Fitbit Ionic not working

[MultiMartin]

I've been an Ionic user for about 18 months now and, despite a few niggles, have been generally happy with the Ionic and the eco-system Fitbit provides.

I was really pleased new apps started to be released like the Couch to 5K Trainer and decided to use it yesterday and go for a run. It was all going really well when I raised my arm to see the progress of my run. To my surprise the watch did not light up and I assumed that it had crashed because the battery was about 80% charged. I was listening to music through Deezer at the time with Apple Airpods.

However, it turns out that the Ionic had actually bricked and was completely unresponsive. I tried charging the device with both a charger and a laptop, tried restarting it using the right and bottom left button and even tried to factory reset it by pressing all three buttons. I then spoke to Fitbit Support who confirmed this was the case.

Thankfully I have a repair plan with the shop I bought the Ionic from and they were able to exchange it for a new Fitbit Ionic: adidas edition.

Has this happened to anyone else? I don't know if it was the C25K app, Deezer or the headphones which cause it to brick and I'm slightly anxious to try any of these apps again!

Moderator edit: updated subject for clarity

[fredegar]

This is strange, literally the exact same thing happened to me at about 20:30 GMT (a few hours ago). Everything was fine, battery was at about 50%, I went to check the time, and nothing, dead as a dodo. The Fitbit app says it last synced at 20:11. I've tried rebooting by holding the left and bottom buttons, to no avail.

Thing is, I'm going travelling for two weeks tomorrow, so a) this is a huge pain and b) I won't be able to return the device if this doesn't get sorted until I get back.

Running latest app and OS.

Anyone else with a suddenly bricked Ionic?

[MultiMartin]

Had you updated to Fitbit OS 3.0? I am wondering if it is an issue with the update as opposed to the apps?

[jac7991]

I've just experienced the same thing. I updated to 3.0 on 12/22, everything had been working fine. This morning it was working, as the alarms I had set went off, but later on in the morning, when I raised my arm to check the time, the screen did not turn on, I pressed the left button and still nothing. I have since tried resetting it, connecting it to the charger for over an hour, and factory resetting, nothing has worked. 

[MultiMartin]

---

@jac7991 wrote:

I've just experienced the same thing. I updated to 3.0 on 12/22, everything had been working fine. This morning it was working, as the alarms I had set went off, but later on in the morning, when I raised my arm to check the time, the screen did not turn on, I pressed the left button and still nothing. I have since tried resetting it, connecting it to the charger for over an hour, and factory resetting, nothing has worked. 

---

This is really concerning! So it appears that it’s not actually the apps but the OS. I wonder if anyone from Fitbit can comment on this?

[fredegar]

Hello all.

Sorry for going silent, but I was going travelling for two weeks the day after my Ionic bricked itself, so couldn't deal with it till now.

I rang Fitbit support, and they've sent out a replacement. Oddly, the last time my Ionic died (which was a screen issue) they made me send in the defective one before they sent out a replacement, but this time they've just sent the replacement and told me to recycle the dud.

I had updated to the latest Fitbit OS, but I hadn't tried out any new apps.

[patpawks1]

My Ionic just bricked on me as well. Was on the latest OS, and everything was going fine until I plugged it in to charge it for the weekend. Screen went black, hasn't come back on since. Contacted support but they told I was 7 days past my 1 year warranty therefore they couldn't help me...

What a piss off if you ask me! They gave me a 25% off coupon for my troubles, but I have gone through 2 Ionics already.

[ninjaboyhya]

I also had this problem. I definitely think it was the new OS, but I don't really have a way to prove that.
I bought my Ionic in February of 2018.  It ran just fine for nearly a year, but bricked shortly after the fitbit OS update. It was within a year of purchase so Fitbit sent me a new one. That lasted another few weeks and then bricked. I just called in to customer support and they won't replace because it's after a year. They offered me a 25% off coupon, but that seems like a pretty crappy solution.  I see no reason to spend another $225 ($300 * .75) on a device which is obviously plagued with issues. I really like the fitbit app/ecosystem, but I can't really rationalize dropping another couple hundred bucks on a device which they broke with a software update and won't replace. 

