Ionic GPS Inaccuracies

[MP4]

Hi, 

I'm a new Fitbit user, bought an Ionic on Monday and I'm having some issues with the GPS. Went on a couple of runs (at a track) and the gps seemed to be completely out both on the distance travelled and pace per kilometre.

I'm a long time strava user so yesterday I went for a run with both the Fitbit Ionic going and the strava on my iPhone running at the same time. Here are the results:

Strava - 7.9km   @ 4:15/km

Fitbit - 7.2km     @ 4:34/km

The difference of 0.7km is quite big and the difference in pace is also worrying. I waited till both had connected to gps before starting the run and I run in London where gps signal should be good. 

Is my Fitbit Ionic GPS not working correctly? Any help/advice would be appreciated. 

Thanks

Matt

Moderator Edit: Updated Subject for Clarity

[bmw54]

Yes, the ionic's bike app is accurate and I've partially moved to it for running. It doesn't give cues for less than 5-mile intervals and pace is expressed in miles/hour. But it's accurate in both distance and pace. And it's very sensitive to variations in my pace. Which makes sense because it doesn't have stride-count and stride-length.

When I've tried to make contact with app developers I mentioned this and asked for a variation on ionic's running app; one that would support racing's variable pace strategies by using something closer to GPS data only; with less reliance upon stride-length.

Keep the Run app for people happy with it; give the rest of us something more accurate. Call it Race.

But I don't have confidence that anything constructive is in the works. In fact I don't even think anyone from fitbit is looking at this topic anymore... we're just communicating among ourselves. It's kind of ridiculous and I've been scaling back on my engagement here. 

[groberge]

You would think that the speed shouldn't matter.  A Fitbit with GPS should be able to get the distance and the speed or steps should have no bearing on that.  It all seems so easy yet Fitbit can't get it right.  Use GPS ONLY to get the distance. Divide time by distance to get the speed. Divide distance by steps to get the cadence/step distance.  There should be no reason for the Ionic to be using the steps to calculate the distance, which it seems to be doing.

I'm trying really hard to stick with the Ionic thinking that they've got to fix it eventually but the less that I hear from Fitbit on the issues, the more I'm inclined to think that it will never be fixed...which is sad because I really like the Fitbit community.

[RonanB]

Hi all

I have previously posted here re GPS inaccuracies and the diabolical Bluetooth connection.

I called Fitbit three weeks ago (as Mr. Mattfitbit seems not to have emerged since Christmas - probably finishing his selection boxes and chatting to the engineers). The polite gentleman informed me that a fix was pending and should be out in two weeks max - clearly didn't happen. He also said we could discuss refunds as I had 'luckily' bought via Amazon. When I contacted Fitbit yesterday they refused to refund me. So I contacted Amazon who are amazing - they said they'd refund me in full straight away - woooohooo; I'm gonna get the Garmin 645 when available next month - a real man's sports watch.

Best of luck all and don't get lost due to the innacuare GPS 🙂

Ronan

P.S. When putting the Iconic back in its box to return this evening I noticed another major sloppy error on the Iconic's box - a massive typo: it says 'Fitbit' in a large font on the front of the box - surely the 'F' should have been a 'Sh'?! 🙂

[Frank00]

Fitbit definitely has the social aspect down pat, though they are definitely lacking in the hardware/software department regarding their devices.

[Denodan]

Fitbit are not interested in fixing issues as the slow uodates prove this and even then never fixed the real issues. Its been out months and still broken. Broken apps, watch faces and pumping them out with poor qc, just to say hey we have the apps. And watch faces. And not fixing the real issues

[bbarrera]

---

@Denodan wrote:

Fitbit are not interested in fixing issues as the slow uodates prove this and even then never fixed the real issues. 

---

agree that priorities are skewed to drive sales, but I work with engineers and you can bet they want to fix things.

Fitbit product and senior management is responsible for setting the priorities, engineers are expected to deliver. Pretty clear the engineers were asked by management to deliver 3rd apps "before holiday selling season" even if it wasn't ready for prime time.

[groberge]

Now I wish I had bought mine through Amazon and saved the box.  I got mine at Best Buy and got rid of the box months ago (I got mine in November).  That will teach me for next time.  My only out now is to try and sell it for whatever I can and get something else.

