Ionic won't turn on after factory reset

[dodgers188]

Hi,

I need help for my Ionic Adidas. When I got it and set it up for the first time it was fine and updated accordingly. However I received the calibration error messages. I decided to do a factory reset, then it went through until installation of the firmware upgrade and stuck there around 25% for 2 hours+.

I pressed all 3 buttons then release the bottom right button until I feel vibration then I release all buttons. Then my fitbit Ionic Adidas won't turn on anymore.

I have tried to plug in for 6 hours:

1. Press 3 buttons for 15 seconds

2. Press left and bottom right button for 15 seconds

3. Press left button only for 15 seconds

all can't wake my Ionic up

[RichieGlo]

There are too many of these instances for it not to be an inherent problem. About time Fitbit grew a pair and looked after their loyal customers rather than sticking their head in the sand and hope the problem goes away! Poor poor poor customer service!!!!

[MarcAntony]

These complaints are discouraging, especially when it's about a product I find useful. My Ionic: Adidas Edition lasted only 25 days! I got mine from eBay so for now I'm willing to give Fitbit the benefit of the doubt. I will be purchasing a new one, under warranty directly from the Fitbit website.

[HeleneML]

I had an intial issue of my heartrate not working, this started about 2 weeks ago, then my waterlogging started going crazy, adding random 15,000 litres on my daily intake.  I managed to reset, delete, reinstall the app etc, etc yesterday and my Ionic started working yesterday, all afternoon.  Then a random water log of 14,000 litres decided to add itself again and my heart rate tracker stopped working again.  Back to square one 😞 I went through the same regime as detailed in another post and this time nothing would work, so I tried the factory reset from the settings option.  I wrongly thought that although this is part of the inbuilt software that the software would delete and reset properly.  Now my Ionic won't turn on, same issue as everyone else, tried different button combinations but it's done for, won't turn on.  Oh well, I used it for so many things, even my alarm clock.  I will now make a decision on whether to persist with another Ionic 😞

[thorejsi]

I gave up after having 3 Fitbit devices fail after only a year or two of use and spent the extra money and move to the Apple Watch. The only drawback is that it needs to be charged every other day, but has more features and functionality. 

[AaronTH]

I moved to an iWatch after by Ionic reset issues and FitBit customer service just telling me to buy a new one.  I like the iWatch MUCH MORE!

[Blaze101]

Same. I’ll never buy another Fitbit.

Sent from my iPhone

[SPITZE3746]

I can't find the live chat

[SPITZE3746]

how did you contact them?

[SPITZE3746]

what number did you call? 

[Gabor_007]

I wrote a letter to them, reflecting to the guarantee. First they ask some proof about the watch but then they sent me ‘new’ watch, just the body.

Az iPhone-omról küldve

[Ferdzmac]

Same issue here after settings app not responding i tried to follow steps on factory reset but after the reset it won't turn on any more.

[JerF]

Yep, just bricked my second ionic.  Not sure where I will go from here.  Did a factory reset via the watch because Pandora and Deezer wouldn’t update.  Was in an endless loop on attaching to WiFi.  This one is not even a year old.

[gusbus]

Hi JerF, 

Was just reading your recent comments posted in the last week or so and found it interesting that I too just this morning had nearly an identical issue with my Ionic. I bought mine new about a year ago and have had a few factory reset situations during this time (not a huge deal), but now today, after a factory reset (per directions) it will not power up, show a charge progress, nothing. 

I too am in a similar position of where to go with Fitbit products...these devices need more stability especially given their cost. 

[Tonyseq]

The Fitbit support online chat is obviously electronic and standard answers. Unfortunately it’s difficult to contact any other way. Anyway, I will refuse to purchase another product from them as the after sales is bad and my watch is past its warranty date there are no facilities for having it repaired. So be aware that the shelf life appears to be two years.

[JerF]

Hello gusbus,

I agree, better stability would be nice, or at least a longer warranty period! I can’t complain too much however, being less than a year old, a replacement is in the mail after a brief chat with support.

[JerF]

Yes, this was my second Ionic. The first one died at ~22 months from water intrusion. They gave me 50% off a replacement then. This one, only being 10 months old is being replaced under warranty. I do wish the warranty period was longer, but I did know that going in.

[gusbus]

Right, so I did the support chat a couple of hours ago and got the replacement order processing this morning; however, with that said, I checked when I ordered it on Amazon and sure enough it is coming up on exactly a year at the end of this month. I'm curious how this would have played out had I needed to contact support in August. Maybe it would have been covered as well, but if it had not, this would have likely been my last Fitbit product. I haven't had any major issues, but spending over $200 on a smart device that only makes it a year is a tough expense to justify yearly...fitness tracking or not. I like the notifications, fitness tracking, and really all of the other features, but the inconsistent firmware update experience paired with this new "won't turn back on issue" is kind of a deal breaker. I appreciate Fitbit's warranty on replacing the device or offering 50% off on a different product, but if the Ionic was more stable it would save everyone involved time and money. We'll see how long #2 lasts (I will be tracking/verifying and following up if it doesn't last over a year). 

Appreciate the community chat on this topic as I think there's a decent group of folks having this same issue. 

[Cepheid]

Same boat here. Looking through the sync data, heart rate stopped reported around 6pm, July 11th. Did some restarts, no luck. Tried to factory reset and it's bricked. 

I'm a year out from my warranty, support gave 25% of a new one with exclusions. I'm guessing even with enough people having the problem, the results won't change. This is disheartening. 

[MBB13]

Hey, my Fitbit Ionic stopped working as well on June 29-2020. I woke up and it was black and not responding to anything. I was not able to turn it on or charge it. I tried everything to get it going but it would not show any signs. Luckily mine is under warranty but the warranty process is too long. Fitbit would not send a replacement until they received and processed the returned item. Fitbit sent me a Fedex ground label, I shipped it the next day but it took 9 days to get from Whitehorse to Mississauga. I have not heard from Fitfit, nor received my Fitbit watch yet. With this warranty exchange protocol you might not have your Fitbit for 3-4 weeks. While I was searching online for more solutions, I noticed that there are extensive complaints with Fitbit ionic, too many just stop working, so obviously the design is not great. An expensive fitness watch should work for many years, my previous blaze was working for much longer. This kind of a ripoff design sadly. And seeing how many people responded "Me Too" is a clear sign. 

[gusbus]

It's very interesting that a group of us have had these issues all around the same time with our Ionics (there are probably others with issues as well). I've been reading some of the other comments out here as well and it looks like we're all getting a different experience with Fitbit support.

Not to pivot the conversation from the Ionic troubles we have been seeing (I do like the hardware overall), has anyone heard of the experience with the "Fitbit Versa" line? I'll be honest in that I have not compared its specs to that of the Ionic, but curious if it is the enhanced/replacement line for the Ionic? Just curious, not that I'm going to run out and buy it, but I think we may be on a shorter lifespan with the Ionic series from what we're all experiencing.