Ionic died

[ladykayaker]

My beloved ionic died. It was working just fine, then sometime in the early hours  of September 10, it shut down, never to log another step again. I had a Fitbit ZIP since 2014. After that had served me faithfully for three years, it died in 2017, I made the leap and invested in an Ionic. Just shy of two years and the Ionic turned off in the night. It won't respond to charging or attempting to factory reset. RIP

[TiRider]

Mine just died Oct 5. Did not even make it to 1 year. I have tried all the different resets (left button+lower right button and all three buttons at once), plugged in and not plugged in, and nothing worked.

[Username845]

Great news, I heard back from Fitbit. It seems they didn’t like my username and changed it. At least they read these posts. 

[Deninvic]

Yep. When I was chatting online this morning with support he couldn't get off the line fast enough when the troubleshooting didn't work. Just threw out the default discount line and then was out. 

[DustyMoth]

Mine just died yesterday too, I’ve tried factory reset and washed the battery connection in case it was dirty and not making a connection but it was around 85% anyway.

[SunsetRunner]

My Ionic apparently died last night too. I’ve had it less than two years.. very unusual to see so many others with the exact same issue..

[amithcd]

My Fitbit Ionic started getting issues a week back. I did a complete reset, after that it stopped tracking activities and then the Battery went dead and would not charge.Passed information to support through Twitter.  They replied back with troubleshooting steps.  Didn't work.  Opened up a Case and finally after 3 days they sent me an email with an offer of  Free replacement or 50% off any device.  Going for the free replacement.

[SunsetRunner]

Mines not fully died yet but I've had it just over 2 years and the screen started flickering a day or two ago. Now I can barely see the screen as it's just all lines. Everything else is still working but of course I can't use the watch at all which makes it pretty pointless. Typically out of warranty by mere days with the place I bought it from. I guess at least mine has lasted longer than some peoples but still this is ridiculous for such an expensive bit of kit. I can't afford to purchase another one. Think it's time to go with another manufacture which is a shame as I've been with Fitbit for years and had no issues with my Charge before it.  

[Techjca]

Mine died around 1am this morning. It seems like the update must have killed a bunch devices. I've had mine for less than 2 years. This is absolutely insane. I'm never purchasing a Fitbit again and will tell others not too unless they fix their software releases and testing practices. They must have known this would have happened and should have warned us.

[Meloso]

I can't Believe it is true! So many cases and as cited before, they don't seem to Care, nor even try to improve the equipment.

I just can't throw my Ionic away. It doesn't has any scratches. I wonder it will start to work again anytime. I WOULD like it happens.

[chrittymack]

Luckily, I went through all of the protocols to see if I could revive it.  I could not.  Contact customer support and my new Fit Bit Ionic is on the way!  Free! 

[Username845]

You must still be under warranty....but enjoy your new iconic for the next 12 to 17 months before it dies again. 

[Cosmo85]

I contacted them on twitter. The people are great. They check everything to make sure, and do what they can. The company.. I got a coupon for 25-40% off depending on what I buy. (Products That Don’t sell are high discount probably) would be nice to see them offer a repair service at a discount. I really feel like my issue was software related not hardware. Less garbage into the landfills and better customer experience that way. People would pay outside of warranty. We have become such a throw away society. But enough rant. Good luck everyone 🙂

[RickLoC53]

I had the exact same thing happen.  Between 4 AM and 7:15 AM on 10/6/2019, my Ionic completely died. Deader than a doornail - no display, would not recharge (even after a whole day on the charger).  I thought I would check in to the Forum to see if anyone had a "fix."  I'm not totally bummed out - this Ionic lasted almost 18 months with no service complaints.  That's the longest I've ever had a Fitbit without issues.  I believe I had at least two replacement Charge HR's and the pulsemeter on my Blaze gave up the ghost a little after a year.  Also, I have a brand new Versa that I won in a health competition at my job.  Still, I thought that my Ionic just suddenly dying was rather weird - and very interesting that another user had almost the exact same issue at the exact same time.  My son has an Ionic, his is almost two years old and - knock on wood - is still kicking.

