Ionic won't turn on

[SunsetRunner]

My ionic won't turn on after I shut it down. I hold down the large button on the left and nothing.And it won't charge either. Am I doing something wrong? I haven't even had it for 24 hrs

[Tracymae33]

I received a replacement on 25th January. Today during a music transfer the replacement died- less than 3 months old. For their 'top end' device it seems to have major flaws. The only good thing is fitbit customer service is usually very good.

[tbratt9]

Same thing happened to me and they told me to buy a new one and gave me a 25% coupon. This does not fix my product. I will not pay for a new faulty item.

[Tylenol7]

Same issue, just finished with live support, no answer except to buy new one, Mine was purchased 1/13/18

Last sync was tonight 04/26/19 at 9:04 97% battery, then I hit the 3.0 OS firmware update and its bricked. 

Simply unacceptable that a firmware update bricked it and I have no recourse, was working just fine. Seb at live support just kept up the canned responses, I even linked him all the threads describing this issue. 

If I had broken it, fine, I totally understand warranty - but the update bricked it, should be able to be fixed or replaced. 

[Smileyfroggy123]

I’m on my 3rd Fitbit and guess what? It broke today. Again I’m less than a year either charging or when I took it off to shower!!! I’ve had it stop sending any Bluetooth signal, I seen the screen screw up and have colored lines up and down all over the place. This time it disconnects from Wifi and Bluetooth to my phone and refused to re/ pair or sync whatever, so i did everything 30x again uninstall, reinstall, off on, off, on, then they said... plug it in... and I did... they said now shut it down and reset everything then turn em back on. Well there was no turning back on. That’s it... it’s dead... no blinking light,.. nothing. Youre kidding!!!!! My 3rd $350 ionic to die!!!! I’m sick to my stomach... the nonsense I’ve gone through to get these replacements was seriously intense... like a fight!! I don’t even know if I can get a 3rd replacement!!! 

[RunBrandonRun]

My ionic died during music transfer last night while on the charger too (it was~60%). I recently bought Bluetooth headphones and decided to try it for the first time. About 3/4 of the way syncing the new music, it went black & it disconnected. It hasn't turned back on since, no matter how many resets I've tried.

[madgrizzle]

Hey @RunBrandonRun, thanks for stopping by on this wonderful day.  Hopefully it's still within 1 year of purchase, but if not, don't sweat it.. I understand they will give you 40% off a new Ionic or 25% of a different product... at least that's what I was offered.

[RunBrandonRun]

It's not within warranty. The 40% discount is nice, but I'm concerned that there is an existing, underlying bug which needs patching. @Tracymae33 reports the same issue. I have owned my Ionic since 2017 and it hasn't had any major issues, but after I finally tried to add music to it by syncing it via PC, it immediately bricked. I just recently bought new bluetooth headphones just for it too.

[madgrizzle]

@RunBrandonRun, I'm sorry to hear that it's out of warranty.  I can't guarantee they'd offer you 40% off an Ionic as some people have been reporting just the 25% offer.  But I certainly understand your trepidation about buying a new one.  I suspect, but obviously don't know, that its not a software issue, but rather a hardware issue since it died upon being plugged into a computer... and no patches are going to help.  They have issued guidance on how to charge Ionics (low amperage chargers only) and I suspect, but obviously don't know, that they have a design issue with the power charging section of the watch.

I hope this post has been helpful.

[RunBrandonRun]

It wasn't even plugged into the computer, the Ionic was plugged into the wall like I've always done! To use your personal music, you have to use their PC app which does the sync wirelessly. The Ionic battery was reading 60% and the fitbit was plugged into the wall, charging normally. Then I clicked the sync button on the PC app - a few minutes later, the Ionic was bricked.

[NoPainNoGain]

Add me to the list - Ionic is dead no matter what I do.  Tried everything in this thread.  This problem is not "solved"! 

About to call support, will post with results.  Wish me luck, LOL.

[NoPainNoGain]

Just got off the phone with them,  Their systems are down so they can't check warranty or do anything beyond talking me through their initial troubleshooting script.  She said their systems have been down for several hours.  Ouch.  How's that for a tech company?

If they offer me a 25% coupon, my head is going to explode! 

[RunBrandonRun]

Oof, yeah that sounds frustrating. I did finally get mine - 40% off a new ionic, and took a week and a half to arrive.

The thing that bothers me is they didn't ask for my old one back, which means either A) they don't care about why it bricked and the issue still may exist or B) they already know why, and are hiding the fact that the older models can become bricked after uploading music to them.

[mlstapp]

Mine tanked after 3 - 4 months of wear and they readily replaced it. I
think they know they have a problem with this model.....evidently it's a
pretty big problem.

[Smileyfroggy123]

I’m on my 4th and after 4 months it **ahem** the bed again the Bluetooth deciding it no longer wanted to work. This was the problem I had with my first broken one. I’m sick about it since Fitbit feels even tho their product is malfunctioning... they do not need to replace it. Thank god I got insurance which I already used and had to pay $50 to replace. Do I get another claim or was one it? What is Fitbit going to do now? I bought all my friends and family Fitbit’s, none of which are ionic and they are all fine along with all 50 of the colored bands I also bought. I’ve spent easily $1000, and I don’t deserve a working Fitbit that I choose? They just want me to pick one they know works, because they must know what a piece of crap this ionic is!!!!

iphone email

Moderator edit: personal info removed

[Smileyfroggy123]

I’m now on my 4th ionic that has been dead for a month. Too exhausted to even want to deal with the absolutely uncaring uncompromising customer service **ahem**s that make you video tape yourself troubleshooting their ideas for the tenth time at least like we are some kind of technological idiots, then 2 weeks later and 30 emails they may be satisfied enough to allow you the month long exchange for a new one. Or in my case I got my 2 so now I have to use insurance which has been used once and cost $50 so do they let me again? I doubt it!!!

[gr8tful]

Same problem with mine but it is 16 months old so out of warranty.  All the extra chargers, bands and watch are worthless now that it won't even turn on. Was my 3 and most expensive fitbit.  Going to try apple watch now.  

[gr8tful]

I bought mine in January 18.  It died in May 19, not even 18 months old.  Bought extra bands and chargers so into fitbit a good $400 on this one.  I had 2 less expensive ones before moving up to the Ionic for swimming.  They still work, but the most expensive, Ionic, died in less than 18 months.  

[WX_Hockey]

What really makes me upset is that in Europe where they have two year warranties they are replacing the ionics....but not here in the US. 

They did something, pushed out an update or something because otherwise this would not have happened to the large quantities of Ionic users all at the same time.  Either way - this is a manufacturer defect and we should get some sort of relief. 

[nycwalker]

My IONIC is having exact same issue. Won't turn on and won't charge. Screen is blank.

It was all good till friday afternoon when all hell broke loose. I have tried everthing from the below list

1) Restarting holding LEFT and RIGHT BOTTOM

2) RESETTING holding all 3 buttons

The screen won't turn on. I have been using this watch since Nov 2017 and it was all good till last friday afternoon. URGENT HELP NEEDED!

[WX_Hockey]

Hi @nycwalker, you get to call FitBit and beg for a 40% off coupon for your next Ionic.  

Unfortunately, there isn't much of anything anyone has been able to do.  Most of us have tried, begged, pleaded our cases to FitBit to only have it fall on deaf ears.  There is clearly a problem with the FitBit ionic, however FitBit is refusing to admit it.  Now, if you lived in the UK or in Europe you would get a new one shipped to you for free.  But, because you're in the US, you get to pay for a new one.  

Best of luck.