Ionic Black Screen and Will Not Start Up

[OferGrosz]

It seems to be a lot of people with the same problem as of recent. My Ionic quit receiving notifications and then at midnight it would erase the previous day stats from my phone app (It said it was syncing) and I started to look back at the app and the last saved date was 02/05. I also seen there was an automatic update on 02/04. Customer Service says that is not the problem, But my watch was working fine up to that point. I decided to uninstall everything from the phone and factory reset the Ionic and everything was going fine and halfway through the install the watch shut off and that is when my Ionic died. Have not been able to reset/start it since then. Called Customer Service and the person could see I tried everything they would suggest to fix it. So the only option was to offer me 40% off with FREE expedited shipping. I decided to think about it and I went to Best Buy and low and behold They have sold a ton of Galaxy Watches to People like me (YES, I am wearing one right now) due to this recent problem. I have up to 30 days to return it if I dont like it. But so far that does not be the case. Fitbit has not convinced me that this is not a software update issue that caused this. The coincidence of so many other people having the same problem in the same time range......Well enough said. My Galaxy Watch tells me to go for a walk. 

[RickJS]

I did a chat through fitbit online.

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Moderator edit: personal info removed

[BigBlue76]

Sent from my iPad

[BigBlue76]

I just cancelled my replacement order. Too much insufficient and inaccurate information fro FitBit. Never again!!!

[z32]

I have the same issue everyone else is having, it just completely bricked itself after about 18 months. Won't react to the charger, won't turn on, completely dead out of nowhere.

It's unbelievable that so many people can have the exact same issue, this has to be a major defect with the entire product line. Fitbit cannot ignore this and expect to continue to have a customer base. I will not be paying for another one. Ever.

[Username1770]

All the same here too. To bad. Great looking watch and really liked it. Hard to believe fitbit customer service is so terrible. Baught the Samsung Galaxy and love it. Not only that the initial set up was completly automatic and hassle free. My old ionic took forever to get set up. Then constantly having bluetooth sync problems. Not sure if it is because I have a Samsung phone too, but I could not believe how well it works and how easy it was to set up. 2 thumbs up for Samsung for me

 Good luck to all

[ortsc147]

Another one bites the dust.   I've been continuously using one Fitbit or another for 7 years.  The construction quality seemed to get getting better with each subsequent product generation, but now my 18 month old Ionic died an untimely death.  Then I found this thread that implies a latent reliability issue is common in the Ionics.  Extremely disappointing.

I'm temporarily going back to using my old Charge 2, but questioning my next move.  If Fitbit has any interest in retaining me as a customer, perhaps they will contact me....

[Towser72]

Well, my Fitbit Ionic Adidas edition, bought on 15th April this year, died yesterday! Black screen of death and won't charge. Absolutely appalling... 

[Cambmin]

Mine checked out today. Got it as an upgrade from blaze as a Christmas gift in 2017. I've tried charging and reset. Only to see the black screen of death. Maybe looking into another type of tracker after seeing this forum. I'm a fitness instructor so I used my ionic to control my music during class. Such a sad day. 

[Mikkopai]

Minne died while I was sleeping. I had noticed no symptoms, but in the morning it was just black. About a year old.

Luckily I bought it from Amazon, they replaced it after a five minute chat on their webpage.

I have a new one now, with a new version of the software, with small differences to the previous one I had, like the view of my sleep times on the watch. Hopefully this version doesn’t go black in a years time...

[Eveinot]

I have had mine 16 months now was working fine mid afternoon and looked down later and black screen.  Called and only offered the 40% off this one or 25% off of any others.  When you pay this much you expect to get more life out of it.  Totally disappointing 

[Jyt]

Just another person in over 100 in this forum. I have this same issue. Black screen and no lights. I factory reset it and set it up, then it died again! Before that, the app was stuffing up and took a long time to sync. Apps couldn't be downloaded either. Got it December 2017. Called Fitbit and they said that they'll send a replacement. No 40% off. I hope that this new one will work.

hi

random text

[SunsetRunner]

So for the longest time I read the form and was surprised with all the issues people were facing when my ionic was largely fine. I did have an issue though where recording Water intake on the watch wasn't recording.

So I finally reset the device. After doing so I wore it half a day, then placed it on the charger with about 70% charge as I had to travel and don't like to drag along extra chargers.

Now it won't come on. I have tried holding all three buttons, just a few for various times both plugged in and not plugged in. 😕 Guess I shouldn't have reset it. So I bought this December of 2017, but as this seems to be a software issue how is ionic fixing it? 

Seems like I pray they give me a replacement. A device shouldn't die like this after less than two years of support. By the amount of other threads about this I was thinking not, but thought I would still check. Seems their versa doesn't have this issue, although I like the GPS I don't want to keep juggling devices. Thoughts?

