Experience with Fitbit Ionic

[Roper12]

I have been a loyal user of Fitbit products for nearly a decade. Why, I have no idea. I recently upgraded to the Ionic hoping that Fitbit improved its tracking technology. I was wrong...Fitbit still does a poor job of logging flights of stair as has been the case with every version of every product of Fitbit that I have used over the past 10 year. Ionic is no better than my Surge and the all of the iterations of Fitbits I used before that...stairs is very important to me and should be to everyone. But Fitbit does a horrible job in tracking my stair training. Also, it Ionic is terrible at syncing with my Samsung Note 9 phone. And finally, while the it was easy to find your stairs count, steps, miles, etc on the Surge, it is difficult on the Ionic. You need to swipe multiple screens just to get your flight count...terrible. So I am done with Fitbit. I am looking at other trackers and found two that are more user friendly than the Ionic and track better than the Fitbit. My loyalty ends here..the Ionic is not worth the money.

Moderator edit: updated subject for clarity

[MarreFitbit]

Hey there @Roper12! Sorry to hear about the inconveniences you've been having with your Fitbit Ionic. Thanks you for the thorough feedback for the Fitbit environment, customer service and devices. This has not gone unnoticed and be sure that I will pass this along.

We don't want to create frustration in our customers. Fitbit has been designed to provide motivation and help you to reach your daily goals to success. Please know that we provide feedback to our team based on community posts and we are always working on improving our devices and overall environment based on that feedback.

In regards to the latest Fibit OS update on your Ionic, I'd recommend to see: What's changed in the latest Fitbit OS update?

On the other hand, Fitbit devices that count floors have an altimeter sensor that can detect when you're going up or down in elevation. Your device registers one floor when you climb about 10 feet at one time. It does not register floors when you go down.

10 feet is an average between residential and commercial floor heights. If the floors you're climbing are shorter than 10 feet, you may find that the Fitbit tracker's floor count doesn't exactly match how many floors you've gone up. For example, if you climb 3 floors that are 8 feet tall (for a total gain of 24 feet), then the Fitbit tracker might only tell you 2 floors because it assumes that each floor is 10 feet tall and this is what happens to my at my granny's home. 

Fitbit devices do not count the elevation gains simulated from a StairMaster, inclined treadmill, or other stationary exercise equipment. Your device uses changes in barometric pressure to detect elevation change, and therefore requires that you physically change elevation in order to properly record floors.

Another cause of inaccurate floors is moisture. Have you checked that already? For example, the pathway to the altimeter on the back of your tracker can become clogged temporarily with sweat. 

Speaking about your Note 9, I'm afraid to say that the reason of why you're experiencing syncing issues may be due to your phone is not yet a compatible device with the Fitbit app. Note that the devices on this list have been confirmed as fully compatible with all features of Fitbit devices and the Fitbit app. While a phone or tablet may not be verified as fully compatible, the Fitbit app may still work with your device. 

Our team routinely test new devices to ensure full compatibility with Fitbit devices and the Fitbit app, and are constantly working to confirm compatibility with new phone models. Be sure to verify that your phone meets the minimum operating system requirements. Note that the majority of Android phones running version 4.4 or higher will work with our products. 

If your phone supports Bluetooth 4.0, I'd recommend giving the setup flow a try to see if you can successfully connect your tracker. 

Please keep in mind that when a device is not supported we cannot guarantee its functionality with the Fitbit app. It might work at a certain time and then it can stop working out of nowhere after an update. This is because the app is not optimized to that device and any change could impact the performance. 

Let me know if there's anything else I may assist you with. 

[Roper12]

The device id brand new out of the box. There are no moisture issues. As for syncing, I have a Samsung Note 9 and it synced well with the Surge. As for stairs, your formula and sensors do not work regardless of the incline physics. Accessing critical exercise data is very cumbersome with this device Overall, this is a poorly engineered product that does not seem to be ready for primetime. 

[MarreFitbit]

Thanks for getting back @Roper12! I totally understand your point, however, the Note 9 is not officially supported by the Fitbit app. As mentioned above, we cannot guarantee its functionality with the Fitbit app. It might work at a certain time and then it can stop working out of nowhere after an update. This is because the app is not optimized to that device and any change could impact the performance. 

The devices on this list have been confirmed as fully compatible with all features of Fitbit devices and the Fitbit app. While a phone or tablet may not be verified as fully compatible, the Fitbit app may still work with your device. 

I saw that you've been in touch with our support team, if you have any questions, please reply to the email created with them so they'll be more than glad to assist you.