Ionic battery short life

[SunsetRunner]

I bought my Ionic during the first week it has been available, and up until now, it has been working just fine.  I have been taking it off and charging it when I have gone into the bathroom to take a shower, every morning before I head out for the day and every evening before I head to bed.  Usually, after a charge to 100% in the evening, it has been down to the mid-90's in the morning -- 94 or so.  During the day, after a charge to 100% in the morning, it may be down to around 90% or so in the evening.  Bottom line, it was always quick and easy to get it back to 100% while I was in the shower.

But just a few days ago, I started seeing the battery percentages in the low 80's.  Then the low 70's.  Yesterday, after a 100% charge in the morning, the battery was DOWN TO 51%.  If this keeps it up, my Ionic will not last a full day without needing to be charged.  At which time I might as well toss it in the trash and move on to some other company's technology.  I am NOT happy to see this three-hundred-dollar purchase utterly die as I watch it over the course of one week.

I have NOT been doing anything strange that seemingly made this happen.  It didn't happen "right after a firmware update" or anything like that -- I have been updating things as they have happened, but the last one was months ago.  I did NOT install any new apps or anything like that.  It was just functioning normally, and then it went to hell in a handbasket one day, and it just keeps on getting worse, every day.

I have been doing daily "reboots" with the Ionic.  I have uninstalled every app that I could uninstall.  I am using a very simple watch face.  I have fully uninstalled the Fitbit app on my phone, and reinstalled that.  Nothing has helped.  It simply appears that my Ionic's battery is going to die within the next week or so.  By all means, if you can suggest anything else I could do, I would appreciate it, but I think I've gone through the gamut of what can be done with the thing, already.  I can tell you one thing, though -- if this thing dies on me, I sure won't be buying a new Ionic, given how this thing hasn't lasted much more than about six months.

Moderator edit: Updated subject for clarity 

[Colinm39]

An update 3 months later...

Wearing the IOnic 24/7 with a Fitbit clock screen... No change to Apps and light activity.  I have just received 7.5 days from the  battery charge to 98% and now sitting at 19% as I'm writing this post.. All sleep records work.. Only one GPS in those days....  The Ionic averages 0.47%/hour battery loss.

[jjoonathan]

Ugh, my 8 month old ionic has the cratering battery life problem too, and they are refusing warranty! I bought it new, right after it came out, but apparently not at an approved store. The other questions they asked while fishing for an excuse to deny warranty were also pretty slimy ("have you ever used a 3rd party charger or cable?"). To say I am frustrated is an understatement; this will be my last fitbit product.

Does anyone have a bypass for the "can't upgrade firmware if the battery is too low" check? It seems like a hail-mary worth trying.

[SunsetRunner]

"Third party charger" is a 100% bogus "issue" -- Fitbit chose to include a CABLE with their device (with a connector that connects to the device), leaving it up to EVERY customer to come up with some kind of charger to plug that cable into.  In reality, we must be using THOUSANDS of different "third party chargers" in order to charge our devices.  Cables are cables are cables are cables.  In the land of USB charging, the device regulates how much of the power that the charger provides will actually be used -- and the charger can provide anything from far less than the device can handle, to far more than the device can handle.  If Fitbit won't provide some kind of "certified" charger that works, then it absolutely CAN NOT blame its customers if whatever chargers they use might cause problems with its devices.  And cables just don't have much of any effect in the process, unless they are essentially "defective."  Yes, there are third-party cradles and such, but it's a very long stretch to try and blame them for any issues with Fitbit's devices.  If Fitbit is worried about the charging process, it should spend the twenty-five cents or so it would cost to include a "known good" charger in the box with their devices.

As for the firmware upgrade process, will it not work if your device is plugged into its charger when you attempt the upgrade?  That's what comes to my mind.....  Good luck!

[Cyndimh]

I can barely get 24 hours out of each charge.  I hate this thing so much, it had done nothing but caused me stress! 

