Today is a good day!
Like many others, I have recently struggled to find a pair of headphones that are truly compatible with the Ionic. I've read every post that exists on the subject. I started out buying a cheap pair of Bluetooth 5 headphones that didn't work; they paired fine, but the sound quality was garbage (e.g. choppy and sped-up). I figured that it must have been the brand, so I bought a more expensive brand of Bluetooth 5 headphones since Bluetooth 5 is supposed to be backward compatible with all other versions of Bluetooth, I thought they would be compatible with the Bluetooth 4.0 tranceiver in the Ionic. I found this not to be true in my case since the more expensive headphones experienced the same issue as the previous set.
In a last ditch effort (I was ready to buy an Apple Watch and WATCH my Ionic burn), I ordered a pair of bluetooth headphones from Amazon that are Bluetooth version 4.1. I ordered these yesterday morning and they arrived today (thanks a lot, Amazon!)! I immediately took them out, paired them, and opened up my Deezer app on the Ionic...THEY WORKED FLAWLESSLY! Sound quality was great, the range was awesome, and the buttons on the headphones and watch worked perfectly!
I just got back from a 3 mile run outside and had ZERO dropouts, skips, crackles, etc. I wear my watch on my left wrist, had the bluetooth controller on my right ear, wore the wire behind my head, and even swung my arms emphatically. I still didn't get any dropouts. I'm very pleased. The headphones I purchased were SoundPEATS Bluetooth 4.1. I'll post the link below, but I'm sure the moderators will remove it for advertising even though they shouldn't because it'll likely keep someone from selling or throwing their Ionic away.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07N1C841W/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
My takeaway from this whole ordeal (which could be entirely incorrect) is to purchase either Bluetooth 4.1 or 4.2 headphones. Even though some Bluetooth 5 headphones may work with the Ionic as others have reported, the only difference you'll likely notice between Bluetooth 5 and 4.1 is extended battery life. The range and audio quality are partly determined by the tranceiver in the Ionic, so there's no sense in investing in higher quality headphones when the Ionic isn't compatible with some of those higher end features.
I wish the folks at Fitbit would get their act together. They have known about this issue for over three years and have gotten nowhere with it. They could easily have done this testing, come to the same conclusion as I did, and they could have reported a list of compatible headphones or just issue the statement I did above. This is ridiculous.
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