Ionic stopped working after going 3" of water

[riddled]

My 4 kids (all fitbit users) bought me a fitbit Ionic in November 2018 for Christmas.  It still looks new today (6/9/2020), no scratches, never dropped, still using the original band.  I take great care with my electronics.  I reached into less than 3" of water to grab a fish out of the net last Friday and within minutes it started pressing buttons on it's own.  An hour later I go to check the time and I'm looking at a fitbit logo.  I did a soft reset (held the left button and bottom right button for 12 seconds).  It came back to life for a few hours.  The next day I'm looking at a glowing white screen with colorful vertical lines.  Called customer service and they had me do a factory reset (while charging held all three buttons down for 12 seconds).  I see a faint 0% battery logo through the glowing white screen for a few seconds, then a few seconds later back to the glowing screen with colorful vertical lines.  This thing is toast!  Customer service offered 25% off my next purchase.  There is no way this thing is water resistant to 50 meters.  This form is filled with similar stories.  The false adverting needs to stop.

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[SilviaFitbit]

@riddled A warm welcome to the Community. Thanks for the detailed information shared and the troubleshooting tried prior to posting. 

All Fitbit trackers and watches are water-resistant, which means they're rain-proof and splash-proof and can stand up to even the sweatiest workout. You can swim or shower with certain Fitbit devices. Fitbit Ionic is water resistance, this means that's swimproof in a lake, pool, or ocean (up to 50 meters). 

It's always recommended to follow our Wear and Care tips. 

When you contact our Support team, each case will be reviewed individually and the option provided will be based in the Fitbit Warranty. 

I'll be around if you have any additional questions. 

[Roniedarunner]

Hi Riddled, 

Your story sounds identical to mine! I also got my fitbit Christmas of 2018 and take good care of my fitbit. I absolutely love it. I also went swimming a few weeks ago and the screen went black after the swim. I was no where close to 50 meters under water. Maybe the next day, my screen looked like a colorful UPC code with vertical colorlines behind a white background. I decided to call customer support and sadly all I got was, "You are past your warranty. There is nothing that we can do. This happens to some devices after some time and the screen just goes out." I was so sad. I said, "Really? These watches are set to last just under two years? This is not okay." She apologized and also offered a 25% off discount code, which I have to use in 30 days or it will expire. I don't think I want to buy something that is going to break down in under two years. This is devastating. I don't want to switch to Apple. I love the Fitbit features but they can't do this to us!  

[PaulMe]

@Roniedarunner,

"I was no where close to 50 meters under water."

The device is supposed to be WR50 certified. It IS NOT a SCUBA diving device. WR50 is only for surface swimming and snorkeling. It is an air pressure test at the equivelent to a depth of 50 metres. Nothing to do with a water pressure test at 50 metres.

Misleading stuff unfortunately. Not from Fitbit - but the whole certification confusing naming conventions. WR50, WR100, WR200 etc.

Having said this - there is an obvious issue affecting Fitbit devices (Ionic and Versa). I won't swim or even shower with my Ionic. I've bangged on about this is numerous threads. Not all of those comments have been removed I'm happy to say. But clearly these devices arn't robust enough for watersports or even a quick dunking in water for some.😉

If the Ionic and Versa were manufactured and certified to the WR100 standard like my old Seiko and Citizen watches, we would likely not be having this discussion.

Others swim with no issues. But the percentage of failures is fairly high.

If you must - only swim during the warranty period. 

Too risky for me!

[riddled]

@SilviaFitbit 

My FitBit Ionic has never seem more than 3" (3 inches) of water.  Saying "up to 50 meters" is extremely misleading and down right false advertising; saying it's a "swim watch" is misleading too.

[PaulMe]

@riddled,

"Saying "up to 50 meters" is extremely misleading and down right false advertising."

It is. But it's not Fitbit being misleading. The whole WR50,WR100 and WR200 certification is misleading.

The 50 metres refers to a pressure test. Not a physical water pressure test at 50 metres below the surface.

Have a read of the following site. It says that WR100 should be the rating for "serious water sports". That includes swimming.

The Ionic/Versa should have been manufactured to the WR100 standards, not WR50.

https://www.definewatches.com.au/water-resistance/