Fitbit Ionic - GPS Battery Usage

[16jillian]

Good afternoon,

When using my new fully charged Fitbit Ionic on GPS to monitor a run, it only lasts for (1) hour before the battery is completely flat '0' - 

My first use as a new watch was for the Melbourne Half Marathon in October, and the GPS lasted for under 10km = 1 hour.  I assumed I hadn't charged it properly.

I have turned the watch off and re-started it, but I still have the same issue.

The battery is ok for a few days just on time but not if using the GPS, the battery runs out really quickly.

This is the 3rd Fitbit I have owned an as an expensive fitness watch I expected better.

Please advise.

Moderator Edit: Personal Info Removed/Updated Subject for Clarity

[wtksk8r]

That is not normal. I use mine when I walk the dog and in half hour the battery is down about 5% more than during normal use. One hour should not drain the battery all the way to 0. 

Do you know the firmware version of your Ionic? you can go the settings page on the web to check:  https://www.fitbit.com/settings/profile  

If restarting has not cleared it up the next step might be a factory reset. This is kind of drastic but not hard. If that does not work then it might be time to talk to customer service.  https://help.fitbit.com/?l=en_US&cu=1&fs=ContactUs

[16jillian]

Good afternoon and thank you for your reply - the firmware version is
27.32.10.20
regards Jillian Freeman

[wtksk8r]

OK. Mine is 27.32.12.19.  I did not have any issues with the GPS with prior versions either. Not sure if an upgrade will help you. Need to talk to customer service for that.

[16jillian]

I am in the process of doing a factory re-set....

[wtksk8r]

Hope that helps. 

[Colinm39]

@16jillian.. You may find the factory reset will help, but I found 3 restarts delayed my battery issue which I had in August.. I made sure I documented it, submitted my findings via email to Support and within 3 days a new Ionic..

My "odd" problem was, at about 4 days I was getting a very sudden discharge from say 60% to zero in a couple of hours.  If I noticed the discharge, I did a simple restart and that stopped the discharge.   So inwardly I was blaming software, I have had two firmware upgrades since then and no issues on the new watch. I'm at 27.32.12.19, but I notice there is 27.32.12.24 at this link

I say document, because I went through the hoops like... "Are you charging it through the USB port of the computer", etc.. 

When I had normal use of the Ionic, no GPS, just Workouts, 24/7, plenty of Fitbit Pay and all notifications I would get about 6 days.. As of today  I get on average, 6 days between charges.

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@16jillian wrote:

I am in the process of doing a factory re-set....

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[16jillian]

thank you - I have just completed the factory reset and downloaded version
27.32.12.19
so I will see how it works from here.
no good if the GPS doesn't go the distance on a half marathon !!
cheers Jillian

[SantiR]

@16jillian Welcome to the Fitbit forums! Thanks for taking the time to report the situation you experienced with your Ionic's battery while using GPS. GPS battery life should last up to 10 hours (depending on use) as there are other factors that may also draining your battery quickly; check them out here.

Thank you very much for downloading the latest OS version for your Ionic. I'm sure this will help you out with this. Please try it out and let me know the functionality then.

@Colinm39 @wtksk8r Hello! I just wanted to thank you for providing your awesome help and experience on this thread. I'm sure this will help a lot. Thanks for your contribution. 

Keep me posted! 

[16jillian]

Thank you for all your suggestions - I will be using the GPS tomorrow
(Thursday) so will let you know.
I don't have any music loaded and no notifications while the GPS is on !!

[SantiR]

@16jillian Thanks for your reply and for sharing those details. That sounds good! I hope everything will go out well! 

In he meantime, please take a look at the Discussions Board as you will find a lot of interesting things there. Feel free to post on any thread you want. If you are looking for Fitbit friends to compete with on challenges, check this thread to add some! 

Keep me posted!