Fitbit Ionic feedback

[Sbgatov]

So I bought a Fitbit Ionic when my Blaze failed. (Just stopped holding a charge one day and died). I almost bought an Apple Watch, but decided to give Fitbit another chance. The Ionic doesn’t do all the things an Apple watch does, but the battery was a big plus for me. After dishing out just north of $300, I had one. I was content... Until it just stopped syncing and became absolutely useless. After many calls and emails to support they sent me a replacement. Mind you, this was about 3 months after purchase. Watch number 2 worked for about 3 more months, then it would just self drain the battery for an hour until it died. They sent me a brand new one in retail packaging, but that one wouldn’t sync either. This is all in the first 7-8 months. Just today my 4th one in just over a year died. I had 71% battery left in the morning, and when I looked at the time just past midday, it was off. I tried resetting, tried charging for a couple of hours.... nothing. After the 3rd one died, I demanded a refund, but they said only a replacement. I stopped showering with it on on my 3rd one. I have no idea what the 4th one’s problem is. I feel like no one should pay premium for dog feces, and at this point, I can’t call this product anything but that. Beware. Do not waste your money.

Moderator edit: updated subject for clarity

[Whistler888]

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@Sbgatov wrote:

So I bought a Fitbit Ionic when my Blaze failed. (Just stopped holding a charge one day and died). I almost bought an Apple Watch, but decided to give Fitbit another chance. The Ionic doesn’t do all the things an Apple watch does, but the battery was a big plus for me. After dishing out just north of $300, I had one. I was content... Until it just stopped syncing and became absolutely useless. After many calls and emails to support they sent me a replacement. Mind you, this was about 3 months after purchase. Watch number 2 worked for about 3 more months, then it would just self drain the battery for an hour until it died. They sent me a brand new one in retail packaging, but that one wouldn’t sync either. This is all in the first 7-8 months. Just today my 4th one in just over a year died. I had 71% battery left in the morning, and when I looked at the time just past midday, it was off. I tried resetting, tried charging for a couple of hours.... nothing. After the 3rd one died, I demanded a refund, but they said only a replacement. I stopped showering with it on on my 3rd one. I have no idea what the 4th one’s problem is. I feel like no one should pay premium for dog feces, and at this point, I can’t call this product anything but that. Beware. Do not waste your money.

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Yeah others have reported similar.  Device no longer works properly after a certain amount of time.  My first once lasted only one week and was deemed defective and immediately replaced.  This article talks about Fitbit business practices and what the Court in Australia enforced.  Seems apparent this manufacturers warranty needs to be voluntarily increased to 2 years worldwide based on the number of problems posted in this Help Forum.

https://www.news.com.au/technology/gadgets/wearables/fitbit-forced-to-offer-twoyear-warranty-after-a...

[JuanJoFitbit]

@Sbgatov @Whistler888 It's great to see you here in the Community! I'm really sorry about the experience you've had with your Fitbit trackers. I totally understand how frustrating this is for you and I appreciate your feedback and comments shared since this helps us to keep improving.

[Username863]

JuanJoFitbit - Sorry but not buying your comment as being sincere whatsoever. As I previously posted, I've had the same issues. Calling Fitbit gets you nowhere! Offered a 25% discount and an extra band...really??? Like many have reported buyer beware. Fitbit is a fraud! After reading other reviews, just figured out that my wife's watch suffered the same fate and died due to water damage...however she does not swim with it or shower with it yet it's water resistant??? We bought one of the first ones in Canada, this problem is clearly so widespread, yet it's likely only the beginning. Yup other companies can be awful at times as well, but this has been a first with this type of scenario. Never again, replaced my wife's Ionic with an Apple series 4 and what a difference! I paid $451.99 CAD when I pre-ordered this watch and after the frustrating conversation with Fitbit customer service yesterday, I walked into Best Buy with a smile on my face and spent $632.79 CAD on an Apple watch for my wife as the birthday present I got her in 2017 (the Ionic) was a garbage and she deserves better! Best money I've spent knowing full well that I will never have to experience dealing with Fitbit again.

