Ionic Green Light Flashes when HR is off

[vegenigma]

Hello everyone,

I got my Ionic yesterday.   I also have a Charge HR.

After getting the updates, the first thing I did was turn off the HR.  For my own personal reasons, I do not use the HR on my fitbit devices.

After turning it off, I noticed that the green light was still flashing.   On my Charge HR, when I turn off the HR monitoring, the green light no longer flashes.

I need this to stop flashing on the Ionic. Has anyone noticed this?  Is there a fix for it?  Perhaps a new bios update will be coming soon?

-Scott

[SteveH · Accepted solution]

The Ionic works differently to the Charge HR and what you are seeing is normal. From the manual:

"Note that the green LED on the back of Ionic continues to flash even if you turn off Hear Rate tracking. "

https://staticcs.fitbit.com/content/assets/help/manuals/manual_ionic_en_US.pdf

[vegenigma]

Thanks, I wasn't aware, otherwise I probably wouldn't have purchased it.   This might be a problem for me, but so far not.   I had the charge HR for about 6 months and one day noticed that my skin had this burning feeling.   I have no clue what the cause of that was, but as soon as I turned off the HR, the problem went away within an hour or two and never returned.  

I may have to return the Ionic if that sensation returns.

[app-idea-man]

Why?  Someone at Fitbit please change this with an update.   I do not want some ultra violet (?) green light hitting my skin 24 x 7 and I'm sure some others would agree.    I don't think I'd purchase it again if I knew I couldn't turn off the green light when I wanted to.

[Frogee]

This is the stupidest new thing to the update. I did not have this before the update. Hate that my HR battery dies faster. Change it PLEASE. 

[WavyDavey]

Odd, mine turns the light off when hr is set to  off? Edit: only when it's off my wrist. When I put the tracker on, the light turns back on. 🤔

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@Frogee wrote:

This is the stupidest new thing to the update. I did not have this before the update. Hate that my HR battery dies faster. Change it PLEASE. 

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[Rauser]

Sorry folks, but it is impossible to get any sunburn from a low flashing green LED. 

Green LEDs have a light wavelength of about 540nm. Sunburn is caused by high energetic ultraviolet light, which has it's name from the simple fact that this above the visible violet light in the spectrum. The wavelength of the sunburn causing UV-B light is about 300nm. 

So whatever this skin irritation was, it had nothing to do with sunburn. The tiny LED in the watch hasn't also enough energy to cause anything like this. 

The normal light from the sun or light bulbs are much more energetic and also include green light. 

[vegenigma66]

I don’t get sunburn,  I get a burning sensation and itchiness.  The point is that the Charge HR allowed me to turn off the HR monitor and the Green light stopped flashing and the sensation went away.  On the Ionic, it keeps flashing.  I want the company to turn off the green light when I disable the HR monitor.

[vegenigma66]

I don’t get sunburn,  I get a burning sensation and itchiness.  The point is that the Charge HR allowed me to turn off the HR monitor and the Green light stopped flashing and the sensation went away.  On the Ionic, it keeps flashing.  I want the company to turn off the green light when I disable the HR monitor.

[Angels2k]

 Hello,  please turn off this feature.  I have turned off my hr sensor in my ionic and the green light still flashes.  Currently on version 27.31.1.16 

[Malcolm1]

Ultra Violet is blue wavelength.  Not green.  I have worn fitbit's for three years, no irritation from the green light.  Oh and I have many years of working with ultra violet light.  

[Malcolm1]

Concur.  I know the difference between ultraviolet and green light.

[vegenigma66]

The light doesn't affect everyone otherwise they would have removed it but
it does affect some people.

[Drshahla]

Or you may have thick insensitive skin! 

[SunsetRunner]

I have to be honest. This is really dumb.

First, my educated guess is that it will decrease battery life. Maybe not by much, but that's beside the point. And even if it doesn't, people's sensitivity to the HR light, reports of itchy and flakey skin, is not something new. It dates back to the first Fitbit HR. That said, why in the world would Fitbit CHOOSE to leave the light on? Again, It makes no practical sense at all. I was excited to find out that I could turn the HR off my Fitbit Ionic. Once I found out that the HR light did not turn off, I decided to sell it. I recommend you all do the same. This company does not listen to it's consumers and takes forever to get anything done. Don't believe me? How long has it been since the SO2 monitor was announced? 

[Malcolm1]

No ill effects from Ionic green light.  My skin under my Ionic is smooth, no flakes and I wear this watch probably 23 hours a day (one hour off to recharge).  You may be reacting to something else, such as the plastic or the band.  Contact dermatitis is a thing.  And then sorry you are allergic to the plastic in the body or the band.  Just saying.