[RockIsland423]

My Ionic died last night.  I was cooking dinner in the kitchen and would check my stats every few minutes as I was getting very close to reaching 20 miles for the day.  Then I did a routine check and the screen did not show up.  I then pressed the button to activate it since the wrist flip didn't work, and still nothing... I thought, that's weird, this has not happened before.  I tried to restart it, tried charging it (left it on the charger all night), and still nothing.  The battery life was at about 90% the last time I saw it and it was behaving normally all day.  I tried to sync my phone app with it and it could not find the watch.  It's kind of sad, like losing a pet fish that you have had for a while, long enough to become attached to it.  I bought it in March 2018, so got a decent 19 months out of it, kind of like a pet fish that did ok, but you wish it lived a little longer.

I have been thinking about upgrading to a Garmin Forerunner, so I just bought one today.  Hopefully it lasts a little longer than this did...

[RickLoC53]

Fitbit longevity pretty much meets the 1 year warranty - and when it doesn't, Fitbit will make it right.  My experience is that Fitbit Customer Service is outstanding in replacing your Fitbit if it fails within that one year warranty.  A few questions asked, but no need to send pictures or the problem unit - very easy, hassle free.  If the unit fails one day past the warranty period, they'll give you a discount - usually as one poster said, on a slower selling brand/unit.  If you are 18 months out, my guess is that Fitbit's going to say, "consider yourself lucky."  It's planned obsolescence - if you haven't already bought the latest-and-greatest - at its finest.  I doubt this is unique to Fitbit.  If you want a watch to last forever, buy a Timex (do they still make them?).

[TiRider]

I wanted to give an update on my Ionic killed problem. I called Fitbit, told them the problem and the troubleshooting steps that I took to try to resolve the issue. They did a quick check and since I was still under the warranty period they gave the choice to send out a replacement unit or take a discount. I chose the replacement unit as I like the Ionic and the GPS functionality. Kudos to customer support who was easy to deal with and fast to get to resolution. Regardless if my Ionic should have even been bricked in the first place, it was handled well (at least in my case where I still had a warranty).

[SunsetRunner]

Buy a Timex? I am glad there are few people who share your pitiful expectations. Planned obsolescence is lack of compatibility with future upgrades, not designing your products to fail unexpectedly. 

The fact is they will not last as a company making watches that cost $250-300 and last little more than a year before bricking. You’re wrong if you think otherwise, and so is Fitbit’s reliability and approach to sustainment. I bought an Apple Watch with more features, and superior customer service. I can be 100% confident it will last more than a few months too, unlike the Ionic. And if it does have a problem, there are options, including repair. That’s how commerce works. I won’t buy another Fitbit until I see a marked change in reliability and service.

[RickLoC53]

So nice that you can sit there all pompous with your $500 Apple Watch. I am sure none of us have ever owned an Apple product - iPhone, iPad, iPod - and experienced their tremendous (at a cost) service and longevity.

Granted Fitbit certainly is not the innovator that Apple is (not many tech companies are). But Ionic and Versa do what I want them to do as a fitness watch. Call me old fashioned, but I don’t see the point in having to pay dearly to have a phone on my wrist when I still have to carry my real phone in my pocket.

And Fitbit’s service in their warranty period is exemplary - complete replacement with no hassles. No prorating or other gimmicks that I’ve experienced with Apple.

Sent from my iPhone

Moderator edit: word choice

[Lori_T]

I see a trend here.  My Ionic died yesterday.  It won't take a charge and the reset trick of holding down all three buttons at once does nothing.  This must be more than a coincidence and Fitbit should address this problem. 

[Lori_T]

I forgot to mention in my post that my Ionic was just 15 months old when it died yesterday.