Ionic's unattractive design

[Jim319]

The Ionic does not look attractive. All the professional reviews I have read in the media have noted its' rather unattractive appearance. The best I have come across was "not as ugly as I expected". I know that FitBit is a serious technology company with lots of very talented knowledge staff. That makes it all the more amazing when it's "must do well" product - their first true smartwatch is shaped the way it is. FitBit should have learned from the poor sales of Ionic's lookalike the Blaze. Another design feature that will hurt Ionic's sales is its proprietary band connection. Reviewers have noted that it works very well but its special nature means that bands will be only available at FitBit, unless its sales takes off as for the Apple Watch. Samsung leaned this with its release of the Gear S2 in two styles, one with a snap-on proprietary band similar to Ionic's and their Gear S2 Classic with regular watch lugs. The one with the proprietary band did not sell well and Samsung switched all future watches to having classic lugs to which any watch band can be attached. There are many options out there. Many Chinese companies (like from the company that replaced FitBit in selling the most wearables) with fitness bands and smart watches at 1/3 or less than the price of FitBit's version. I have purchased many of them, but always come back to FitBit because of its app. FitBit's fitness app is still be best app available and this appears to be a consensus in the tech and general fitness community. It FitBit could only produce hardware of the design quality to match its app the future of the company will look a lot better.   

Moderator edit: edited title for clarity

[racertempo]

You are incorrect, there are already many band sellers on Amazon right now.  There is nothing proprietary about it.  They are $10 and up, so no issues there. 

Also, the look is subjective... But how can anyone think the Apple Watch is attractive but the Ionic is not? The AW is just a bulky rectangle. 

[Lauraanthony209]

The Ionic is actually considerably smaller than the blaze and has a slight curve of the screen. Sounds like Fitbit did learn after all. 

[datalore]

Design is subjective, so I won't argue looks and personal taste. The Blaze, however, has been a huge hit, and in fact is the highest selling tracker on Amazon. I tend to agree with you that the Blaze is ugly, but again subjective. I'm not a huge fan of the ionic design, but like you I've heard it looks better in person. The fact that the SDK is open is what excites me about the watch. 

[minigno]

There is a post here just a few down about bands for Ionic.  There are many 3rd party sellers, so I'm not sure what you are talking about there.

https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Ionic/Replacement-Bands-Screen-Protectors-and-Other-Accessories-for-...

[SunsetRunner]

I have to agree. I think the ionic looks like something out of a B movie sci-fi from the 80’s.

[SunsetRunner]

I think it is very nice looking myself.  Different strokes for different folks! 

[DramaQueenDiva]

EBay has some nice looking bands for the Ionic (and other trackers as well) so you might want to try there, and they cost considerably less than the Fitbit bands.

[NellyG]

Wow - weird. I never thought of someone not liking the Ionic look. I think it looks sleek and modern. I think The apple watch looks 1980's! As @SunsetRunner said - different strokes.  I am most impressed with the fit of the Ionic in spite of its size. I think the design there is excellent.

[SunsetRunner]

Sorry but I have to disagree with you on two counts.

1st up I like the look of the ionic it is sleek and finished well. With the Jarvis Custom watch face it looks very futuristic as well

2nd There are lots of places to get 3rd party bands I bought a nice gold metal band for only $25 that makes it look very upmarket. 

I've seen the look of other watch fitness trackers and they look bulky, circular and cumbersome (and if I really want to be honest, downright ugly)

I've also seen $7,000 normal watches that don't look half as good as the Ionic even with all their 24 carat gold and sparkly diamond bling (overly ostentatious if you ask me)

This of course is simply my opinion and you, as is your right are fully entitled to your opinion.  It just happens that in this instance, I am right and you are wrong

[Giampi71]

I also totally disagree with the OP. The Ionic for some reasons looks quite "boring" in picture but it's absolutely very attractive in real life. Many people already asked me about it, especially when the watchface is highlighted since the display offers vibrant colors.

[N8teGee]

Thought I may as well chime in! 

When the Ionic was first announced I really doubted Fitbit's design decision and couldn't work out why they would choose such an odd design. I didn't really like it, but preordered as I've been anticipating the Fitbit smartwatch.

As soon as I recieved the device I couldn't believe how wrong I was. The device looks perfect and elegant on the wrist. The curved glass in person makes it look so much better then any picture can show. I'm guessing the OP hasn't seen one in person? 

As for 3rd party bands, we'll they were available even before the Ionic was shipped at launch. A quick search on Amazon and eBay will result in many to choose from. I'm not sure why the OP would think otherwise! 

[fluxx]

Same for me, I thought the Ionic looked odd when I saw it "on paper". Now that I have it on my wrist, I actually like the design. The build quality is also very good. Only thing that still bothers me is the large bezel at the bottom with the Fitbit logo. In my opinion, a good design should work by itself and doesn't need a big logo, especially if space is precious. At least, they could have placed one or two more sensors in that place, like an UV sensor. But overall, I don't think the Ionic looks bad in person.

Btw. Don't forget to get a nice leather band from Fitbit or third party before you finally judge the design. A nice band can work wonders on any watch.