As an update to this, I went through the steps recommended by customer support (including a manual factory reset I didn't know about before) but the result of that process was the Ionic is now totally bricked - won't charge, turn on, or do anything.
It was at least usable (to an extremely limited extent) before, and was still tracking sleep and activity and syncing to my phone even without a really usable screen, but now it is completely useless.
I was offered a code for a new device after this destructive attempt to remedy the Ionic but, unfortunately, it excludes the Versa 3 or Sense - aka the only smartwatch alternatives to my dead smartwatch... D'oh!
I could get the Versa 2 (as I assume they need to clear the old stock) but it lacks built in GPS so is no use to me sadly.
Spoke to a customer service agent about this, but they advised they had no intent to include comparable devices to the Ionic (fair enough) and then closed the chat on me before I could finish typing (rude).
Bit of a bum note, but for me that concludes my fitbit journey I think. I'd rather have stayed in the "fitbit family" (as the email accompanying the code puts it) as I've been a user for 5 years, but I want to replace my Ionic with a device with at least the same features and sadly fitbit cannot offer that (or, at least, not at a competitive price point).
