Firmware Update Bricked my Ionic, and Fitbit say's "Oh well, buy a new one."

[Nanoman66]

My Ionic started having sync issues so I reset it.  While it was on the charger at 100% battery, the app automatically started updating it when it reconnected after reset, and during the update the Ionic went black and disconnected and is now dead.  The screen will not come on, it will not reset, will not charge, and now I'm seeing whole forum posts all in the last two months that after a firmware push a bunch of Ionics are bricked...  So far, the support responses have been "Go buy a new one with our generous 25% discount."  What!?!?

[SunsetRunner]

My Fitbit died overnight again a few days ago and I was not able to resuscitate this time using either a reset or factory reset, so I guess I was just lucky last time.

I'm switching to a Garmin.

[rc26]

I'm a bit confused by this. Tonight I thought I bricked my Fitbit Ionic after running the latest Firmware update. Like many have posted, my screen went blank, pressing, and pressing and holding the left button did nothing, connecting to a charging cable did nothing. However, I did manage to get the Fitbit watch to turn on again after randomly deciding to press and hold all three buttons for maybe 20-30 seconds to see what would happen. The watch turned on. Is this the "reset" method that many of you have referenced? Fitbit tech support ever mention holding all three buttons? Did I just get lucky? Anyway, I just wanted to report that this worked. Because I have an android phone and clearly every version of the Fitbit App after 3.8 has been wildly unstable - for me at least - running Android 9, I got 3.8 installed again from the web and all is well again. 

[HeathersS]

I had the same issue. I would not recommend Fitbit after this experience. 

[HeathersS]

🤣 I find that hilarious. Perhaps they should pay attention to the forums!

[Badly2bent]

Fitbit Ionic has not been tracking steps or heart rate. Am getting very frustrated. Any suggestions. 

[SunsetRunner]

After my Ionic bricked for the second time I ditched it and bought a Garmin Forerunner 35. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles as the Ionic (if you want those, you'll need to go with a more expensive Garmin), but it has what I need, and it's tons more reliable than the Ionic. My review: https://blog.kamens.us/2019/12/25/review-fitbit-ionic-vs-garmin-forerunner-35/

[apersondek]

I had this same issue happen to me yesterday. Installed update at 12 pm, last sync'ed at 1:18 pm with 96% battery life. dead at 3 pm and I have tried many times to reset unsuccessfully. because mine is about 14 months old, and past one year warranty period. the only thing I was offered was a 25% discount. 

The fact that the tracker update bricked my fitibit Iconic is very disappointing. I am going to look at other smart watch options at this point. If I would have known this tracker update was causing issues, I NEVER would have installed it to begin with, as my watch/tracer was working fine without issue.

[mlrvpl]

had my ionic a year.  Tried the formware update because was told i should.  Bricked the device. $250 investment wasted because the vendors software crashed it?  Incredible.  Thanks Fitbit

[Tonyal74]

Yep same here. Warranty out so the ionic met the bin, I cancelled Fitbit premium and bought another brand. So upset I thought I might take a hammer to it but I'll just move on and put them on the "never buy from again and totally recommend against brand" list. Don't even talk to me about the flyers with the faulty on/off button. Goodbye forever Fitbit. 

[MisterrrT]

THIS is what happens when you have 5th graders developing your source code~! Everything with connectivity has always been an issue. 1980's tech to add music to your device. So with this update, my Ionic is bricked, and I got the same lame 25% off offer. I'm fed up with this company and will never buy any of their products again! I give them 5 more years at best before they file for bankruptcy at the rate they are losing customers!

[HotSauce1993]

Exact same issue. My phone was 89% when I looked at, went to look 30 minutes later and she was bricked. I've had to do the factory reset tricks tricks a few times in the past, I should have known that it was on its way out. Very poor. Solution is a 25% rebate. I just can't, in good conscience, dump dang near $500 (price for 2 of them w/ a rebate) into a device that has this many problems. I will be looking into Garmin or Samsung watches with GPS. So long Fitbit, she's been a good ride, but I need something that works.