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Device unresponsive after update

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‎10-11-2019 09:47 - last edited on ‎10-15-2019 20:30 by Fitbit Moderator

‎10-11-2019 09:47 - last edited on ‎10-15-2019 20:30 by Fitbit Moderator

Today my ionic was "upated" it is now a brick. won't turn on no lights on the sensors, attempted to reset, remove from the fitbit app, tried a factory rest. just won't turn on. Had a full charge 3 hours ago. So tired of spending hours/days messing with this product and its horrible update process. Every time I cross my fingers that it will work the first time. Any thoughts on how to "fix" my broken ionic while trying to update it?

 

Moderator edit: Updated subject for clarity 

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20 REPLIES 20

‎10-12-2019 16:46 - last edited on ‎01-15-2025 09:29 by Fitbit Moderator

‎10-12-2019 16:46 - last edited on ‎01-15-2025 09:29 by Fitbit Moderator

@Emsguy911 It's great to see you on the Community. Thanks for the troubleshooting tried and the details mentioned. 

Sorry to hear that you're experiencing this with your Ionic after the update. In this case, I've shared your post with our Support team, they will continue assisting you and providing you with options. 

I'll be around if you have any additional questions. 

Want to get more active? Visit Get Moving in the Lifestyle Discussion Forum.


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0 Votes

‎10-13-2019 14:29

‎10-13-2019 14:29

Did you get a solution from “Support”?   I came back from a walk and  did the updat with a 100% charge and now it’s bricked.

 

so goad I spent $250 5 months ago .  Should have went iWatch 😡.  
I will definitely be sharing my experience with the multiple running groups I am in.  

Best Answer

‎10-13-2019 16:04

In response to AngieRVA

‎10-13-2019 16:04

So...I got home put it back in the charger and waited. Finally, it started up three hours later. Maybe the battery went from 100% to nothing in 3 hours during the previous update, not sure. Upon starting the ionic kept asking me to unlock with my phone but I had already deleted it from the app, ugh.

 

So another factory reset time. Went to bed. Next morning it was working again. Then it forced another update, which I could not stop, which failed a couple times (as is usual for fit bit products, that I have purchased). I have not attempted another update but at least it's working, finally. 

 

Never will I buy another fit bit product. This process is the same every time, hours of fiddling over days to "solve" a problem with a bad OS.

Best Answer

‎10-13-2019 16:18

‎10-13-2019 16:18

Same exact thing happened to me last Thursday. In the middle of updating the software the Ionic turned off and I have been unable to turn it on since then. I've been through customer support and tried the various trouble-shooting options (two/three button restart, cleaning ports, changing outlet, etc.) without any success. They seem to think that it is a problem with the Ionic itself even though it was at full charge and working fine until I clicked update. If the issue is caused by their OS update, I would think that the replacement warranty should be extended or that there should be options to send the watch to be looked at and fixed rather than simply saying I can get a 25% discount on a few of their products to buy a replacement.

 

I've been a Fitbit user for years now, but the way this has been handled has really changed my perception. I'll likely be looking for a different product to switch to moving forward as well.

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‎10-13-2019 18:46

‎10-13-2019 18:46

This exact thing happened to me this afternoon when my IONIC tried to update. Black screen....nothing. Won’t restart. I’m hoping I will be one of the lucky ones that it will just restart after several hours. Right now I’m just pissed that I have wasted time and money🤬

Best Answer

‎10-13-2019 19:11

In response to SilviaFitbit

‎10-13-2019 19:11

Is there any official Fitbit response to this issue?

My Fitbit Ionic did the same thing - I went to update the firmware and then almost immediately, my Fitbit went black and isn't responding to a hard reset or being plugged in to charge.

I've unpaired my Fitbit with my app, logged out and tried to pair it again but my phone can't even find my Fitbit anymore. 

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‎10-14-2019 04:53

‎10-14-2019 04:53

Mine was bricked this morning when I woke up. Support said I was out of warranty and offered me a discount code. Looks like I won't be purchasing another fitbit product. 

Best Answer

‎10-14-2019 04:59

In response to AngieRVA

‎10-14-2019 04:59

The same thing happened to me.  My fitbit was working perfectly fine.  I saw that the fitbit had a software update so i put it on the charger and let it run its course.  When i returned the update had failed and my fitbit has been rendered useless ever since.  It is stuck in the beginning welcome screen and the update will not take.  I have tried more times then i would like to admit lol.   Support offered me 25% off another watch since my fitbit was 3 months past the warranty.  I am in no way spending additional money on another watch that fitbit's software update ruined in the first place.  My new apple watch looks pretty good on my wrist as we speak.

