Fitbit Ionic will not even turn on

[MarkMiils]

Hi All,

Last night, I happened to wake up several hours early. When I looked at the fitbit, it was "off" for all intents and purposes. It didn't respond to any button commands. I didn't try to access it via the phone app at that time.

I got up and put it on the charger, thinking that could be the issue, but it was only a day out of the last charge.

No luck.

I cannot see it with the phone or online. None of the button sequences I have read about and tried worked. It did sync to the phone at 1:37 AM and reported 97% battery. 

I hasn't been wet or abused at all. It just acts like a dead battery, even though I have had a good battery life and the fitbit was talking fine before.

Any ideas? I have tried several button sequences, on and off the charger, and a couple chargers/cables with no luck.

I am bit ticked that it is a year old and appears dead. I am not aware of any updates, I have heard of issues there.

Are they any secret keystrokes or processes to reboot it. Even a factory reset is ok. I don't log my activity as much as I just use the momentary information.i just need my $250 device to start working again.

TIA,

Mark

[awdub]

Had similar problem.  Customer service was no help.  Very disappointed with the product and there is no such thing as a warranty with Fitbit.  

[afh]

Greetings Sir,

I'm on my second Ionic and just like the first one, this one has completely died after 15 months of service. I just ran across a closed 17 page thread of people who have had the exact same problem since this product was it was introduced.

No luck with customer service I'm afraid.....though I will say they were pleasantly unhelpful. 

Wish I had found that thread after the first one died.....I will not be buying a third Fitbit.

Good Luck......

[awdub]

Same here on that 17 page thread.  I don't undertsand why customer service is so hard to deal with.  The 30% offer on a new watch is a joke. I also have purchased my last fitbit.

[Berrybunch09]

My is doing the exact same thing as of today! Just bought a new charger thinking it was that but to no avail. So looks like I’m moving on to find another product!

[MarkMiils]

Yeah. I know. Fit-bit, for whatever reason, hates customers. Once they get your money, you can buzz-off as far as they are concerned.

[MichLee]

Good Afternoon,

Yes, having same problem.  It started over an hour ago.  My Ionic just started a slow blink of the Fitbit symbol.  I plugged it in and checked my phone to see if it was doing some sort of update.  Tried to shutdown and it won't do it.  I also called customer service and tried several things to no luck.  She gave me a reference # and said to wait for an email from Fitbit to assist because she exhausted all options to fix.  This is my second Ionic, first one lasted 2 years before the watch actually came apart. And now this one would be less than 2 years if there is not a fix.  

Oddly enough I also received an email yesterday indicating...Remember me, it's your fitbit...we should totally sync up sometime.  Yet I wear my Fitbit almost 24/7 except showering or swimming and I am very active daily.  Hopefully it is some general system upgrade they did not effectively push out and get it fixed.  Otherwise I will be very disappointed.  Wonder if it is just the Ionic version...

Anyway hope everyone has a safe New Years.

[MichLee]

Wow I tried one more time to shutdown by pressing all buttons at the same time and it worked...then success in restarting and reconnecting to account.

Fingers cross that it will last longer...

[Snail2020]

It's not you.  It's not even your particular watch.  I'm having the same problem (and have had it before).  There is obviously a bug that Fitbit need to fix..,QUICKLY.  Appreciate that it's not going to be sorted out on New Years Day but watches should not all suddenly stop working.  Mine was not syncing to my phone properly since yesterday morning so was losing time.  I've tried everything. Now stuck with fully charged Ionic with factory reset that will not transmit a bluetooth signal to connect to the app or computer.  I've had a fitbit since 2014.  Disappointing that the ionic is no longer made.  If it doesn't get resolved tomorrow I'm off to take it back (again).  Fortunately I've learnt and have an additional shop warranty for my fitbit so I can get it replaced for up to 3 years.  Think my patience with fitbit is running out.  Might be time to switch to Garmin.

[afh]

Greetings....the irony is I pulled my six year old Fitbit Surge out of a drawer, found the power cable and it seems to be working fine.

I really liked the Ionic (guess that's why I bought two) but I'm not buying another Fitbit product. This Surge will do for now but I'm looking at a Garmin or Apple for my next buy.

Happy New Year to you and yours....



Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone

[afh]

Good luck.....hope it works !!!



Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone

[SteveT54]

Oh dear. I'm also on my second Ionic in about 2 years. First one died and was replaced and now this one that's about 15 months old has done the same. Completely dead, will not charge or reset. Think this will be my last Fitbit

[tjrssnan]

Just pulled out my Ionic to charge yesterday. Sat in drawer since November 8th. Bought in May '20. Now it won't even turn on, charge. Completely dead.

[Bcmacl]

Yep, me too. I hadn't synced for a while so I tried to charge up and tried a restart to no avail. It turned off  easily enough and that's how it's been for the last two days. Won't re-start. 😣

[Ericws]

This happened to me, also, Mark. About 6 weeks ago.  My Ionic was working GREAT!  I plugged in to my laptop to recharge, expecting that it would be all ready for my 4-mile run the next morning, and it never woke up again.  Fitbit support is poor when the item is outside the warranty, and mine is outside the warranty.  I had the Ionic for almost 3 years.  I really liked it and a lot of the features, even if it was sometimes a tech challenge to do certain  things, like load in music.  

It was almost as if my Ionic got a kill shot somehow, because its demise was so sudden and complete, and happened while charging.  I could argue conspiracy theories about the Sense coming out, etc., but it does seem to me as though the Ionic just wasn't made to last all that long, which is a shame because there are not too many customer groups that can afford to buy new smartwatches every 2-3 years.

[MarkMiils]

I totally agree. My issue is the dismissive attitude in that their approach is "Oh, well. But, feel free to buy another one."

Then, they act like miracle workers by offering a discount, only to leave you miffed when you read the fine print and it only covers the basic models. 

I get that it was only a year warranty, but they have to know that this is a rare purchase for a lot of people. Also, with the horrid failure rate their products are having, they need to on top of that instead of just rolling out newer, more expensive models. People won't do it again once they get burned.
This isn't the 1950s car industry where no one cared because you were the only game in town. Fit bit has some serious competition that isn't getting shredded over quality and abusive customer service.

You're right, most people cannot afford to buy a new one every few years. They don't even buy regular watches this expensive, therefore expecting their smartwatch to have a long service life. 

Moderator edit: content 

[Berrybunch09]

Just contacted customer support and getting a new one shipped out. Luckily it’s under warranty but very sad it only lasted since June. Thing only lasted barely over six months.

[bertbasset]

So my Ionic (Adidas) watch stopped pairing (bluetooth) with my phone all of a sudden in the last week.  I noticed, because the time was out of Synch (about 30 mins) with my phone.  Tried to re-pair but no luck.  Restarted the Ionic.  Restarted my phone. Switched of Bluetooth etc.. Nothing

So decided to Shutdown the Ionic (Settings>About> Shutdown).  Now it is completely dead.  Nothing will restart the watch

Had been working "OK" for about a year - every now and again I have had to reset the phone

Now completely dead.  Maybe time for a change for me

Fitbit quality in truth has been poor.  Had a Blaze watch previously - had to be replaced twice owing to failures. 

Have tried to stick with Fitbit but think it is time to move on - especially given the closed ecosystem they have too