Ear Buds Report Thread

[Dudemanbubba]

In an effort to try and help others weed out bluetooth ear buds that the Ionic does not work with, I figured I would offer my experiences.  The first pair I ordered worked fine and I had no idea that there were the issues out there with volume control and bluetooth signal cutting out that so many have dealt with.  However, the ones I got were basic with no charging case and the battery life required full charging after each 1-1/2 hour walk that I do every day or it wouldn't make it through the next walk.  So I tried to order ones that had a better track record for battery life with a charging case.  The second brand I tried had the no volume control issue.  The third brand I tried worked as long as I wasn't moving with the GPS.  That is when I discovered all of the shortcomings of the Fitbit Ionic as it relates to bluetooth ear buds...  All threads on this forum and my discussions with Fitbit tech support are non-committal with the "we are working on it..." response.

So for anyone that wants a set of bluetooth ear buds that work, the "True Wireless Headphones, Goodsail TWS Bluetooth V4.1 Mini Sport Earbuds" on Amazon for about $25 work out of the box.  I believe they are the type that both ear buds pair to each other first and then one of them (I believe is the left as the master) pairs with the Ionic.  I think the only reason it works for me is that the master is on the left side which is where I wear the watch.  If I wrap my arm around my other side, it cuts out similar to the others.  Sound quality is adequate.  A little tinny but good enough to enjoy for my walks.

Ture Wireless Earbuds, Parihy Revolutionary Bluetooth4.2 Sports Earpieces on Amazon were about $60.  But, the volume could not be controlled.  Sound was pretty good but too dang loud and I couldn't adjust.  I did not test the headphones while walking since I could not adjust the volume.

The True Wireless Bluetooth Earbuds MAOKOT Truly Wireless Stereo Headphone Mini Twins run for about $60 on Amazon.  They would cutout when moving with the GPS enabled.  Although, I was able to pair just the left ear bud with the Ionic and it works by itself fine.  The right one by itself cuts out and does not work while moving.  These had the overall best sound quality of the three that I have tried.

Hope this helps others while Fitbit gets their act together on this...  If others out there have other headphones that work or don't work, it is helpful to inform those who are struggling!

[SantiR]

@Dudemanbubba Welcome to the Fitbit family! Thank you very much for sharing this report and your experience with us! I'm pretty sure this will help other users as well!

Another good headphone that works very well is the Fitbit Flyer, but I guess you already know that! 

If any other user can share their experiences with headphones that work well with Ionic, please feel free to post it here! 

See you around! 

[cybergal]

Thank you for sharing. Wish I had seen this before I bought some. I bought the headphones listed below and after getting through all the pairing issues with the Ionic, got them paired but then they had reconnection issues with the ionic after being powered off and then back on. Also volume control would not work from the Ionic so can not use them with it. The headphones work fine with my Samsung phone though. 

Avantree IPX5 Sweatproof TWS Wireless Earbuds, True Wireless Stereo Bluetooth 4.2 headphones Cordless Earphones with Mic, Secure Fit for Sports.

[SantiR]

@cybergal Welcome to the Fitbit family! Thanks for reporting this here! I have seen this before and there are a couple of steps you can try to better the connection between the two.

Please try this out:

• Restart your Ionic.
• Un-pair your headphones (once paired) and then pair them again.

This has helped other users in the past, it is worth trying that out!

Hope this helps. Let me know how it goes! 

[Oregongr8]

Will not sync to my tzumi ear buds so frustrating 

[SantiR]

@Oregongr8 Welcome to the Fitbit Community! Thanks for posting on this thread regarding the connectivity between Ionic and your Tzumi earbuds.

I've seen that some headphones/earbuds need to get into "Bluetooth pairing mode" for the Ionic or any other device to find them. Do yours have something like that?

What happens when you try to pair them to your Ionic?  Have you tried restarting it and then pairing the earbuds again?

Keep me posted! 

[USAF-Larry]

@Oregongr8, from the Tzumi product manual:

"If you are having trouble pairing your Bluetooth Stereo Wireless Headphones or your ProBuds Sport Series Wireless Stereo Earbuds, please note that you may need to press and hold the multi-function button while powering on the headphones or earbuds, then continue holding down the button until you see a red and blue light flashing – this indicates pairing mode."

Moderator Edit: Format

[Wizegeezer]

Anker Soundbuds Curve works well with my Ionic.  They paired right away and I've never had a problem connecting.  Sound is OK for music and fine for podcasts / audiobooks.  I use them while running and have never had a problem with the headphones disconnecting.  Audio controls on the headphone work fine to control volume,etc.  12 hour battery life is why I bought them.   Often on sale for under $20 at Amazon.  https://www.amazon.com/Anker-SoundBuds-Headphones-Waterproof-Sweatproof/dp/B0721MP41Q/ref=sr_1_3?ie=...

[Oregongr8]

@USAF-LarryWell it worked on the left bud but the right one just won’t pair thanks though one is better than none. I will win this battle not the ear bud!!! 

[werionae]

Wireless earbuds Borofone Be8 works with Fitbit Ionic  better than I could have expected. Sound quality is fine and decent, keep connection, my ears get comfortable with them + one more benefit is really good battery life (~5,5h - 6h). I can recommend them. 

[dgb2n]

I've got the Jabra Sport Elite ear buds. Pretty good ear buds.  Work great with my iphone.  When I started using them with my Ionic I found that they worked fine when I am just sitting and listening to them (starting up my music before a run) but once I start the workout with GPS tracking they only connect intermittently.

After a bunch of troubleshooting and reloading the software/firmware, I am almost 100% sure I know what is happening.  My guess is that in an effort to maximize battery life, the Ionic limits the bluetooth transmit power when it is also using the GPS chip (another battery drain).  It starts a bad connection almost immediately when I turn on the GPS and if I move the watch closer to my right ear (the receiver part on this set of ear buds) it plays fine.  Switching the watch to my right wrist seems to make it function acceptably.  I don't like my watch on that wrist but I'm putting up with it.

This is not unlike issues with other fitness watches out there that play music.  Garmin has a list of headphones that they know work with their watches and they specify whether it is right wrist or left wrist or both. 

I'd recommend that if this feature is important to you, look for a set of wireless ear buds where the receiver is in the ear that corresponds to the wrist that you wear the Ionic on. 

[Hebrews12-1]

I'm using TREKZ AIR Aftershokz.  They seem to work pretty good.  There are a few quirks.

1.  They don't appear to support multi-pair.  So, as I had them paired with my phone, I needed to turn the bluetooth off on my phone before attempting to connect the headset to my Ionic.  I've found it easier to just un-pair them from my phone and since then I've not had any major issues getting them to connect to the Ionic

2.  The audio is usually pretty good with the occasional dropout.  However on a few occasions the dropouts have been so bad it is annoying (every 2-3 seconds).  Once in this state if I hold the ionic close to the headset the dropouts will go away so it appears to be a signal strength issue.  I've taken to rebooting my Ionic before each run and so far this seems to have helped.  It is hard to say for sure if this has resolved it though because it doesn't happen very often.

What I really like about this headset is they are bone conduction so they don't actually go in your ear.  This is helpful as it better allows you to hear traffic and doesn't collect sweat in your ears the way earbuds do.  The sound probably won't please an audiophile but I'm happy with the sound quality.  They sound as well if not better than the last pair of earbuds I used.