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Ionic vs. Apple Watch Series 3

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Apple just released info on the new Series 3. I have the Series 1 along with a Charge 2 HR. I actually use both right now because I like the Fitbit App more than the Apple one. The Ionic intrigued me, so I pre-ordered it last week. I am now reconsidering. Lets discuss pros and cons of each. Off the top of my head I see the following.

 

Apple Watch Series 3

Pros

LTE - Can make and send calls

Streaming of Apple Music over LTE (Big plus to me - but not much known at this time)

Improved fitness capabilities

Nice selection of bands

Charging is now compatible with Qi standards

 

Cons
1 day battery life - no sleep tracking

ID not refreshed - still looks a bit geeky

Expensive

 

Fitbit Ionic

Pros

4 Day battery Life

Fitness focused

Cheaper than AWS3

 

Cons

No LTE (Might be a Pro for some)

select bands

Not much of an App store (yet) or apps

Clunky looking ID

 

I would love for people to weigh in on this. I am up in the air on which to get at this point!

 

Tony

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93 REPLIES 93

Both devices are appealing, really depends on your priorities. At $300 (Ionic) and $330 (smaller AW3) and $360 (42mm). Both Ionic and AW are expensive and I find there are genuinely useful features to justify the slightly higher price of AW. For example I frequently use the ability to reply, take calls, navigation, etc., and was disappointed the Ionic has no speaker or microphone. After some adjustment, I now prefer the 3 rings to Fitbit 1 goal but honestly thats kind of a wash.

 

There is still a lot to learn about Ionic, like is your credit card's bank part of the payment club or not. The tradeoff for longer battery life and slightly lower price is fewer features - no ability to reply to texts or Skype, can't take calls, etc. Step challenge addicts need look no further than Ionic.

 

The Fitbit app looks nicer but is lacking consistency (weekly cycling miles?) and inability to answer simple questions like "how many miles did I run this week?" (instead you get total 'stepping' miles). And it still impossible to upload GPS workout to Fitbit, when I use my phone to record a day long hike or bike ride.

 

Those are the basic tradeoffs as I see it.

Aria, Fitbit MobileTrack on iOS. Previous: Flex, Force, Surge, Blaze

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Only two things make the AWS3 appealing to me: LTE connectivity and Apple Heart Study.

 

Being able to accept calls, send text messages, and stream music without being near your phone sounds really awesome.

 

Supposedly, AWS3 will be monitoring heart rhythm and will notify users of abnormal rhythms to get checked out. I know Fitbit is working on this as well, but Apple Heart Study is a joint effort between Apple and Stanford Medical. I want to hear more from Fitbit and their plans for this...

 

After saying that, I am staying with Fitbit and will not cancel my Ionic preorder. Their  platform and community are exceptional; Apple doesn't have a community like this one. I am also a fitstar user and am really looking forward to doing workouts with the watch. This feature reminds me of the Microsoft Band, which I loved but didn't have too many workouts or a community like Fitbit.

 

Ionic also has an SpO2 sensor which the AWS3 lacks and can be used to detect breathing disorders. The combination of an advanced HR monitor and SpO2 sensor can even notify users of possible blood clots, but who knows... We will see what Fitbit does with their technology.

 

AWS3 is still very tempting...

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The new Apple Watch is tempting. I wish you could reply to messages thru the ionic. 

But I have a bunch of families with Fitbit's and a long history of fitbit usage I don't want to lose. I like doing challenges and taunting my husband. 

I had the original AW and returned back to fitbit. It didn't get my steps right at all. It was always several thousand off. Needed to be calibrated by gps walks/runs outdoors for 25 mins spurts. Well when you just had a baby and a new AW in the dead of winter in Chicago....going outside is unlikely. Even when I did make it a point to do it, I saw no improvement in accuracy. 

 

I do miss many aspects of the AW. But if your getting something for the main purpose of health....I'd stick with the Fitbit 

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I think like lots of things it depends on your needs. I'll be sticking with the ionic for the sleep tracking and superior health metrics. I do wish the ionic had a microphone, but I don't know that I would use that feature much. I want a watch to measure and categorize my workouts. For me health is the killer app for a smartwatch and fitbit does a better job than apple for my needs; I realize different people have different needs. For me the AW one day battery is a deal breaker. I'm also hyped about the fitbit coach workouts and the open nature of the SDK and what that may portend for the future. 

