Ionic screen went black

[Sroper]

Hi all

Long time FitBit user got the Ionic at Christmas to replace a Garmin for running and training.  Have had a great experience with it until yesterday at the start line for my first half marathon.  Battery in the 90s.   Went to exercise app and initiated a run to get the GPS started. The gun fires and i go to start the run app, the screen is black and nothing will work.  I tried a hard reset (yes I googled while running) to attempt to fix it.  Nothing.  BUT the HR monitor light is flashing.  Essentially it was a brick on my wrist.  The last sync on my phone before it failed shows a full battery that morning.

Finish the race and get back to hotel, tried to charge it just in case that was the issue.  No response to the charger.  Still essentially a brick - but green light still flashing.  

Toss it in my bag and continue with my day.  Get home several hours later and try to charge it again.  Finally something appears on the screen  0% battery.  Charges up and works fine two hours later.  

Anyone else deal with this??   Worst timing ever for a failure.  I had started to run without my phone in some scenarios.  Now I don't trust the Ionic.  This type of issue moved me away from the Garmin too. Help!!

 Moderator edit: updated subject for clarity

[Town]

I made the switch, my Fitbit’s only lasted half as long as yours. I gave them 3 chances and it’s a complete disaster, paid $500 for a watch that lasted less than a year🙄

Moderator edit: personal info removed

[Tommmmy]

I went through two of them. So fed up

[techswabbie]

I am now on my second and it won't sync.  I posted to someone else's post about the same issue and everything we both tried to get it to sync.  My warranty ends a little later this month.  Waiting to see what they do to honor this garbage.  Here's what I sent Fitbit customer support:

I got a new Fitbit Ionic replacement on Warranty because the old one died. Also got a new band because the old band wouldn't connect to the new Ionic watch base. Went to turn it all on this past Sunday and sync. It took several tries, but eventually synced and updated Firmware to 27.33.1.30. I was also able to install a custom watch face that I recently found out will cost money to keep. After that, I've only been able to get it to sync once. Updated steps to ~5700 steps and then haven't been able to sync since. Can't update the watch face, can't sync steps to my phone app, etc. Still shows last sync as Sunday at 12:44 p.m. I've tried all the steps advised for an android phone at: https://help.fitbit.com/articles/en_US/Help_article/1866/?l=en_US&c=Topics%3ASyncing&fs=Search&pn=1#...

I've uninstalled the app on my phone, cleared memory/cache, restarted the Ionic several times, restarted Blue Tooth several times. I've also tried factory reset on the Ionic itself. It is now stuck on the rotating language screen advising I go to www.fitbit.com/setup. Stuck royally. Still won't sync, useless piece of garbage

[doggmommy]

My latest lasted less than 3 months then stopped syncing. I have taken a week with support doing all their requested steps before they agreed to send me another.I will have to wait another week before it arrives. They have not requested that I return the faulty one for repairs, less than 3 months old. Does that say something? Wonder where they get the ones that they send to replace those that stop functioning? Hope that Google can fix their quality issues. Am thinking of replacing this one if it doesn’t last well over its warranty, in the UK they have to last 2 years, with a Samsung Galaxy Active 2 Watch. They have good reviews and are in the same price point.

[Ashley1515]

Mine did the exact same thing!!! 

-18 months old

-screen went black then looked like an old black and white snow storm screen and would glitch in and out randomly.

-tried all the resets, the watch would work for a week then it would crap out again

-eventually the screen just wouldn’t display anything or turn on.

-I’ve owned the charge hr (x2), the blaze and the ionic but after my last experience I think it’s time for an Apple Watch. I called customer service and I’m out of range for warranty. Just doesn’t seem right that you buy a $400 watch that lasts 18 months and there’s nothing they will do. This watch is supposed to be indestructible - they advertise that you can wear it in water, and that it has “Corning Gorilla Glass 3 that protects your screen....” sounds like false advertising.

I have purchased 4 ionics for gifts for my parents and friends, but will no longer be supporting Fitbits!!

After reading all these posts clearly it’s a problem with the device and someone from Fitbit should really be managing this issue! 

[hoangnguyen2108]

Hello,

I got the same issue as well. I tried different methods (restarting, factory reset, charging, factory reset during charging) but none works. Is there anyone successful with fixing this issue?

PS: when I tried factory reset the first 2 times, the fitbit logo did appear and seemed to be back to normal. But then I got the message that data cannot be clean completely, and after that the screen died again.

[Vast00]

Unfortunately you do spend a lot of money on them, they should have better
warranties. My watch is all scratch I don't think they have gorilla
protection glass. I just hope mine keeps working because I really don't
like apple products. 😟

[RamonaKe]

Mine has done this twice, also it doesn't seem to hold a charge during a run longer than 2 hours. I've turned all the extras off.

[techswabbie]

See my original posts. ....so they sent me a third Ionic and it didn't show until mid December. I got it going and have been using it successfully until last night, Went to put it on the charger and waited a while. Dead. Won't even turn on. The Ionic line is an absolute disappointment. To anyone else having issues with your Ionic, I hope you are still within your 1 year factory warranty, otherwise Fitbit will not help. To prove this, watch whether any Fitbit forum moderators respond to this post.  Ultimately, in my case, $250 got me 3 non-reliable Ionics.  Wish I could repurpose them for something else, but unfortunately all three Ionics are just taking up space in my drawer reminding me of what a horrible mistake I made.  Hopefully Google cleans house and fires the amateurs that designed this chunk of junk.

[techswabbie]

So what's the plan for those of us on our 3rd Ionic in 15 months?  Other than offering me a discount on another model, why don't you just send me another model?  The $250 model is junk, maybe I'd have better luck with your $200 model?  Has anyone from Google fired everyone in the Ionic lab, yet?

[jesster123]

Apparently this is still happening. I just got a replacement ionic from Fitbit because my last one turned into a brick. Nothing. No lights on the back and wouldn’t charge. Got my new one, it charged once, then the battery ran down and it wouldn’t charge at all no matter how many different USB ports I used, I cleaned it, bought new charging cables, etc. I did just do a hard restart (hold down left and bottom buttons until the Fitbit logo appears) and now it is charging. So weird. 

[Vast00]

Try leaving it on the charger for an entire day. They press the top button
and the one on the other side. Then switch to the bottom and the other
side. See of it works.

[aguy124]

This is happening to me right now. Screen is black, HR sensor still flashing though. 

[Vast00]

Mine did this again but this time the letters and numbers dissapeared and
my screen lightes up like a tv with no signal. So I believe this is beyond
repair. 😭

[hoangnguyen2108]

I gave up on Ionic after a few hard reset. The watch is still working as it still syncs with phone with updated info (e.g.: steps, calories, etc.) but screen is pitch black. 

[Vast00]

Yes. Mine does too, but i can't see the hr or anything since i used it to
run and stuff. Before it went black like if it was not charged, but know I
know is on but no image😢 so it's done. I loved it while it lasted. I don't
think I'm gonna be spending any more money on it since firbit knows all the
problems this has and can't sent you another watch. Is not like you broke
it on purpose. They seemed to be cheaply made😢 hpe they would take
responsibly and replace it. Will se what happens next.