[indianwin2001]

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@groberge wrote:

Now I wish I had bought mine through Amazon and saved the box.  I got mine at Best Buy and got rid of the box months ago (I got mine in November).  That will teach me for next time.  My only out now is to try and sell it for whatever I can and get something else.

---

I also bought mine from Best Buy in November, but I also bought the 2 year protection plan with it. I told them all the problems with the Ionic and they swapped it out for a Garmin vivoactive 3 . I am verry happy with that watch

[indianwin2001]

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@Frank00 wrote:

I agree they will all converge on a smart watch model, though most watches that consider themselves "smart" can't do fitness accurately at this time; including this Ionic.  This is one of the reasons this thread is so active. 

Fitbit tried to do "smart" before they could even do "fit".  Good marketing and paid reviewers are a great way they've gotten a decent amount of sales.  Also, Fitbit's online community through the phone app is very user-friendly.  Fitbit has the social piece firmly in place.  Where Fitbit really fails is in their abandonment of the serious running community due to the distance inaccuracies. 

I can't see Fitbit getting big enough to compete with Apple in the "smart" sector and they are already pricing the Ionic near that of the Apple watch.   

If I have a choice of Apple or Fitbit for a smart watch at near the same price point, I'm not going to choose the Fitbit.  I already know all the good apps will be on Apple. 

So if the ionic can't do accurate distance for running and I know it won't have the app compatibility of the Apple watch why would I choose the Ionic as my "smart" watch?

Since Garmin has the "fit" part down already and a loyal following in the running and cycling communities, it will be easy for them to simply integrate "smart" (e.g. Instagram app).  It's just software.  I think Garmin will have no problem competing in the "smart" category, if that's where they want to go.  To date, they've always kept the running and cycling communities satisfied with their niche products.

Maybe it's just me, but I don't give two turds about an Instagram feed when I'm at the gym, and if I'm already holding my phone, I'd rather view apps on the larger phone's screen than on my watch. 

Most watches that try to do everything without any established foundation, don't do any individual thing great; Jack of all trades; master of none.  This can be bad for a company going after the big boy on the block (Apple).

---

^^This---- best post on here and sums up my feelings also

[indianwin2001]

Look at these forums for the Ionic and than go look at Garmin's forums or Polar's or Samsungs forums. They have nowhere near the complaints as this forum. I was a big fitbit fan from the get-go but they have lost me with the Ionic and their seemingly indifference to all the problems with this watch

[Denodan]

All fitness and smart watches cannot and do not so everything accuratly. But now prefer my Samsung Gear Sport and most agree its a better operating system and much better to get around and friendlier than the apple watch by a long way.

Heartrate monitoring with any optical sensor have issues on every fitness and smart watch, but both apple and samsung have the 2 best sensors.

Sure the samsung does lack apps compared the the apple, but amazing watch faces that apple dont have.

I love the better alround features of the smart watches.

Samsung have got the social aspect also, and sleep montoring that apple cannot do as i love the sleep montoring..

As i said never expect any fitness and smart watch to be dead accurate in anything. Garmin are a running watch first and formost and do well for runners, not so well in other events.

All opitcal gr senors fail when pushing them hard, they just cannot keep up .

I feel both apple and samsung make the best allround fitness subsitue over a fitness watch and Samsung with their newer operating system update have leaned much more towards the sport and feel overall both apple and samsung are far more useful than just a fitness watch.

Think all the fitness watches will progress to a full smart watch and where they are heading.

Hate the issues in ionic are not fixed but with broken apps and watches have become worse. Blutooth issues are still there and promised everyone that the first firmware update which was aometime ago was never addressed.

.there app while great is extremelly slow in syncing and gettting apps.

My samsung syncs almost stright away and lovely graphs and maps on the watch  ionic should have these. I dont even need the app as every graph and stats are also in the watch so dont always need to refer to the app.

[tonny123]

Garmin is a WAY better watch if you need a training tool. If you just need an activity tracker than Fitbit might work for most of the people.

I did a run with my Fitbit Ionic yesterday and GPS accuracy was spot on. Exactly the same marks as my Garmin FR 935. But at the same time skiing with Fitbit is just  impossible. It is 200m off on each 1km. My old Garmin FR 610 in running mode had no issues at all with skiing. I guess it has something to do with Fitbit using accelerometer for calculating the distance. It's even more strange consideing that map drawings for both watches looks almost the same. So they both been to same places and covered same distance.

