Fitbit Ionic

[TimMont]

I am now on my third Ionic in a year.  It is not waterproof and I didn't take it in extreme conditions.  Please beware if you get it wet.  It has about a 6 month life,  I have had three different Fitbit products and am a loyal customer.  I will never buy from this company again.  I spent a lot of money that I should of spent on a iWatch.  The customer service was not helpful the first time and very helpful the second time.  They must know the product is inferior.  Too bad I really like the functionality.  

[YojanaFitbit]

Nice to see that you're digging into the Forums @TimMont, let me give you a warm welcome to our Community. 

We're glad to see you around, thank you for the thorough feedback for the Fitbit features, customer service and devices. This has not gone unnoticed and be sure that I will pass this along.

Sorry to hear what happen to your Fitbit devices! I know that you maybe questioning about the quality of Fitbit, but I assure you that we test our Fitbit before releasing them to the market and we expect the highest quality in our products and services. Please know that we provide feedback to our team based on community posts and we are always working on improving our devices and overall environment. Thanks again for sharing your thoughts. 

Let me know if you need anything else.

[TimMont]

I am sad that that my experience with the Ionic have not been so great,  We have competitions at work and I generally talk positive about the product.  The next replacement I get I won't get anywhere near the water.  Maybe it will last more than 5-6 months.  It is not waterproof!

[GPHasher]

I'm more than a bit surprised and greatly concerned by your experience with an Ionic when it gets wet. I'm not a Fitbit owner yet but have been evaluating all of the different devices out on the market with the intent to buy one soon. Everything I've seen about the Ionic indicates that it is Water Resistant up to 50M so just getting it wet shouldn't be a problem. The information posted on their web page says " Wear your watch in the pool or rain & use it to track swim workouts with stats like lap counting, duration and calories burned.". So, unless you're scuba diving at a depth greater than 50 meters, you shouldn't be experiencing this kind of problem. I'd call customer service back and demand to speak to a supervisor or someone who actually has the ability and knowledge to help you get a replacement at no charge. The response you received from YojanaFitbit was worthless.

[SunsetRunner]

@GPHasher I think it may be that the majority of Ionics do work in the water indeed. I had a few good swims with Ionic but it was the shower that caused issues in my case. I got "only" glitchy display ( so at least it didn't die on me ) but since then I don't take Ionic anywhere near the water and take off before showering.

[phnichols]

There have been a huge number of people who report issues when showering with the watch on. I believe the heat, humidity, and water pressure do nasty things to the adhesive holding the face onto the watch. And once water gets in there, failure is going to happen at some point. A cold shower is certainly safer than a long hot shower would be. Repeat that every day over the course of a year or so, and it's no wonder there are problems.

I never understand why someone would choose to shower with the watch on. Fitbit absolutely needs to make a better product and support it far better when it does fail, but users have to understand that showering while wearing this device isn't wise. 

For those of you who haven't showered with the watch and have still experienced issues, I feel your pain. Fitbit's business model has devolved into introducing "new" devices that are watered down versions of existing ones, while refusing to update or support the devices customers already own. Customer loyalty is hard-earned in today's marketplace and Fitbit clearly doesn't value the concept enough to prioritize it.

[SunsetRunner]

@phnichols I wasn't taking off my watch when I was taking a quick shower in the gym. Later I did clean it but didn't want to leave it in the locker.

Moreover, Fitbit claims you can shower with Ionic and several other devices:

"All Fitbit trackers and watches are water-resistant, which means they're rain-proof and splash-proof and can stand up to even the sweatiest workout. You can swim or shower with certain Fitbit devices."

https://help.fitbit.com/articles/en_US/Help_article/1598

[GPHasher · Accepted solution]

I think this comes under the heading Caveat Emptor - Buyer Beware. After doing my research on this and other fitness trackers/smartwatches, I went ahead and ordered the Ionic today. I was leaning toward getting the Versa with the NFC chip but I found the Ionic for only $2 more so, that became a no-brainer. While 90% of my exercise activity is walking/running, I also bike and having the onboard GPS is extremely appealing at a $2 differential. I do believe that based on the many comments I've seen here that I'll be taking it off when I hop in the shower.