Ionic Heart Rate Sensor issues

[P.J.M]

When working out, usually spin class, my Ionic heartrate has become unreliable.  When just starting to workout, it will spike to near 200 when taking my actual pulse indicates 120.  Then at peak workout, my Ionic indicates below 110 when pulse indicates 180 or more.  

Tried restarting, shutting  off then on heartrate, tried moving to different locations even my other arm, still same issue.  Upon inspection I noticed the sensors near the green light have small cracks in the plastic covering them, so they are no longer clear.

Will these issues cause the watch to no longer be waterproof?  Can it be fixed?  Why would this happen as watch is only off to charge, and nothing can reach those sensors while wearing it.

[YojanaFitbit]

A warm welcome to the Fitbit Community @P.J.M. 

Thanks a million for taking the time to report the changes that you've noticed about your heart rate when working out.

Thanks a million for all the steps that you've tried to help you Fitbit. I would like to mention that Heart rate reading varies depending on several factors like movement, temperature, humidity, stress level, physical body position, caffeine intake, and medication. If you haven't already done so, please review our information and tips for heart rate accuracy. Fitbit devices are not a medical device, but you can rely on the information for your daily workouts. 

I'd like to know some important information that we need to take into consideration about your heart rate:

Have you been taking any medication recently?

Have you ever customized the Heart Rate Zones in your account?

I hope this information helps, I'll be around in case that you have questions about it! 

[P.J.M]

Thank you for your welcome, and your initial answer.  However, this is not an issue of my heart rate.  At any given moment I can tell my heartrate by counting the pulse in a sixty second interval.  The issue is my fitbit is not tracking my heartrate accurately.  When my known pulse is 185, my Ionic reads my pulse as 98 which was the case today.  My Ionic now never displays a heart rate on the watch above 133.  My average heartrate for my workouts is usually in the 150 to 160 range.  Up until about a week or two ago, my Fitbit Ionic accurately displayed this, now it only reads up to about 130.  As I mentioned in my original post, looking at the bottom of the watch that reads the heartrate, my watch looks totally different than my wife's Fitbit Ionic.  The plastic covering the sensors appears to have small cracks in it, and the plastic is no longer flat, it is like it is deformed.  My wife's ionic is perfectly flat, and crystal clear above the sensors.  Mine is far from it.  The watch is not working properly.  If I wear her watch during a workout, it reads my normal 150 plus range, put my watch back on and it suddenly drops down to 100 even though I maintained the same level of exertion while changing to and from her Fitbit Ionic.

[YojanaFitbit]

Thanks for getting back with all those details about your Ionic. 

Thanks for reporting the the different issues regarding how your Fitbit is tracking your HR reading. The back of your Ionic should look the same as your wife's. I'll be more than glad to give you a hand with this. Fitbit is always trying to provide great products and customer experience. In this case, I've requested to our support team to create a ticket on your behalf. You should soon receive an email from them.

Let me know if you have questions about it. 

[MikeR417]

This has been happening to several people, myself included - see my post toward the end of the discussion.  This does not seem like a hardware issue, but a software issue; I sampled two new Ionics and both had the issue.

https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Ionic/Inconsistent-heart-rate-tracking/m-p/3249261#M85327

Mike

[YojanaFitbit]

Hi @MikeR417 nice to see you around. Thanks for sharing this information with us. I'd like to give you a hand with this. If you're interested in keep troubleshooting your replacement, please let me know it will be a pleasure request a ticket for you too.

I'll be around. 

[P.J.M]

So support from Fitbit gave me their solution.  It was buy a new Fitbit Ionic!  Somehow I don't  seem compelled to shell out close to $200 on a new Ionic when this one is not even 18 months old.  To top it off, today the display has faded out so you can barely see any of the screens.  I thought they were more customer centric, but apparently not.

[P.J.M]

So in my spin classes that I do each week, new clients constantly ask me about my Ionic and why I selected it.  Many of them wind up with one just like mine.  Given the lack of support, I can no longer recommend this product to them, and feel bad for all those that wound up buying one based on my recommendation.  I hope they didn't buy a defective one like mine.   I am sure they will be asking me questions when I show up with a Garmin or Galaxy tracker in the future.  I am going to tell them the truth, and show them a copy of this thread I started trying to get resolution....

[NinhDm]

I've got the same problem of you. And im thinking about use another brand. This is the second fitbit ionic. So disappointed