Ionic is larger than I expected

[Azrider]

The main reason I am returning it is because it is a BRICK! It is so huge on my arm that I just can't keep it. I am a 5'7" woman with fairly small wrists and this is just a deal breaker. Sorry Fitbit, I think you have a fairly good product here, but it would have to be at least 2/3 the size of this beast for me to even consider keeping this. Perhaps a good size guy could carry this off, but not me. 

This disappoints me as I do love your APP and website and I really wanted to love the watch as well. It certainly is not a replacement for the Apple Watch because of the size. 

With that said, I thought perhaps I could overcome the hugeness and perhaps keep it for activities. But alas and alack - too many other issues.

I have only used it once (last night & today) but here is my (humble) opinion. BTW, I am not going to do any further exercise with it because I'm really not going to keep it. But, please read on to give you both the good and the not so good news. 

• I got it yesterday and found the setup fairly easy, even with the few glitches I experienced. 
• The screens are fairly intuitive after a bit of practice and they are bright, colorful and extremely well designed. I really loved the design of each screen. 
• Sleep tracking last night was absolutely spot-on.
• I tried the music sound management to raise and lower the volume from songs playing on my iPhone 8 and it worked flawlessly. Love that!
• The timer and alarms work just fine, so that must have been fixed. 

Now here is where it started to break apart for me...

• I bicycled 50 miles with it today on a route I ride frequently.  I also tracked the route on my Garmin Edge 810. Good news, the gps was spot-on for mph, elevation, routing, time and mileage. NICE!
• Wait! not only did I get all of the above information but the APP also showed for this exercise that I climbed 45 flights of stairs and stepped 17,000+ steps - really?!?!
• I did not map this device against a chest strap, but am very familiar with my heart rate as I have been riding 25+ years and am also a fitness instructor & personal trainer. I found that the HR was at times accurate, but dropped significantly each time I went up a hill. There is no way I was at 95 bpm going uphill. It did that several times. For the most part it seemed to track okay on the flats and downhills. 
• Last night I set up my Starbucks card with ease! Bummer was that I couldn't use it as I could not figure out how to pause my bicycle workout to get to the APP. It looks like I would have to stop the ride and then restart it after using the card. I used my phone instead. Perhaps user error?
• Autopause set and it did work. Each time I stopped it did pause and even gave me a little vibration. However, even the the slightest move got it started again and so when we took a break, it kept going on and off and sending me a vibration each time. Kind of annoying. It would be nice if there was a way to set it to pause under a specific mileage setting, say 3mph - but certainly not a deal breaker. 
• Battery life NOT 4-5 days. I rode for a little over three hours and when I went out my battery was at 70% and when I got home it was at a pathetic 27%!
• The strap is a nice blue-grey color, but got very warm as we rode and my wrist was sweating. I would definitely need a different strap (cost $29)

• SO SORRY FITBIT, GET READY FOR MY RETURN! Tried to post a photo, but I could not figure out how to do that. 

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[SunsetRunner]

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@Waterbaby12 wrote:
It you are in denial.  It is BIG.




Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone

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I suggest if you have small wrists you either buy a smaller watch or perhaps have surgery so you can have larger wrists. Or you wearing it knowing that this is what technology is capable nowadays.

I remember these days..

Have a nice day!

[SnowWight]

I have tiny wrists. Small strap on the last hole, still a bit a free play. I think it looks marvellous! A smaller unit would mean other compromises with battery life and functionality. When you think back to the earliest digital watches that were huge and could 'just' tell the time and maybe add a calculator function, I think its amazing. Just imagine the next 10-20 years. What will technology bring!!

[mariossp]

FitAlexS 😂😂😂

[rodboc]

I completely understand your frustration because I am in the same position. I've been a Fitbit user for five years already, and it is the first time I fell that my wearable doesn't suit my needs.  I am an active person, I workout five to six time per day in Crossfit and powerlifting and my main issue with Ionic version is the size.  I can't use it when I am working out because accidentally I press the pause button, and it doesn't matter if I am running, doing CrossFit or just weight, always the same and it is pissing me off. 

I already requested a return, but I haven't heard back from Fitbit. 

[shipo]

@rodboc, when you say you hit the "Pause Button", does that mean the button on the side of the device or the logical button on the screen?

Regardless of how you answer, here is a suggestion which might work well for your situation; I recently spent a whopping $11.99 for two case protectors for my Ionic (see link below).  Due to the way the case protector fits over the body of the Ionic, it physically shields all three side buttons from accidental actuation, and because there is a very slight rim offset around the screen, accidentally triggering a pause event via the virtual on-screen button becomes more difficult as well.

• https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076MFZP34/

[rodboc]

Hi Shipo, I mean the bottom right button on the side of the device. I wouldn't get a Fitbit protector because will turn my watch into a Brick! haha! The size is already huge, I don't want to carry a brick everywhere.

Cheers 

[shipo]

@rodboc, the protector isn't as big as you might think:

Without the protector:

With the case protector:

[rodboc]

Yeah, I don't like the idea to get an extra protector to fix design issues. Finally, I got to cut this issue from the roots, I went to the retailer store and I've downgraded for a Charge 2 HR.  Sorry Ionic!

[DReinig]

Thank you for the picture of the ionic on a female wrist!

[mk2654]

I'm around 5'3" and 100, and I worried about this when ordering, but I don't think it looks or feels especially big. I'd prefer it to be a little smaller, but it doesn't bother me at all.

[soccersnaps]

I have only used it once (last night & today) ........maths not your greatest subject then 🙂