There are many, many, many other issues with the Fitbit Ionic which need to be fixed in order to make it on par with Garmin. It seems that Garmin is a more serious product for people that DO train and Fitbit is just a "toy" that lazy office workers use in order to get their asses moving (which is also needed!). Fitbit Ionic is an attempt to make a more "serious" product and it has all the hardware in place (good job there!). But software implementation is lacking (not to say terrible). Like why Android users need to use web browser to select excercise  shortcuts and their order but iOS users can do it from smartphone!? Or why it's only 7 at a time that can be used in your watch!? Or why I can't I make my own excercise types!? Or why I can't change the type of the activity afterwards!? Why VO2max not present in Ionic but exists on Surge(it's JUST a software feature)!? Or why when you change your measurements to meters it still reports split in miles by default and you can/need to separately change that in the app/web as well!? Not to mention my issues with GPS tracking when watch reports several kilometers wrong when doing activities that are not running. Sooooo many things that can be improved to turn watch into a great product (as I already mentioned - hardware is there).

Fitbit is more a companion product (like a smartwatch?) and you MUST have a smartphone and PC all the time in order to use it. You can't even browse your activities from you wirst!

Garmin (at least FR line) on the other hand is a more standalone product. You just need PC/smartphone to make initial configuration. After that you only need to care about charging.

I think Fitbit made a nice product (both technically capable and nice looking) with good potencial that they need to patch in order to make it attractive/useful for people who take their training more seriously.

[indianwin2001]

Exactly. 

Garmin=Training

Fitbit= steps

[Frank00]

I ended up getting a Vivoactive 3 after returning a Surge.  It has GPS with accuracy comparable to any navigation device for running, walking and biking.

Also, I did a brief weight workout today and it recognized the bench press and curl sets I did (that's all I did).  I thought that was pretty cool.

I can't wait to try it swimming.

Before I got the Vivoactive 3, I was considering an Ionic, but Fitbit had yet to get any device with GPS working well for any outdoor activity other than biking.  Because Fitbit hadn't worked out the kinks and due to my frustration with the Surge's many issues, I couldn't thoughtfully drop $300 on another Fitbit device; even if it does store music.

Plus, I found a Pyle waterproof earbud headset on Amazon with 8GB of music storage eliminating the need for storing music on a watch and eliminating the need for battery-draining Bluetooth.

[Denodan]

I had a vivioactice 3 but got a sansumg gear sport a much better watch for sport all round and hr more accurate is much bettet and up there with the apple watch, which is known yo have the more accurate hr monitor,  love how they rate you sleep in a percentage base. I hate the screens on garmin. The screen even in ionic was nicer.

I think both sansung and apple are better at being a fitness watch than any fitnesd watch out there 

[Denodan]

Samsung+apple = The most accurate hr, so better than fitness watches, swimming, trainning. Just a bit more fiddy to sync, etc, have options to use other fitness apps. Do both fitness well and best a general purpose watch, so more likely to be used for everyday use.

Ionic = buggy, slow, steps, a better watch for biking, best social interaction. 

Garmin = training, biggest strength running as its a runners watch first and formost so the best watch for runners, cycling very poor, poorst screen out of the 3 here.

[indianwin2001]

---

@Denodan wrote:

Samsung+apple = The most accurate hr, so better than fitness watches, swimming, trainning. Just a bit more fiddy to sync, etc, have options to use other fitness apps. Do both fitness well and best a general purpose watch, so more likely to be used for everyday use.

Ionic = buggy, slow, steps, a better watch for biking, best social interaction. 

Garmin = training, biggest strength running as its a runners watch first and formost so the best watch for runners, cycling very poor, poorst screen out of the 3 here.

---

Actually Dude,you keep repeating this, but if you read reviews, as far as optical heart rate accuracy, Suunto watches are clearly the most accurate. Read DCRAINMAKER,Wearables and PC mags reviews. Might not be the best watch, but rated #1 in OHR accuracy by far

[bbarrera]

---

@Denodan wrote:

Samsung+apple = The most accurate hr, so better than fitness watches, swimming, trainning. Just a bit more fiddy to sync, etc, have options to use other fitness apps. Do both fitness well and best a general purpose watch, so more likely to be used for everyday use.

Ionic = buggy, slow, steps, a better watch for biking, best social interaction. 