[kenchen27]

Maybe they should send Versas as replacements instead of another Ionic. Time will tell whether Versas

have same issue. 

[Eveinot]

They should be sending something at no extra cost



Sent from my iPhone

[Cambmin]

I completed a live chat was only offered 40% off another ionic or versa or 25% off another tracker.

The plus side it then offers a year warranty on new one.

Downside spent way too much for it to die less then 18 months later. Nor not knowing if same thing happens again.

[SilviaFitbit]

Hey everyone! Thanks for your participation in the forums. I apologize for the delay in my reply. 

Hey @mpittsjohnson. Thanks for the troubleshooting that you've tried. I've shared your post with our Support team, they will continue assisting you on this. 

Hey @rainfactor.  Thanks for your question. You can learn more about the Fitbit Community by checking the Community Guidelines and this board about Fitbit Community Basics. Regarding your question about Moderator's posts, we are always checking the forums and replying with the updated information that our team provides to us, our only goal is to keep you updated in Fitbit's matters. 

Hey @kenchen27 and @BigBlue76. If you have any question about your Fitbit and the resolution that you got, you can contact our Support team back, they will be happy to continue assisting you.  

Thanks for sharing your experience @CharlieEth and @CapeGreco. Hope you can continue enjoying your Fitbit Ionic. 

Hey there @Charissam, @MattStan0, @Eveinot, @Jyt and @Cmking. Thanks for sharing the resolution that you got from Support. Each case is reviewed individually and the option that's given is based in the Fitbit Warranty. 

Great to see you around @Kerlylocks. Thanks for stopping by. Based in what you mentioned, it seems that your notifications aren't working, please try the steps mentioned on this article. 

Great to see you in the forums @Willar. 

Welcome to the Community @SparkySteve, @ChrisNoble, @Cambmin and @z32. Thanks for the troubleshooting that you've tried. I've shared your post with our Support team and they mentioned that you already have a case with them, please continue the communication through email. 

Hey @kenchen27. You can contact our Support team back and they will be happy to assist you. Remember that each case is reviewed individually and the option that's provided is based in the Fitbit Warranty. 

I'm glad to hear that you contacted our Support team @mikeschratz. Your feedback is appreciated and we're always working to provide you with the best customer service. 

Hey @ortsc147. Thanks for being a Fitbit customer. If you're experiencing the black screen issue, please confirm that you've restarted it. 

Great to see you around @SunsetRunner. Thanks for taking the time to share your experience and for being a Fitbit customer since 2017. I've shared your post with our Support team and they've mentioned that you already have a case with them, please continue the communication through email. 

As always, remember to follow the Community Guidelines. 

I'll be around if you need further assistance. 

[ortsc147]

Hi SilviaFitbit,
Thanks for your response. Yes, I've attempted to reset the Ionic like I've
previously done several times, but it is completely unresponsive. It was
working fine with 70% charge and then the next time I looked at it, it was
dead. Attempted to reset and recharge, but no signs of life whatsoever.
Can I send it in for repair or swap with a refurbished unit? If those
options aren't available and the only option is to buy a new one, then I'm
going to look long and hard at other brands.

Thanks,

Tim

[jlyder]

I just experienced the same with my Ionic. I have not used it for some weeks, and I guess it does not like to be fully discharged. Anyway, I tried to charge my Ionic for one hour without any results. No activity on the screen. I tried to push buttons, but with no luck.

What did work was that after about one hour of charging, I disconnected the charging cable and pressed the left button + the lower right bottom together for about 8-10 seconds. Then my watch restarted and stated that it had one 1% power. I quickly connected it to the charging cable, and now it is charging an it seems to work fine.

I don't know if this will help you, but it worked for me. Good luck!

[mikeschratz]

Thank you for the reply... it is greatly appreciated.
When I finally got my Ionic to power up, it had double fitbit logos and
they would dance around the screen.... I took photos and sent them to the
support group.
They checked it out, checked my warranty and are sending me a replacement
tracker.

I am very appreciative of all the support that was given by this community
and Fitbit,
Mike Schratz

[andycook]

Unfortunately i have the cycling splash screen, which i am totally unable to clear. tried all advice in the community and talked to help desk. 14 month old so out of warranty, the usual offer of a discount if i buy a new one in 30 days. well as many other have stated, these seem to be short term disposable devices. i would not mind if it was $20 but i don't want to keep spending $300 every year on one of these. this is the 3rd Fitbit i have owned and all 3 units stopped working not long after the warranty expired. to add insult to injury the supposed email with the discount coupon never arrived either. one day all these folks leaving Fitbit will hopefully drive the message home. 

Time for something new.