Ionic Oddesy beginning to end

[Kight]

October has been an interesting month.  I bought an Ionic on the first day of the month and was excited to upgrade from my One to a wearable that could record a lot more data.  Over the course of the month I enjoyed many of the fitness features, but battled a number of bugs.  I didnt have the same level of issue syncing as others on the forum had, but it wasnt without its glitches.  After several resets I finally was able to sync to my phone (galaxy s8).  I found that everytime I charged the watch it would log between 5k and 20k steps.  The odd thing was that in the Android app if I drilled down far enough in the data, to the hourly log of steps showing intensity, the correct data was there.  This turned out to be a hardware glitch or firmware issue according to Fitbit help.  In the end I returned the watch to BestBuy on the last day of their return policy because of the hardware glitches and firmware issues.  In the end while I think the watch is over priced I may come back to it after the early glitches get worked out.  Hopefully they get this thing sorted out quickly, I gave my One to a coworker.

Here are my pros and cons.  Ill add more if I think of them

Pros

I have always thought that Fitbit has the best presentation for fitness data

the watch is fairly simple without a lot of extra crap you don't need

Battery life, this was the big one for me

Exercise logging, big step up for me from the One

Durable, I didn't have any problems with scratching but many others on the forum have

Blood Oxygen sensor, Hopefully it gets implemented soon

Cons

For a first generation smart that is generations behind the competition this watch is about $100 above its price point.  Should simply have replaced the Blaze and maintained the $200 price.  Pebble was always the economy smart watch, now its OS is going for the premium price.

Numerous hardware glitches and firmware issues

   Logs steps while charging

   Syncing is sketchy at best

   Notifications come in multiple times

   Notifications come in over night even when you set your sleep times

Proprietary watch band attachment.  Why cant all the smart watches just use standard watch bands???

Too much focus on smart watch seemed to deviate from effectiveness as a fitness tracker

Does not sync to Bowflex MaxTrainer, but that could be fixed easily

Blood oxygen sensor not implemented.  Seems odd not to implement one of the big selling points at launch.

[sportsmom9698]

I just requested a return number for mine as well.  Such a shame, I really like the user friendly website of Fitbit but the reliability of their products is just horrible. I have had numerous different styles over the last three years and none have lasted more than six months without breaking. 

I have just pre-ordered a Misfit Vapor, hoping that brand is going to be more reliable than Fitbit.  I just can't afford to spend $150-300 each year on a new watch that doesn't work half the time. 

[soguilk]

You are not alone. I returned the ionic three days ago. Pretty much everything you said is what my thoughts about the ionic. I am fairly loyal to the things I buy. But compare to the competition. Ionic is super overpriced for what it can currently do. I just couldn’t justify my purchase. Like I mentioned on my previous post. Maybe if they can get their **ahem** together, I may buy again next year. I’ve still been following the forums hoping I can get excited by an update. So far nothing has been released. 

[Crazy-Fritter]

I'm also watching and waiting, I won't be picking up an Ionic until they have it working properly and the price comes down. 

If that never happens I'm okay with that too..... I currently have my fitness tracking covered for the foreseeable future, and there's lots of good options out there. I do like the Fitbit app, and I liked the devices I used even though their quality and performance was mostly substandard.

Still it wouldn't take them too much effort to get back on top. Lots of potential here.

[Andy_InVan]

I thought maybe I was an exception.. My FitBits have also all died within a year.  I had my Charge HR replaced twice under warranty, and the last time it died, it wasn't under warranty so I bought a Blaze.  I had my first Blaze replaced under warranty, and the 2nd died out of warranty, so I've been waiting on the Ionic to get bug free.  I was thinking the Ionic might be more durable, since it's rated to a depth of 50m.  My hypothesis has been that water and sweat slowly work their way through the seal and fry something, and a seal rater for greater depth should keep that from happening.

[Kight]

So its almost a year later.  I was wondering if any of the issues I was having were resolved.  I have gone through some of the forum posts and it looks like almost the same posts that were up a year ago.  Is there any reason for me to dip my foot back in the Fitbit pond or not?  My biggest issue was with the logging steps during charging.  I never had any connectivity issues, and found most of the fitness uses for the watch to be functional.  Annoyed that a year later the SpO2 sensor is still inactive.  Coming up on Christmas time so I should be able to find an Ionic on sale again, but wanted some community feedback since I have been out of the loop for a year.