[MarkDee56]

Sorry for your problems. I have owned my Ionic for over a year and it works welll. I have a Galaxy phone snd synching is not a problem. Thx.

[JuanJoFitbit]

@Username863 Thank you for sharing your feedback. I'm sorry for the inconveniences you had with your Fitbit products.

@MarkDee56 I'm so glad to hear that your Ionic is working properly. I'd like to invite you to visit our Discussions board where you can share your experiences, meet people and create new topics.

[Bufflyn71]

Sadly...I had exactly the same experience. Purchased the Ionic June 2018...worked like a charm..stopped syncing and then within a couple weeks, I found it completely dead. That was January 2019.  Tried all the recommendations and nothing.

Contacted Fitbit and they were kind enough to replace the watch..got the new one end of January and all was fine and guess what???? Same thing. Exactly 6/7 months and stops syncing and then dead. 

Unfortunately, the warranty doesn't cover the replacement watch. So within 13 months (literally my warranty finished the very end of June 2019) I've had 2 Ionics do exactly the same thing and customer support wants to say it is likely due to wear and tear.  I've head multiple Fitbits and this was the first one that I had an issue with.  Obviously, wear and tear is not the issue, something about the Ionic is faulty and they don't want to deal with it!!  Too bad...that will be my last Fitbit.  On to a bit more money and an iWatch!!

[capu57]

The ionic is GARBAGE.  I received one of this for Christmas 2017 then I dropped it and broke the glass on the screen in May of 2018.  Well class or screen replacement is not an options so I purchased a new one and it worked fine and great for all of 10 months.  At that time is stopped working altogether.  Would not charge, hard reset did nothing etc.  I contacted customer service the they replaced no charge because it was still under warranty or something.  Anyway so that was nice of them.  Clearly there is a defect here in the charging process that needs to be resolved. Well 5 short months later and the replacement is now doing the same thing except now it is out of warranty. So in 20 months I have basically spend almost $600 for this watch.  I understand 1/2 of that was my fault but I am not about to drop another $250 again for another one.  This also means I am totally done with fitbit.

[Lord_Hebron]

I feel your pain Sbgatov. I have had my Fitbit Ionic for just over a year. Total **ahem**. The music (I used Pandora premium) works intermittently at best. When discussing via these forums I usually get the Fitbit tech version of "did you turn it off and on again?" Also, re-syncing on a daily basis and factory reset have been suggestions. Not exactly what I expected for a $200 watch. It seems the compatible devices are all top of the line, expensive phones. Guess what? I just bought a $200 to $300 dollar watch, I didn't want to throw down another $700 for a "compatible" device. The best part is, I just got a Google Pixel 3a that is utterly useless with the Ionic. Quite amusing considering who owns Fitbit. It seems that the Ionic has all but been put on the back burner and most updates don't really fix compatibility issues. I guess the only plus is the Ionic does everything it is supposed to in the fitness watch category. It just falls way short in the smart watch category. I don't intend to buy another fitness watch for a while considering the price but I guarantee it won't be a Fitbit. Just to clarify my issues (that have also been discussed on other parts of this site):

*Gear: Fitbit Ionic,Google Pixel 3a, and JBL Endurance Sprint earbuds*

1) Did a factory reset once I got Google Pixel 3a just to start fresh. WILL NOT detect via bluetooth during the initial Fitbit setup phase. I had to install the app on my Ipad, do the setup, then sync back to the phone once the Fitbit was setup.

2)Even once synced, at least once a day I get a "cannot find device" error when trying to sync my activity via the app

3) Android music control features require syncing to the Ionic and the Ionic Classic (why?) which drops frequently, making the music control in my vehicle useless since I can't resync while driving.

4) If using Pandora to stream, the music starts to cut in and out if also tracking exercise

5) Text notifications have never worked on any Android device I have tried. Works fine on Apple (that one is mind boggling to me)

Probably more that I am forgetting, but you get the point!