Fitbit ionic

[Olley777]

Since ‘upgrading’ to an ionic I have had nothing but problems, it doesn’t track exercise, it doesn’t display messages, in fact no notifications, I have been in contact with Fitbits so called ‘experts’ but still no joy, I’ve factory reset device, reset pairing from phone, deleted all apps and reloaded, but yet the ‘IONIC’ continues to not be fit for purpose !?!?  An absolute disgarace considering the size of the company and the cost of the item.

i got this as an ‘upgrade’ from my faulty HR 2 but when asking for a refund got offered £110 !?!?!? What a complete joke, no clue how to treat customers or deal with products unfit for purpose.

DO NOT BUY !! 

I have warned you. 

[Olley777]

Since ‘upgrading’ to an ionic I have had nothing but problems, it doesn’t track exercise, it doesn’t display messages, in fact no notifications, I have been in contact with Fitbits so called ‘experts’ but still no joy, I’ve factory reset device, reset pairing from phone, deleted all apps and reloaded, but yet the ‘IONIC’ continues to not be fit for purpose !?!?  An absolute disgarace considering the size of the company and the cost of the item.

i got this as an ‘upgrade’ from my faulty HR 2 but when asking for a refund got offered £110 !?!?!? What a complete joke, no clue how to treat customers or deal with products unfit for purpose.

DO NOT BUY !! 

I have warned you. 

[swimpmeister]

Hey @Olley777 - I am sorry you are having some issues with your Ionic. I went through some of the same emotions when I first got mine so I understand where you are coming from. I finally accepted that I was "stuck" with the watch and I decided to try to make the best of it. 

You will find some excellent help in the forums and customer support has always been helpful to me (I prefer the online chat method but whatever works best for you). 

You did not mention what type of phone you have. Maybe we can start there and get ya goin in the right direction? I know that the Ionic is not all that it is capable of being but once I figure out some of the perplexities it has grown on me and actually works very well. Let's get ya going mate!

[Olley777]

Hi, thanks for reply, I have an iPhone 6s and have exhausted all so called Fitbit help routes, I continue to do all the reset / shutdown procedures as recommended but to no avail, it’s just an expensive watch for me. 

[SunsetRunner]

Hiya @Olley777 - can totally relate to your post here. I've previously had a Charge HR2 which was replaced twice, and I'm on my 4th Ionic - crazy hey?

I think persistence is what helped me through my hair pulling stage - I found that the online chat service was really helpful (once you get through the robotic advice of restarting, rebooting, factory reset blah blah blah) and once you prove to them you're having further issues, I'm sure a replacement or some arrangement can be made. 

There are lots of bugs and issues with these devices it seems, but the difference for me is how Fitbit make it right - which *touch wood* has been great for me so far. The issue now is - why on earth can't they get these things right before they release?

Anyway, hope it works out for you - keep us posted!


Carl. 

[SunsetRunner]

Hello everyone, hope you're all well. 

Just thought I'd share this as I have been such an ambassador for Fitbit over the 2 years I've owned a device, and sadly my enthusiasm for the brand is on thin ice. 

So, today my 4th Ionic replacement has gone wrong. Fourth. That's my 6th Fitbit device down the pan in just under 2 years (if you include my Charge HR2 replacements) and I'm afraid no customer service wizard is going to put it right, this time. 

I won't go through the issues I've had with my devices as I know a lot of forum users have lived and breathed it too, and to be fair I have been pretty patient throughout - but, all I want is a product that works. 

Luckily, I already have a 5th replacement ready to go and I'm currently setting this up as I type. Fitbit, let it be known, if this fails, I'm done and I'm changing brand - preferably a company that doesn't have to send me 6-7 trackers hoping that one out of the lot will function as intended. 

This isn't a topic to try and put people off buying an Ionic or Fitbit in general, I just wanted to put it out there and see if anyone else has had this experience (to this degree - or worse) and if they have any recommendations for other fitness trackers. 

Cheers for reading 🙂 I feel better now! 

Carl. 

[SunsetRunner]

@SunsetRunner impressive patience. After my first Ionic which came up not to be showerproof, I'm waiting for a replacement to arrive tomorrow. However, the replacement is not Fitbit. The last straw was a private message I received recently that convinced me to look for another device. I'm done with this brand. I just regret the money I wasted on Ionic and ended up with a broken device ( 8 months old if I count correctly, functionally seems to be ok, but the display is glitchy now after having contact with water  ).

[SunsetRunner]

That's a very fair comment - don't think any of my devices have actually lasted 8 months without having some kind of issue. 

Out of interest, which brand did you end up going with? 

Cheers. 

[Olley777]

Although the ionic continues to have numerous faults, I am persevering with the sub standard piece of electronic tat ?!?! 

[SunsetRunner]

@SunsetRunner After considering the pros and cons of different brands I went with a watch from Suunto ( it was difficult to decide ). One of the reasons is that this watch is very heavy duty ( not too pretty but it's something I don't care about ) and it's a proper athlete watch. When going climbing, the device must be unbreakable. I used to put a screen protector on Ionic but every time I need to remove wristband and touch interaction suffers. Another, maybe more important reason, is that it supports external HR monitors including my PolarH10 chest strap. Reading reviews, there are some complaints about wrist HR not being accurate during exercising but that's why all I wanted from Ionic was to support chest straps. This is never going to happen but this feature is really essential to me. Optical HR sensors can't be as accurate as chest straps. Well, I don't know if I chose right but if only:

- GPS locks on faster

- Activity tracking doesn't crash causing losing all the data

- Showering won't break the display

- HR can be read from other sources for improving accuracy

- HR can be read during swimming ( using external HR monitor, see point above )

- The basic functionality isn't buggy and not working

...then it should be fine.

Time will show. I know somebody using Suunto device ( older model ) for 4 years and the only complaint he has is syncing ( well... I'm bit worried about that but taking a risk ). The watch was used during marathons, triathlons and many other activities and survived all difficult conditions. Before I was thinking about Polar VantageV, but the price is a bit too much and looks like it isn't so sturdy. As I said - the pros and cons. I don't require impossible but a decent device with no bugs unresolved for a year and longer.