbit Community! Thanks for sharing that information regarding Ionic connectivity with Bluetooth headphones.

Fitbit Ionic should work correctly with Bluetooth 4.0 headphones indoors or outdoors. If you happen to experience any trouble with BT 4.0 headphones; please try the following:

• Unpair the headphones (if paired).
• Restart Ionic.
• Pair headphones once again.

Hope this helps. Keep me posted! 

[jeccles11]

I've seen a response from Fitbit support in a couple places that the Ionic works with bluetooth headphones 4.0.  Does that mean 4.0 and higher, so they would work with 4.1 or even up to 5.0?

[BuzzThomson]

Safe bet is to stick with BT 4.1 or higher. I would stay away from BT 4.0. They seem to be hit and miss. Some work and some don’t. The response I’ve had from their tech support time and time again is “We can’t test every headphone”, so I can only speak from experience. Basically, if you already have a pair of 4.0 headphones, give them a try, but if you’re looking to purchase a new pair of headphones to pair with your watch, go 4.1 or higher. Now days I would go straight to 5.0, as 5.0 has much better battery life.

Hope this helps

[Whistler888]

“Does that mean 4.0 and higher, so they would work with 4.1 or even up to 5.0?”

This is my interpretation.  Have Sony x2 Beats JBL Outdoor Tech Jabra that all work.  But old 2.0 Plantronics that do not.  The Jabras are 5.0 but Fitbit has noted in another thread that this has problems.  I posted a few times clarifying this issue in past threads.  Bottom line is the Jabras do work and stay paired -> but you have to jump thru a few hoops.

[jeccles11]

Thanks for the response!  That helps a ton.

[jeccles11]

Does anyone have the "AfterShokz Trekz Titanium Open-Ear Wireless Bone Conduction" headphones or the "66 Audio - BTS Pro" headphones?  I've been trying to do some research on which ones are best and came across these 2 as options, but wondered if anyone has them and could speak to how well they work for running?

[Jimifireblade]

Hi, I commented on another thread about this and haven't received a reply, I have skullcandy jib-active headphones and they are Bluetooth 5.0 and I'm getting terrible sound quality,

The sound is breaking up and sometimes the song speeds up, could Bluetooth 4.1 sort this? As others have said before why pay €350 for a watch that won't work correctly without paying through the nose again for fitbit earbuds, btw the skullcandys work fine with my phone, thanks 

[BuzzThomson]

I found this same issues with a cheaper pair of headphones I recently
tested, you may want to try the following:

1) putting your watch on the same wrist as the playback controls for you
headphones. Ie if the controller is on the right, put your watch on your
right wrist.

2) change the position of your headphones, so the cable hanging in front of
you instead of behind your neck.

Basically the idea is, give your headphones clear line of sight to your
watch.

I haven’t personally tested the skull candy headphones, but if you find it
super frustrating a few brands worth checking out:

Anker SoundBuds Slim
Mpow S10 IPX7 Waterproof Sports
Soundcore Spirit X

I personally use the Soundcore Spirit X headphones and they work great
indoors and outdoors.

--
Cameron Thomson

[Jimifireblade]

Thanks for that, I tried another set of earbuds they were jlab epic sport 4.2 and perfect sound no issues at all, and i tried the fitbit flyers and they sounded really bad, so I bought the jlab, the Bluetooth capabilities of the ionic mustn't go past 4.2 which is a big let down on their part as most of the newer earbuds are switching to 5.0.

[MazBarnett]

I paid a fortune for Jabra Elite 65T sports headphones and cannot get them to work with my Ionic. Not happy about this as they work perfectly with my 2 samsung phones and auto-pair. Jabra tell me they do not support watch connectivity perhaps as they know it's not as good as the phones. Please sort this Fitbit and bring out a new version of the Ionic.  It's amazing watch but the bluetooth let's it down massively. I did get these headphones to pair once by resetting my watch but I cannot do this everytime and it doesn't work everytime either .

[HowDisTingWork]

Hello, my Fitbit Ionic won't pair with my apple airpods. I read that it supports 4.0 but I have the apple airpod pros with are bluetooth 5.0. Is there a way to still pair them so I can listen to music? Or is there an update coming which will support 5.0?