Fitbit Surge vs. Fitbit Ionic

[JimPaisley]

I have had a Fitbit, Surge model, for a year or so, and really like it.  The battery life of the Surge keeps getting shorter and I am considering purchasing the Fitbit Ionic.

What is the main difference between the two?

Thank you for your assistance.

Sincerely,

Jim Paisley

[SunsetRunner]

Why is your Surge' s battery life getting shorter only after one year? Is this a quality issue or some other problem?

[ForestGump101]

I had the surge first and now brought the ionic. The mean difference is the surge works amd ionic doesn’t. Seriously save you hard earned money and get the product named after the fruit. Least that will work! Search for yourself though then make your mind up.

[mcbooth]

I had the Surge and now have the Ionic. Main use is running so i will focus on that

Pros:

Stores music so you can listen to music when running without carrying your phone

More of a smart watch than the Surge

Looks better than the Surge

Better battery life than Surge

Ionic gets a GPS lock more quickly

Cons:

Surge screen was always-on which was great when running to check progress. Ionic you have to flick your wrist to enable it. You can set it to always-on for the run, but it will smash the battery

[JimPaisley]

Thank you for yours detailed response.


I am still considering what I will do. It appears to me, that even taking the pros and cons into consideration, I may be better with a new Surge when it is absolutely needed as a replacement.


Best regards-


Jim Paisley

[SunsetRunner]

@JimPaisley

I have both. And both work(ed) well, albeit with minor issues for both.

Surge GPS was spotty, took forever to lock some days and wasn't very accurate, but the heart rate tracked really well for me. No special position to get it to read accurately. Just the opposite with the Ionic. Heart rate has that annoying huge glitch right at the beginning of almost every run (and wearing it in the prescribed location does not solve the issue) and some people believe it is upwards of 10 bpm low (I don't see this, myself), but the GPS is much more accurate and locks in seconds - usually less than 30. Even the elevation works on the Ionic rather well. It never worked on the Surge.

With the same usage pattern, the Surge battery lasted 3 days at best - even the brand new one I got as a replacement (cracks where the mounting screws show through). (**And yes, I've noticed my Surge battery doesn't seem to hold a charge as long as it used to.) Ionic is usually 5 days. I can get a 12 mile Sunday run, a 6 mile on Tuesday, and two 1 hour gym workouts Monday and Wednesday before I charge the Ionic Wednesday evening. Even then, I don't really have to, but I like to make sure I'm set for my next run Thursday morning. Usually charge it at around 30%.

Surge firmware hasn't been updated since I got my original one in 2015. No, I do not count this last update as an actual update since it didn't solve any of the common complaints users had. I doubt you'll see any more updates to the Surge. We'll see if the Ionic gets updates, how often, and if they fix anything.

Aside from that, there are the "new" apps on the Ionic - none of which do I find useful at the moment - but this isn't something you're ever going to have with the Surge; It's a static device. If the Ionic gains in popularity, we might get better partnerships with other fitness sites that make the apps extremely appealing.

All that being said, it certainly wouldn't hurt to wait a few months, see how the Ionic is supported and what apps there are. 

[n6nfg]

Biggest benefit to me for the Ionic over the Surge is the replaceable bands.  I had bands fail twice within the first year on my Surges, and everyone I knew with a Surge had their bands fail, which renders the Surge useless well before the actual device electronically fails.  I did like the always on display of the Surge, but I have gotten used to the wrist flick to light up the Ionic display.  I don't regret my Ionic purchase at all.  Use it mainly as a GPS run tracker and step counter.  I don't use the payment system (Wells Fargo still not supported) or the music (they really need to make transferring phone songs to the watch possible without a computer) or really any of the existing "apps".  I have only found two annoying bugs with my usage, (run cues seem to keep resetting to 0.5 miles instead of the 1.0 mile I want, and if you have auto run detect enabled, there is a good chance you won't be able to stop the run when you are finished, the "finish" button doesn't work half the time). 

[SunsetRunner]

@n6nfg Yeah, ditto. The run cues resetting to 0.5mi is a pain in the ***. However, there's a supposed solution... setting it at the website is supposed to make it permanent. We'll see, as I just did it this morning.

[VF31AE3]

@JimPaisley Two things to also keep in mind. 1) The Surge has been discontinued so the supply is limited. 2) The Ionic like the Surge has a rechargeable but non replaceable battery. Good luck.

[JimPaisley]

Thank you for your detailed response.

My last questions is as follows:

My Surge, thru a Fitbit dongle, records a detailed street map, of my daily exercise route, on Windows 10.

Does the Ionic have the same capability?

Once again, thank you for your detailed response.

Best regards,

Jim Paisley

[CalumK]

Loved my Surge.  However, Ionic far better.  Sleeker look, colour screen, swim proof, interchangeable straps, more watch faces, store music, enhanced sleep information (light, deep, REM), APPs (e.g. Weather, Fitbit coach, Relax, Strava, games, torch, altimeter and many more).  No more steamed up faces or bubbling straps!  Although I do miss having the time constantly displayed.  There also some current syncing / Bluetooth issues particularly if you are running an older Apple OS.  Fix seemingly coming.  Please consider voting for my Ionic Bluetooth development suggestion - see link below.  Hope this is helpful!  

Choosing device to Bluetooth to on Ionic

[Rob-P]

Do the following:

In Google, Bing, etc type the following: "Fitbit Surge Unbreakable" (just those 3 words).