Garmin = training, biggest strength running as its a runners watch first and formost so the best watch for runners, cycling very poor, poorst screen out of the 3 here.

---

As a biker that rides 6-10 hours a week, don't agree with your assessment. My feedback on biking:

- Fitbit is the worst for biking out of Fitbit/Garmin/Apple, no support for chest strap or arm band, no support for sensors, and poor integration with GPS bike computers (requires workaround using Strava or Endomondo). HRM is not always accurate while riding, and there is no backup plan because Fitbit doesn't allow importing HR (or GPS).

- Garmin biking support is the best, the triathlon watches (920XT and 935) support bike sensors, but training status doesn't integrate with bike computer which means if you care about training status you have to wear 935 while riding with bike computer. Best battery life, for GPS tracking it has about 2.5x more life than Ionic.

- Apple allows me to ride without watch, use GPS bike computer, and still receive move/stand/calorie credit. And Apple Watch supports bluetooth chest strap for better accuracy. I rate Apple Watch higher than Fitbit as it nicely integrates with Strava and your choice of bike computer (the most popular auto upload to Strava).

Optical HRM on all three is roughly similar, the big difference is support for external HRM (chest strap or optical arm band). The simple answer to the question "do you want accurate HR during outdoor cycling?" is "use chest strap" and that means using a bike computer or a watch that supports external HRM.

And regarding screen, only the Garmin 920XT and 935 have always on (transflective) screens. Plus the 935 has 24 hour GPS tracking at 1 second sampling. And working sport modes for things like skiing, snowboarding, paddle boarding, golf, etc. Some of the other Garmins like new 635 runner watch with music support biking/skiing/etc, but 635 doesn't support biking as well as 935 triathlon watch.

p.s. social interaction for cycling is Strava. And nothing fiddly about Apple Watch syncing with iPhone, it just works even on my series 0 (original). Go ahead an laugh or call me Dick Tracy or how stupid phone calls are on watches... last week I was 0.5 mile from home, coming down a paved creek trail and in cool down phase of ride when my wife called. I answered the call with my watch (phone in back jersey pocket). Even at 15mph we had a normal conversation and she gave me instructions on what to cook for dinner. I rode 1.5 miles while carrying on a conversation, until my arm got tired (she kept wanting to tell me about her day). Love having that flexibility, especially on weekends when I'm working in yard and my hands are full and phone is in the house or garage. Usually end day at 30-40% battery, no problem sleep tracking if I wanted to do that.

[Frank00]

---

@bbarrera wrote:

---

@Denodan wrote:

Samsung+apple = The most accurate hr, so better than fitness watches, swimming, trainning. Just a bit more fiddy to sync, etc, have options to use other fitness apps. Do both fitness well and best a general purpose watch, so more likely to be used for everyday use.

Ionic = buggy, slow, steps, a better watch for biking, best social interaction. 

Garmin = training, biggest strength running as its a runners watch first and formost so the best watch for runners, cycling very poor, poorst screen out of the 3 here.

---

As a biker that rides 6-10 hours a week, don't agree with your assessment. My feedback on biking:

- Fitbit is the worst for biking out of Fitbit/Garmin/Apple, no support for chest strap or arm band, no support for sensors, and poor integration with GPS bike computers (requires workaround using Strava or Endomondo). HRM is not always accurate while riding, and there is no backup plan because Fitbit doesn't allow importing HR (or GPS).

- Garmin biking support is the best, the triathlon watches (920XT and 935) support bike sensors, but training status doesn't integrate with bike computer which means if you care about training status you have to wear 935 while riding with bike computer. Best battery life, for GPS tracking it has about 2.5x more life than Ionic.

- Apple allows me to ride without watch, use GPS bike computer, and still receive move/stand/calorie credit. And Apple Watch supports bluetooth chest strap for better accuracy. I rate Apple Watch higher than Fitbit as it nicely integrates with Strava and your choice of bike computer (the most popular auto upload to Strava).

Optical HRM on all three is roughly similar, the big difference is support for external HRM (chest strap or optical arm band). The simple answer to the question "do you want accurate HR during outdoor cycling?" is "use chest strap" and that means using a bike computer or a watch that supports external HRM.

