Distance Running Ionic battery life concern

[SunsetRunner]

As a fitness oriented sports watch, I would hope that the Ionic has been engineered for us marathoners in mind. So I've had my new Ionic for nearly a month now and I'm really concerned about battery performance while on long distance runs. Today was the second time this month my watch died mid-run during mile 8 of a 13 miler.  

I had it fully charged prior to the run, however I did modify the setting for the screen to continually show because its really annoying having to bump the screen just to check pace and time info. I've been spoiled with the years using my FitBit Surge, with its simplicity and efficiency.

I will continue experimenting with settings and next week I'll do the same run with the screen energy saver turned on -- but it'd be really disappointing if the Ionic's battery is incapable of surviving the distance of a half or full marathon.

As a long time FitBit user and loyal fan, I certainly hope future firmware updates will enable customization to the workout App to show battery life DURING the workout and also improve battery efficiency.  So far my experience with the Ionic has been the rockiest of all my FitBit products.

I just wish they'd have launched a Surge 2 which was perfect for runners needs.  I don't need or want a half-baked Apple Watch wannabe.

[MurryIvanoff]

You don't need the display to be always on. Set the screen to "auto" and just lift the Ionic in front of you just like you wanna see the time - and it'll show you all the stats you want. 

For me it easily lasts a half-marathon of trail running that way leaving the Ionic at around 55-60%. And I'm definitely not fast - we're talking about 7min/km. 

However, having assisted GPS (getting the GPS positioning from the phone) can definitely help with the battery life of the Ionic. I always run with my iPhone in me (seriously, who leaves the house without a phone those days?) and I think it makes a lot of sense for the Ionic to use the GPS from my phone when it's present. 

But with having the vivid screen always on during a run I can easily see how the Ionic can run out of battery within a few hours. The screen usually is the biggest energy drainer in today's electronics. 

[Kimmy1017]

This right here has been my biggest struggle with this watch! My surge was phenomenal until it died. Lasted all the way through my marathons and I could just glance at the display any time I wanted to see stats. This ionic has not survived a half marathon distance yet. I’m so disappointed. I have a marathon next weekend and have yet to configure settings to have this stupid thing not die on me. 

[Cyclonetog]

I bought the ionic specifically so that I can leave my phone behind, messing around with the phone and the uncomfortable arm band were killing my motivation. 

My requirements were/are GPS and on board music so that I don't need the phone, and sleep tracking. 

Luckily for me, I don't run to your standard, currently I'm a 5.5-6.5k runner. 

The only time I've had the thing die on me wasn't when I had the screen forced on, when I put it on charge it started at 22% so I guess the screen dragged the voltage down that much that the battery couldn't supply any current below 22%. 

I just got back from a 6.5k run with GPS and music and used 6% battery, so obviously about 1% per kilometre. 

Would the automatic cues be any use to you? I have mine set on every kilometre. I get a vibration which tells me the screen will be on for a few seconds to check my pace, and I can press the middle button at any other time to wake the screen, which I find easier than aiming for the screen while running. 

[kkling]

I will plus one this, I just got back from my morning run today. I left with a nearly fully charged Ionic, when I got back, I synced and am now at 72%. This was a light 20 minute run, if this is the kind of performance I should expect to see, this thing is going back to rei.

This is with screen set to auto looking down a few times to check hr. Which has been good while walking or at rest but kind of jumpy during running.

[Kimmy1017]

That’s what mine are set to... well miles not kilometers but that shouldn’t make too much of a difference I wouldn’t think.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this issue I’m having. I appreciate it.

Sent from my iPhone

[Kimmy1017]

That’s the problem I’m having too. Battery life is terrible with the running program. I always head out for a long run with a complete charge. By mile 12-ish it’s dead. I’ve lost important data on my long runs for my marathon training.

Sent from my iPhone

[AdamMSC]

Dang... that sucks. I am marathon training now, but I am at the beginning. So most of you are getting a dead watch by mile 12? That is pretty bad. 

[kkling]

So now I thought id test this. I started a run with gps on sitting on my desk. At 45 minutes in it dropped from 71% to 62%. Then I put it on to start heart tracking as well, now an hour later (1h43'36" to be exact) I'm down to 54%. We'll round up from my earlier run to 2 hours. That puts me dead tracker at 4 hours. with just gps and HR on if the drain is linear.

[pmdesign3]

Hi 

Did you get this sorted?

How long were you eventually able to run with GPS and music on ?

What settings allowed for best performance 

Marathon coming up on 12/16

Thanks 

[DavideFitbit]

Hello @pmdesign3, welcome to the Community forums. 

Congratulations for your marathon! Did you have specific questions about the GPS or music control features? Have you been testing them while running? 

I'd be great to hear from other users and see for how long they've been able to run with GPS tracking and Music control  working at the same time. Make sure to keep your battery level in at least 25%. This will help to keep all these features working at maximum capacity. 

Keep me posted. 

[Bonasa]

Hello. I have run a number of times continuously for over 3 hours with Ionic with GPS on with no issues whatsoever (I hope it stays that way). But I kept my screen saver as set up from the factory. It doesn't bother me, I just turn my wrist and the screen is on for a while...

[Kimmy1017]

I have never risked downloading music. The Ionic just doesn’t have the battery life to support it with longer runs.
My settings are as follows and I have had successfully completed 7 marathons this year with these settings:

Show Laps: Automatically
Automatic Lap Settings: 1 mile
Customize Stats: as you wish this is irrelevant
GPS: On
Auto-Pause: Off
Run Detect: On
Always On Screen: Off

Good luck on your marathon!!

Sent from my iPhone

[Giampi71]

The biggest hit on the battery autonomy is definitely the always on display. With always on display I succesfully run an half marathon at 2h 3' having at least 30% left (not using music) however. This is much better of my Polar m600 where I could run only 14 km before going dead (the battery, not me).

With display set on automatic (and listening music) I easily run a long run of around 3 hours finishing at 36% left so I think a marathon of around 4h-4:15 can be easily achieved.

[DavideFitbit]

Thank you for sharing your updates and suggestion about this topic @Bonasa and @Kimmy1017, I'm sure this will be useful to other users as well.