[Colinm39]

I shouldn't have posted here because it has spooked my Ionic.... The last 2 weeks at about the 3.5 days and the battery at about 58%, the Ionic suddenly discharges within 2 hours to dead flat... Once while watching TV, another 30 minutes after I went to sleep. and the third yesterday..  It takes about 80 minutes to charge to 100%.

The discharge rate in those first days averages 0.47%/hr.  I have done as requested, charge after a factory reset and yesterday after 3 restarts.. and after 24 hours, the battery is at 90%.

Over this journey I have been emailing Support and the last email is below and now I'm awaiting an answer about the sudden discharge. I have always used the USB port on the computer and now they want me to use an external source..  So now I'm waiting for the battery life to decrease still further because in Australia we now have 2 years warranty from Fitbit.  Rather than the 3 months I have left from the original warranty.

"We appreciate your time and effort providing us your details. In line with this, we'd like to explain that the Fitbit Ionic battery can last up to 5 days depending on several factors that affect the battery of the watch, that includes: screen wake, applications, alarms, heart rate, etc.

Moreover, it looks like your tracker’s battery life is in the expected range for your type of tracker and the frequency at which you use features that impact battery life.

Furthermore, we recommend to kindly try an alternate power source".

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@Colinm39 wrote:

An update 3 months later...

Wearing the Ionic 24/7 with a Fitbit clock screen... No change to Apps and light activity.  I have just received 7.5 days from the  battery charge to 98% and now sitting at 19% as I'm writing this post.. All sleep records work.. Only one GPS in those days....  The Ionic averages 0.47%/hour battery loss.

---

[Gemclare]

Charged mine yesterday morning. Used GPS for 2 hours and I've just got a low battery notification meaning I got about 38 hours out of it. How have you started your support from fitbit?

[Colinm39]

@Gemclare In Australia we have the email option and that gives me an excellent documentation tool. The link below gives me the email option but in the US I believe that option isn't there during business hours.

https://help.fitbit.com/?l=en_US&cu=1&fs=ContactUs

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@Gemclare wrote:

Charged mine yesterday morning. Used GPS for 2 hours and I've just got a low battery notification meaning I got about 38 hours out of it. How have you started your support from fitbit?

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[Ericry]

In about the past 2 weeks my Ionic has gone from about 4 days of life to approx 24 hours.....nothing changed.

I've always had ScreenWake set to auto - now moved to Manual. I've no Alarms and turned GPS off. Have some notifications for messages and emails and calendar events, maybe get 4 or 5 a day.

Just opened an email case to Fitbit on this...very annoying...go to be with 30% battery and wake up with a dead watch.

Eric.

[Omde]

I was very pleased with battery life for several months. I charged the ionic once a week and it would hold for 2-3 hours of GPS a week and rest was just regular use. "Always sync" is disabled and all apps are those I had earlier.......well one non-default app and that is Strava. Screen I have on manual since I bought it.

Charged mine Saturday evening, so right now its less than 48 hours ago and its on 58%. GPS or tracking of any kind was not used during this period, basically idle on my wrist.

Only thing that was updated software-wise in the last 3-4 weeks is Fitbit application (Android). So while the battery time at the moment is not THAT bad, its definitely worse than it was before. 

Hope it will not become worse than it is. If I wanted watch that I have to charge once a day, I would have bought one of the gazillion other smartwatches out there.

[md12356]

Just to advise of a similar experience to being mentioned. The Ionic lasted a fair amount of time and would probably need to charge once a week. Now it has to be charged daily and also switched off all the power drainers that get mentioned. I now have a support case open and following their suggestions but can only see it being the same as all others on here. Well done to those who do get a reasonable time out of their device

[Colinm39]

It's nearly a month since I posted about my sudden discharge at about 4+ days after a full charge and that has only occurred once since at 5.33 days..  At the start of this period I did a 3 consecutive restarts on the Ionic.

In this month the Ionic has averaged 6.55 days and charging from an average of 14% remaining. I get the low battery notification at 25%.

Whether the 3 restarts of the Ionic triggered this stabilization I don't know.. or... my gut feeling something goes rogue within the logic of the Ionic and flattens the battery suddenly as if being used.