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‎10-14-2019 05:34

‎10-14-2019 05:34

Same thing here . Fitbit needs to remove the firmware . To many of their LOYAL customers have had their  Fitbit devices  unresponsive “bricked “ . .

To me this is a simple fix, remove the firmware , replace the Fitbit units that were ruined during the upgrade .

Create a testing environment where upgrades are rolled out to 100 to 1000 users with the understanding that the Fitbit would be replaced . DONT DO THIS TO THE PUBLIC AS MANY LOYAL CUSTOMERS NO LONGER HAVE A WARRANTY ON THEIR $300 IONIC.
I am not sure if the  development team or  Customer relations team vies these posts of customer complaints  but I am sad to see that many loyal Firbitters are losing their patience with what is four on and are moving to Apple watches .

FITBIT do the correct thing !

Best Answer

‎10-14-2019 05:54

‎10-14-2019 05:54

My Ionic took the update and has been fine until today when it became totally unresponsive. My app shows it synced at 5:30 a. m. And still had almost 100% battery. But it's totally bricked now. I plugged it back in to see if it might be revived. Any ideas? Very frustrating!! 

Best Answer

‎10-14-2019 05:57

In response to Msmiley14

‎10-14-2019 05:57

Dang I’m so jelly! That new Apple Watch is so crispy!!
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0 Votes

‎10-14-2019 06:09

In response to ClintThePirate

‎10-14-2019 06:09

Well i really wanted Fitbit to fix the Ionic because I love the battery life.  The Apple Watch Series 3 went on sale once the Series 5 came out so it costs 199 for non cellular.  The Ionic with the 25% discount came out to be about the same price so I ended up going with a Apple since they actually stand behind their product.  

Best Answer

‎10-14-2019 07:25

In response to Misskimlilac

‎10-14-2019 07:25

I received the same response from FitBit. Offered me discount, said my product was 3 months past warranty and was told that that it is a charging issue and not their firmware. I call BS. FitBit has lost my business🤨 

Best Answer

‎10-14-2019 07:30

In response to Linville

‎10-14-2019 07:30

We shall see what Fitbit does after all of us have bricked ionics. If it
were one or two it wouldn’t be a big deal but this is a pretty big group
now.
Best Answer

‎10-14-2019 07:49

In response to ClintThePirate

‎10-14-2019 07:49

My Ionic died after running the update last Thursday.. i have not been able to charge it, turn it on. I've contacted fitbit support and they offered me a 25% discount as well.  That hardly makes up for the $300 it cost. This is my 3rd Ionic in less than a year and a half. The first 2 quit syncing all together after 6 months. Fitbit replaced 1 after i tried all their technical support options. This latest one lasted barely a year. I too will look at purchasing another brand. Surely Fitbit can do better than a 25% discount considering it worked fine until their update was run. 

Best Answer

‎10-15-2019 19:41

In response to AngieRVA

‎10-15-2019 19:41

I have spent hours with “support” trying to resolve this and if all they’re offering is 25% discount to anyone that calls in with problems they will never get repeat customers. The supervisor I talked to today told me she’d never heard of this problem so I told her to read the forum because it’s full of them. 

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‎10-15-2019 23:03

‎10-15-2019 23:03

Hi,

 

same happend to me after updating my Ionic. The screen turned black, the heart rate sensor lights are off and my device is dead - after just 15 months of light usage.

 

I have sent couple of mails to the support team and mentioned posts and reviews on this and other web sites. Fitbit doesn't acknowledge that this seems to be an issue that happened to a lot of users in the last couple of days. The just told me warranty period of 12 months is over.

 

They offered 25% discount on a new Ionic, which is a joke as the Ionic is right now on sale on other websites (not fitbit.com) which translates to a "loyalty bonus" of 10 CAD.

 

Thank you fitbit, after being a loyal user for more than 6 years, I'm going to switch to a different brand.

 

I would encourage all users that have the same issue to post in this forum.

Best Answer

‎11-03-2019 05:17

In response to AlexVanB

‎11-03-2019 05:17

Same thing has happened to mine.. except it took a couple of days to not work properly and now it's just a fancy watch. Touch screen doesn't work, HR doesn't work and I've done everything I've been told to do. luckily mines in warranty but only just I think. Really pissed off they haven't brought out another update to fix all these bugs. 😡

Best Answer

‎11-03-2019 05:24

In response to Clefaiey

‎11-03-2019 05:24

Totally ridiculous they aren't owning up to the fact this firmware update
crashed people's fitbits and caused multiple problems for others. I'm glad
yours is still covered under warranty. I hope they send you a new one. I'm
out a $300 watch because of this firmware update. Needless to say that's
left me with bad feelings toward Fitbit and I'll be looking at another
brand. And I will definitely not recommend Fitbit to anyone. Good luck,
hope it works out better for you.
Best Answer