[Babalookan]

Last night my fitbit synced at 11:25 PM CDST (Chicago US).  It won't do anything today it had 53% at the time i went to bed so it should have lasted. it doesn't say 0% on the screen. The app says it is still at about 50%.  It will not charge, it will not turn on, I am at a loss i use it everyday for my steps

[mhanwell]

My Fitbit Ionic just bricked same story, searching for any tips, but it sounds like it is done. Fitbit offered a 25% off coupon as others said, but otherwise told me I was out of luck. Not impressed, may not get another one as the watch worked great, last night ran out of charge, this morning nothing. Tried resets, cleaning contacts and changing charger 

[Bricked_Ionic]

Amazing at how many Ionics have been bricked barely out of warranty. There was a huge thread of people reporting the issue that Fitbit mods shut down. It's a shame that most of the people on this board are reporting bricked units. Fitbit should be giving customers money back instead of asking them to clear their inventory of bad products with dinky coupons.

[ninjaboyhya]

I don't even want my money back personally.  I like fitbit's ecosystem a lot. I would take a working ionic or if there was a new model out I'd consider buying it in the hopes that they fixed the issue, but I will 100% not be spending money to rebuy an Ionic considering it's pretty obvious it's a defect and especially considering they obviously haven't resolved the issue. 

Moderator edit: Format

[RicardoFitbit]

Welcome to our Community Forums @mhanwell @Bricked_Ionic and @ninjaboyhya, I'm happy to assist. 

@mhanwell Thanks for your comments and sharing your experience with our Support team. I'm sorry to see that you feel that way. If you have additional questions about their resolution I suggest you to contact them back for more information and details about this. Also, I recommend you to check Return Policy and Warranty for any inquiries regarding our policies. 

@Bricked_Ionic @ninjaboyhya I appreciate the feedback that was submitted about our Fitbit Ionic. Note that we're always striving to improve our products and services, therefore, the feedback that was submitted help us to evaluate our procedures for future reference. 

I'll be around. 

[cffhello]

ya mine also stopped working

but my battery died first and now will not come back on

this is my third fit bit product i dont think that there will be a forth time to try something different

customer service sucks watches last just over a year and when you are spending 300 a shot a year is not very long to only be offered 25% off

[rahulganatra]

Same thing has happened to tons of people on this forum. Bricked with no resolution and that too suddenly. happened to me too. unfortunately 90% of ppl on whom device has bricked upon are out of warranty it seems, including me. Went through ordeal with support but unfortunately warranty is over and i seeem to cant do much and have to live with dead ionic  after 17 months or so of use. never back to fitbit products in life seeing so many issues with many devices

[SunsetRunner]

Add me to the list.  This is the second time my Ionic is completely dead.  The battery was at 50%.  Went to check the time and it was completely unresponsive.  

I purchased my Ionic back in December of 2017.  About 6 months into having the Ionic I experienced this.  I found a solution at that time on the internet that woke the watch up.  It had nothing to do with holding this button and then releasing that button, etc.  It had something to do with my app/ software associated with the watch.  I can't exactly recall what it was (and I should have written it down) but it had nothing to do with charging, etc.  Sounds strange but once I did what the solution said the watch "woke up" and functioned fine up until two days ago.  If I can find that post again and I'm successful "waking up" my watch I will post the solution.

[SunsetRunner]

14 months old and my Ionic is dead. Last synced at 10pm. It is ridiculous to see everyone facing the same issue just outside of warranty period. Fitbit needs to fix this!!! 

[Irishwolf66]

Yes, Ionics are bricking all over, mine died last week. Fortunately only had it for 4 months so getting a free replacement but this sounds like a serious product flaw and not just isolated instances. Guessing my replacement will have the same issue as I have not heard that Fitbit has addressed the issue at a production level QI intervention.

[trobbins]

My ionic stopped communicating with both my phone and computer. so I did a factory reset. The phone communicates with the watch now. But I have to do a software update so I can actually use the watch. Well 8 hours later, it hasn't even reached 25% finished. the download failed and started all over. I am really disappointed in this watch. 

[hades666]

I had a similar experience before mine died. When you Factory reset it,
connect it to WIFI and it will install correctly. When attempting via
Bluetooth, it failes 99% of the time.

Hope yours doesn't die like the rest of ours.