Impact of "Ionic (Classic)" Bluetooth connection on battery life

[FitmanFit]

Hi,

I just established music control for Android on my Ionic and noticed that there are now two Bluetooth connections:

1. "Ionic": For notifications and syncing.

2. "Ionic (Classic)": For music control.

I'm assuming the "Ionic" connection is using BTLE (low energy). 
Is the "Ionic (Classic)" connection using BTLE as well?

Will there be an impact on battery life (on both Ionic and phone) due to the second connection? Or is it really just one connection and two roles are shown?

While I very much appreciate the music control functionality, I don't use it that often and wouldn't want to pay a price for it all the time (in the form of reduced battery life). If there is any battery impact, I'd unpair the "Ionic (Classic)" and only pair when needed. 

Fitbit phone app version: 3.7

Ionic firmware version: 27.33.1.30

EDIT: I just noticed that the "Ionic (Classic)" connection is dropped if I switch the audio source from "phone" to "watch" in the Fitbit "Music Controls". This is excellent!

[BTW, it took a second pairing to make the Ionic recognise the phone again in the music controls and for letting it drop the "Ionic (Classic)" connection when I switch to "phone". This definitely wasn't the case after the first pairing attempt (which resulted in working music control on the phone but reconnecting to the phone didn't work. I got the message "No phone connect", even though the "Ionic (Classic)" connection was active ("connected").]

I still wonder whether I should switch to "watch" after I controlled my phone's music, or whether it doesn't matter whether the "Ionic (Classic)" connection stays live. 

P.S.: I found a similar question on the forum but the post is from 2017 and a lot may have changed since then. There was no input from Fitbit either back then. I hope this post will attract attention from one of the moderators. Please don't just merge it with the old one but seek clarification from technical support. Thank you very much in advance. 

[SilviaFitbit]

@FitmanFit It's great to see you on the Community. I'll be happy to clarify your question about Bluetooth Classic connection on your Fitbit app. 

Thanks for the details mentioned about your Ionic firmware version and your Fitbit app version. It's great to see that you read some posts prior to posting. 

Your Bluetooth Classic will only work for music control and your Ionic's Bluetooth for notifications and syncing as you mentioned. There's going to be an impact on your watch's battery life if you use Bluetooth Classic (music control). 

Once you change your music source, Bluetooth classic will stop and you can control your music from your phone. However, after this you will need to pair it once again by following this procedure. 

I'll be around if you have any additional questions! 

[FitmanFit]

Hi @SilviaFitbit,

thanks a lot for confirming that that there is extra energy consumption associated with using the "Ionic (Classic)" connection.

Luckily, I don't need to pair again, after changing the music source to "phone" which causes the "Ionic (Classic)" connection to be dropped. The phone and watch still remain paired, just the connection is inactive. The phone shows the connection active ("Connected") or inactive (no explicit status) in the list of Bluetooth devices, depending on what music source I select on the Ionic. 

I trust that an inactive connection will not consume any additional power. To the best of my knowledge the phone simple shows pairing knowledge and only if a device has a "Connected" status associated with it, an actual Bluetooth signal is present. In the absence of an active connection, the Ionic should not suffer from a diminished battery life. 

[SilviaFitbit]

@FitmanFit Thanks for getting back. 

I'm glad to hear that you don't need to pair your Ionic again. If you would like to extend your watch's battery life check this article. Since you have an  Android phone, you may want to check this article: What should I know about using the Fitbit app on my Android phone? 

I'll be around if you need further assistance.