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One should be comparing Garmin's Vivoactive 3 to Fitbit's Ionic. Both are at the same price and both target health/fitness individuals.

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In my opinion - if you're more focused on health/fitness/sleep data, then the Ionic is the way to go. Really curious to see if the new sensor/algorithms will do better at tracking HIIT. All of the other stuff that the Apple Watch offers I can just use my iPhone for. And the 18-hour battery life is a dealbreaker. With my Blaze, you can get away with not charging it for 2 or 3 or even 4 days - which is nice. No such luck with the AW....

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I use an android phone, so that rules the Apple watch out for me. Even if it was compatible, the 1 day battery life is a deal breaker.

 

Nothing I saw about the AW3 wowed me and I'm still very much looking forward to receiving my Ionic. 

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Nathan | UK

Looking to get more sleep? Join the conversation on the Sleep better forum.

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@N8teGee I understood the new Apple watch would work over all phones systems. But in any case, I am not an Apple person at all so wouldnt buy one.

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Helen | Western Australia

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@NellyG wrote:

@N8teGee I understood the new Apple watch would work over all phones systems. But in any case, I am not an Apple person at all so wouldnt buy one.


I didn't see that mentioned but wouldn't think that would be very Apple like.

 

Like you though, I used to be an Apple guy but now have zero interest in their products. I would say my current phone is the best phone I've ever used and it's not an iPhone... 

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Nathan | UK

Looking to get more sleep? Join the conversation on the Sleep better forum.

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I would never use my smartwatch to make or take calls.  If I don't have my phone with me, that means I am busy and a simple text notification is more than sufficient.

 

From what I've read, AT&T and Verizon plans to charge $10 per month for the LTE connectivity and Sprint and T-mobile will most likely follow suit.  That's another $120 per year on top of the watch itself!  Is it really worth it to pay that much just to stream music over LTE?  

 

Essentially, that is the only major upgrade to AW 3 verses the AW 2.  

 

The pros for the AW 3 is that if you are truly interested in using your smartwatch like your phone, than it's for you.  

 

Pros for Fitbit Ionic:

-4+ days of battery life

-The new O2 sensor... interested to see the usefulness of this data

-Cross platform comparability - most people don't own an iPhone 6 or greater to be able to use the AW3

-The Fitbit app is still the best on the market for fitness tracking

-Open SDK.  Everyone, whether you use an android, ios or msft phone can develop their own personalize apps for the Ionic.  

 

Overall, the Ionic is more geared towards health and Fitness... however, if you are more into features like replying to text messages without your phone, then an AW 3 is probably for you.  It really depends on the person.  

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I started with a fitbit flex a few years back and then got an AW 1 when they were released. At first I was really happy with it but there were niggles which started to annoy me. First of all was the battery life, sometimes it was dead before I was hitting the sack (I have a long commute). I missed sleep tracking and in the end I got annoyed by the notifications. Not sure about anyone else but the sheer volume of social media notifications as well as everyday emails/calls/texts was distracting. I have since bought a Alta HR and changed my phone to Android (S8). (I have also turned the notifications off my fitbit)

 

I had a good look through all the apple releases today including that very expensive phone and I just don't see that it is any better than what I have already so I am for sure sticking with Fitbit. 

 

IONIC is on pre-order and I can't wait!! 

IONIC 🙂 Alta HR (retired) / Flex 1 (retired) / Android S8
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@Rig wrote:

Not sure about anyone else but the sheer volume of social media notifications as well as everyday emails/calls/texts was distracting. 


@Rig Its pretty easy to avoid the distractions. On AW the notifications are highly configurable, to the point where I can disable Fitbit notifications on my iPhone, and only display Fitbit app notifications on my watch. And same with emails, I have 6 email accounts on my phone but only work emails push notifications to my lock screen (and not my watch).

 

I disable notifications on my phone when installing new apps. And then adjust as needed. Thats the easiest way to avoid all the clutter and distraction.

Aria, Fitbit MobileTrack on iOS. Previous: Flex, Force, Surge, Blaze

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I am currently also thinking about the same. I love the community features of fitbit but the design of the Ionic is really very "basic" and my gym uses the mywellness app from Technogym which only works with Apple Watches. At least the Ionic finally catches up with waterproof, was about time. And hopefully it does not get as easily scratched as the Blaze. Another big plus of fitbit is the battery life time.