And regarding screen, only the Garmin 920XT and 935 have always on (transflective) screens. Plus the 935 has 24 hour GPS tracking at 1 second sampling. And working sport modes for things like skiing, snowboarding, paddle boarding, golf, etc. Some of the other Garmins like new 635 runner watch with music support biking/skiing/etc, but 635 doesn't support biking as well as 935 triathlon watch.

p.s. social interaction for cycling is Strava. And nothing fiddly about Apple Watch syncing with iPhone, it just works even on my series 0 (original). Go ahead an laugh or call me Dick Tracy or how stupid phone calls are on watches... last week I was 0.5 mile from home, coming down a paved creek trail and in cool down phase of ride when my wife called. I answered the call with my watch (phone in back jersey pocket). Even at 15mph we had a normal conversation and she gave me instructions on what to cook for dinner. I rode 1.5 miles while carrying on a conversation, until my arm got tired (she kept wanting to tell me about her day). Love having that flexibility, especially on weekends when I'm working in yard and my hands are full and phone is in the house or garage. Usually end day at 30-40% battery, no problem sleep tracking if I wanted to do that.

---

Just for the record... The Vivoactive 3 also works with the bike sensors, foot pod and the chest strap HRM.

[indianwin2001]

---

@Frank00 wrote:

---

@bbarrera wrote:

---

@Denodan wrote:

Samsung+apple = The most accurate hr, so better than fitness watches, swimming, trainning. Just a bit more fiddy to sync, etc, have options to use other fitness apps. Do both fitness well and best a general purpose watch, so more likely to be used for everyday use.

Ionic = buggy, slow, steps, a better watch for biking, best social interaction. 

Garmin = training, biggest strength running as its a runners watch first and formost so the best watch for runners, cycling very poor, poorst screen out of the 3 here.

---

As a biker that rides 6-10 hours a week, don't agree with your assessment. My feedback on biking:

- Fitbit is the worst for biking out of Fitbit/Garmin/Apple, no support for chest strap or arm band, no support for sensors, and poor integration with GPS bike computers (requires workaround using Strava or Endomondo). HRM is not always accurate while riding, and there is no backup plan because Fitbit doesn't allow importing HR (or GPS).

- Garmin biking support is the best, the triathlon watches (920XT and 935) support bike sensors, but training status doesn't integrate with bike computer which means if you care about training status you have to wear 935 while riding with bike computer. Best battery life, for GPS tracking it has about 2.5x more life than Ionic.

- Apple allows me to ride without watch, use GPS bike computer, and still receive move/stand/calorie credit. And Apple Watch supports bluetooth chest strap for better accuracy. I rate Apple Watch higher than Fitbit as it nicely integrates with Strava and your choice of bike computer (the most popular auto upload to Strava).

Optical HRM on all three is roughly similar, the big difference is support for external HRM (chest strap or optical arm band). The simple answer to the question "do you want accurate HR during outdoor cycling?" is "use chest strap" and that means using a bike computer or a watch that supports external HRM.

And regarding screen, only the Garmin 920XT and 935 have always on (transflective) screens. Plus the 935 has 24 hour GPS tracking at 1 second sampling. And working sport modes for things like skiing, snowboarding, paddle boarding, golf, etc. Some of the other Garmins like new 635 runner watch with music support biking/skiing/etc, but 635 doesn't support biking as well as 935 triathlon watch.

p.s. social interaction for cycling is Strava. And nothing fiddly about Apple Watch syncing with iPhone, it just works even on my series 0 (original). Go ahead an laugh or call me Dick Tracy or how stupid phone calls are on watches... last week I was 0.5 mile from home, coming down a paved creek trail and in cool down phase of ride when my wife called. I answered the call with my watch (phone in back jersey pocket). Even at 15mph we had a normal conversation and she gave me instructions on what to cook for dinner. I rode 1.5 miles while carrying on a conversation, until my arm got tired (she kept wanting to tell me about her day). Love having that flexibility, especially on weekends when I'm working in yard and my hands are full and phone is in the house or garage. Usually end day at 30-40% battery, no problem sleep tracking if I wanted to do that.

---

Just for the record... The Vivoactive 3 also works with the bike sensors, foot pod and the chest strap HRM.

---

I did the same--- got my money back for the Ionic from best buy 3 months after I bought it (I had the protection plan) and they traded for the vivoactive 3 --great watch---added a wahoo tickerX for my training and I'm loving it--- syncs in 30 seconds EVERY time and no other big problems.