I still have an escalated case outstanding where Fitbit want me to send my Ionic to the local distributor to examine the battery..but only when this rapid discharge occurs again.

I have not changed any settings, so still 24/7, sleep works, all notifications and alarms are active. Manual awake and no "All day sync". The Ionic is set to "Always Connected" and the Fitbit One, that option is turned off. I manually sync the Fitbit One when its steps exceed the Ionics steps. No GPS over this period. Just some Workouts.

[Adventurer]

I have a 3 week old Ionic and the battery lasted several days initially and now it's just over 24 hours.  This doesn't even include any gps use.  I had a Garmin Vivoactiv 3 music for 3 weeks prior and regret returning it.  The VA3 battery lasted 3 to 4 days with several runs using gps.  Thinking of going back to Garmin.

[Bldem]

My ionic battery is losing complete power in 12 hours. Can this be fixed?

[Colinm39]

@BldemI don't know about a fix, but in the middle of the rapid drain, have you done a restart...Also the 3 consecutive restarts helped me.. 

After my post on the 16th August, the very next day I did my restart during a sudden drain, see below, I got another 2 days.. So a 11 days after that meltdown the Ionic is at 47% remaining and at 3.5 days..

I documented my issue with continuous emails to Support and finally they had enough documented evidence to replace my Ionic.. It's on its way now.  Here is the link to Support and depending on what time it is you either get the choice of a phone number or email..

Here is an example of my documentation.. I'm well retired, so I have time to document this and over the years I have found a positive approach with supporting emails goes along way to a resolution..

Qualifying this, I have my backup with a Fitbit One (obsolete) in consecutive Multi Mode so if the Ionic crashes suddenly I still have my steps.

.

[MattJ71]

Could this have anything to do with the SPO2 sensor being active during sleep?  I think Fitbit is testing it now as the red and green light are on during sleep.  I notice it when I first get up that both lights are flashing.

[Adventurer]

I fixed my Ionic problems by returning it to Best Buy.  I'm now using Garmin Vivoactive 3 Music.  Overall, it's a much better tracker than Ionic in almost every way.  I wish screen was square like Ionic, but I'm getting used to that again.  Garmin connect app is also much better than Fitbit.

[Colinm39]

@MattJ71 We definitely have to be aware of all possibilities. Last night while asleep my Ionic only discharged 4% for 10 hours which is normal for a non active period.. and, from the image you can see when I do some workouts (no GPS) and these were only brisk walking, it dropped 26% for the daylight hours. .. You will notice the time differences between my recordings and I don't worry to much because my trusty Fitbit One always syncs my steps and floors in my multi mode.

I can't pick the random, spasmodic discharge.

Because the Ionic is tardy when it syncs I noticed yesterday the battery dropped 2% while syncing nearly a waking days data. Now, for the first time ever this mornings sync, the Ionic switched off.. needed a restart, and that also dropped 2% with only 10 hours data and a restart.

I have held off posting this and in 1/2 hour it's dropped another 2%, now 41% while typing and breakfasting...

My replacement is due in a few days from Fitbit Support via  Amazon. I have the delivery emails etc.. So we will see how that performs.

[Cac833]

I am having the same issue and I'm about ready to lose it.  This purchase was very expensive.  Can you please send me the solution too.  Thank you.

[Colinm39]

@Cac833I don't know what the solution is.... With my Ionic I really believe it's software doing the wrong thing..

But to recap.......About 5 weeks my 3 consecutive restarts arrested my issue..and my issue was  the battery had a very dramatic discharge at about 4 days when there was still about 50% left.. No GPS use. Notifications and Alarms and wearing 24/7. Typically getting 6+ days

I have only had the one sudden discharge since the restarts and I arrested that by doing a restart and got another 2 days.. I got 6 days this week and recharged at 12%..

So what is the problem ? It was enough for Fitbit to replace my Ionic which is due tomorrow..

[Bldem]

I got in touch with company. My Fitbit was still under warranty. They are replacing. They did not have a fix.

Sent from my iPhone