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My only real druther on the Fitbit Ionic is the ability to answer texts from the watch, as opposed to just seeing it then whipping out my phone to reply.  

 

Everything else is fairly comparable.  But the MAJOR dealbreaker on the Apple Watch is the comparatively pitiful battery life.  18 hours vs 4 days?  I rather enjoy (and got used to) leaving my Blaze on my wrist and not thinking about it for a few days.  5 hours of GPS vs 10 hours?  the Apple Watch probably wouldn't last tracking an entire Spartan race with those stats.  

 

So until Apple Watch ups their battery game in a big way, i'm sticking with Fitbit and looking forward to the Ionic.  

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@WalterBarrio wrote:

My only real druther on the Fitbit Ionic is the ability to answer texts from the watch, as opposed to just seeing it then whipping out my phone to reply.  

 

Everything else is fairly comparable.  But the MAJOR dealbreaker on the Apple Watch is the comparatively pitiful battery life.  18 hours vs 4 days?  I rather enjoy (and got used to) leaving my Blaze on my wrist and not thinking about it for a few days.  5 hours of GPS vs 10 hours?  the Apple Watch probably wouldn't last tracking an entire Spartan race with those stats.  

 

So until Apple Watch ups their battery game in a big way, i'm sticking with Fitbit and looking forward to the Ionic.  


It made me laugh during the presentation when they announed 18hour battery life, but it was said in such a way like it was the most amazing thing ever... I think they called it "whole day battery life". Last time I checked a whole day had 24hrs in it! Apple should be ashamed of themselves. 

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Nathan | UK

Looking to get more sleep? Join the conversation on the Sleep better forum.

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Yes, you are right but to be honest even 4 days isn't great neither compared to normal watches. And I cannot leave my Blaze on my wrist during the night because it scratches easily, as I had to learn the hard way. Apple should improve battery life but Fitbit should improve build quality a lot.

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@N8teGee wrote:
It made me laugh during the presentation when they announed 18hour battery life, but it was said in such a way like it was the most amazing thing ever... I think they called it "all day battery life". Last time I checked a whole day had 24hrs in it! Apple should be ashamed of themselves. 

Its not a 'feel good' battery life claim, its a worst case claim. Here are a couple snippets of the very detailed battery life estimates that Apple provides:

 

All-day battery life is based on 18 hours with the following use:

- 90 time checks

- 90 notifications

- 45 minutes of app use

- 30-minute workout with music playback from Apple Watch via Bluetooth

 

Who spends 45 minutes in apps on watch? Pokemon players with an Apple Watch? Thats a pretty conservative estimate, most people will get more than 18 hours battery on their watch. 

 

Workout mode:
- Up to 10 hours indoor workout
- Up to 5 hours outdoor workout with GPS
- Up to 4 hours outdoor workout with GPS and LTE

 

Source: https://www.apple.com/watch/battery.html

 

I've got a Series 0 Apple Watch, and end the day at 40% battery. The newer series 1, 2, and 3 have better battery life (2 day real world usage). I mostly view and answer texts, check the weather, and view and answer Skypes. Throw in the occasional call (hands full), log a weight/sets/reps of strength training workout, use the timer, Shazam a song, etc. Oh, and I can actually read all the texts including pictures, GIFs, and emojis. Thats still not possible with any Fitbit.

 

Battery life is not a problem for me, even if I want to do sleep tracking with it - tried it for a week, no useful info, so I give my wrist a rest at night. Nobody complains about throwing phone on charger from time-to-time, Fitbit marketing plays up battery life but honestly in the real world for majority of people it isn't a problem. 

Aria, Fitbit MobileTrack on iOS. Previous: Flex, Force, Surge, Blaze

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There are also apps on the Apple Watch to monitor your sleep, some work quite well.  

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Sleep Cycle app on my phone is pretty darn good, and its "better" because it sits on my nightstand and I don't have to wear anything to bed.

 

Seriously folks you need to give your wrist a chance to breath 🙂

Aria, Fitbit MobileTrack on iOS. Previous: Flex, Force, Surge, Blaze

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