Ionic wont Sync consitently, not sure if I should keep or not

[Kight]

Running the app on a Galaxy s8.  I only have one other Fitbit device, the One.  I have had the Ionic since 10/1 and started having trouble after a week it now refuses to sync consistently.  I have had to reboot my phone turn BT off and on and fight it constantly.  I have some other topics in the Dashboard forum that ended up simply being a sync problem.  Having to fight the app every time I want to look at my stats really takes the convenience out of the equation.  I like being able to call up a workout and run the timer in the watch to capture all the information, much better than what I could do on the One.  I have noticed that the calories burned always come in nearly double what the Bowflex Max Trainer lists, while the heart rate is usually within 10 to 15 BMP of the Bowflex chest strap.  There is a lot of good to go with the bad, it just feels like the bad that I have experienced should have been some been addressed before using early adopters as beta testers.

For starters this isn't a $300 device, I would say $200 is the perfect price point for the Ionic.  I enjoy most of the functionality,  but don't really care about a lot of the extra stuff they added on.  I don't need to have payments on my wrist or Starbucks or questionable quality music.  Give me a fitness device that works well and I will be happy, the OS is too far behind Samsung and Apple to compete at the same price point as the Apple Watch, or the Gear S3.

I have until next Sunday to decide if I keep the device, I really want to.  I am having a hard time justifying keeping a $300 device that doesn't sync, and is running a OS that is on par with Apple or Samsung from 3 years ago.

[WavyDavey]

Hi @Kight,

Sorry to hear that. Sync issues can be a big pain.

I wish it was a $200 device. It's a smart watch, and those don't go for under $300. It's not a fair comparison for the Ionic and AW3. The Ionic's OS is version 1. From what I've heard, AW1 wasn't the model of perfection. Investing in the Ionic is certainly investing in the future, as the app store isn't fully up yet.

I hear you when you say you don't need all those bells and whistles, The Ionic has plenty of them.

If you do return it, I would take a look at the Charge 2. It has much of the same tracking functionality, but no Starbucks or wi-fi setup, etc. It's a really good, full-featured tracker. And it's $149. 

[murfpass]

I had the same issues when I first got it. I ended up doing a factory reset on the watch (to try to see if it would fix my HR problem) and it seems to have fixed the syncing issue. Might be worth trying this before you return it. Just make sure you get it to sync what is already on there or you will lose everything. 

I was having a problem where it was syncing like steps and floors, but no HR info or anything else. Couldn't get it to fully sync sleep or anything else. Factory reset seems to have worked. 

[tobingj]

I have the surge- I regularly talk about it in the past tense because it is not really a part of my life any more.

The phone i use is Samsung s4 and I have had huge issues with synching. Hence the tracker is practically useless. The only way i have got to regularly be able to use the phone /tracker synch is to synch via my laptop. I usually only pull it out once a week - but it gives me three days of synch to my phone.

I had a long period of trouble shooting talking to tech here and just got generic solutions. I removed various apps from phone but no real solution, that i should have to stick with, to use a tracker with common phone apps.

Then the fact that the laptop gives me 2-3 days of good synch- where does it go then- the synching just stop? I have the phone tracker "message call feature" on and it works sporadically.

After all that- the tracker has not been part of my life for the last year. I am waiting for the warranty to run out.. it to break and be binned. €250 euro's wasted. (ps i am on my 3rd now due to broken straps.)

I regret buying it and i would recommend you get a refund and find a phone app that give consistent readings- not accurate- but at least if you use it over a while you will be able to see how you improve.

Good luck.

My thread for synching is here. i marked it to fast as solved.

https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Surge/My-surge-will-not-find-my-new-phone/m-p/1692126#M60274

[tobingj]

Ionic is priced 350 as it is now the flagship model and replaces the shabby surge which is still 260. I have left out currency on purpose as the euro price is probably the same as dollar.

Once the surge crew die off the price will drop. Really fitbit should recall the very poor surge and offer this as a replacement to those that bought the surge in good faith.  As there is such a price difference they wont do that. The price will drop to 260 in 2018.

Fitbit actually probably believe they dont need to compensate purchasers of their product. 

Here is a 19 pages discussion on the surge strap and it is ignored my fitbit admins.

https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Surge/Surge-strap-broken/td-p/967978

Beware buying this model as they have no respect for customers outside the warranty period. Warranty is 1 year and then you are bunched.