Music cutting in and out.

[samobrien14]

I recently bought the ionic along with some jaybird freedom 2’s, paired the jaybirds with ionic and for some reason as soon I start my run the music cuts in and out. They work better indoors but it doesn’t do it as often. I’ve paired the jaybirds with my iPhone and they worked fine on my run. I bought the ionic so I didn’t have to take my phone with me, so this makes it really frustrating. Just wondering if I’m doing something wrong or if there is a fix for the problem. 

[SantiR]

@samobrien14 Welcome to the Fitbit Community! Thanks for your interest in the Bluetooth feature on Ionic to connect headphones to listen to music!

I have seen this before and there is a workaround that has helped other users in the past:

• Restart your Ionic.
• Unpair the headphones.
• Pair them back again.

Try using them once again after doing this process, it should be better!

Try that out and let me know how it goes! 

[samobrien14]

Hi, I tried this muliple times and it didn’t seem to fix the problem. Is there anything else I can do? 

[driver111]

I have the same issue and it’s gotten worse. Also it’s taking over 30sec to connect the headphones each time when they’re within 15cm of each other.

[Bluechadder]

My fitbit cuts out every 3 sec. What is fitbit doing about it. I can lay them down beside each other and it still does it. 

[MarreFitbit]

Are you still having this issue with your music @samobrien14? 

Thanks for stopping by @Bluechadder @driver111, I'm glad to see you guys around! Have you tried the tips and recommendations that @SantiR has shared here?

Sounds possibly like a Bluetooth conflict. I'm assuming you’ve got your headphones paired with your phone as well. Try turning off Bluetooth on your phone while listening to music on the Ionic, or any other device the headphones might be paired with.

This just happened to me once. My headphones were paired with my phone as well as my watch. I was running out of the zone for my phone. Not so much an Ionic issue, as the way my headphones handle loosing connection to a device. I've removed the pairing to my phone and now it's all good again. 

Hope this helps, let me know if this works for you too guys! 

[Bluechadder]

 My Bluetooth is not even paired with my phone it’s still just cuts in and out.

[BrittanyMatie]

I am having the same issue. I bought the Versa so I didn’t have to take my phone with me on outdoor runs. My phone is miles away so I know it’s not interference. I’ve restarted the Fitbit, repaired several times, and it’s still cutting out every 3 seconds. 

[HiteshVersa]

Did you get this issue resolved? This is the same problem with my Versa as well.

Tried watch restart, paired again, switching to right hand but nothing works. Music is cutting in and out every 2 secs

[Bluechadder]

I bought a different Bluetooth. It works now

[MrKC]

As already posted in another thread:

My solution was using Bluetooth 4.0 headphones. Now I'm happy to enjoy my music but disappointed not to be able to use my nice Jabra Sport+ earphones anymore .....
Can someone @Fitbit please confirm that these older Bluetooth 3.0 headphones will never work properly with our Ionic?

[Kilt]

I'm disappointed, too.  I took my fitbit flyer out for the first time on a run, paired with the ionic. The music was cutting in and out with my stride.  Sad first run experience.

I've determined (so far) that it is a signal strength issue, as the music cut out when my fitbit was beside my left hip.  When I moved my fitbit wrist forward within Line Of Sight (LOS), the music stayed steady.  I confirmed it is not a loose component as holding the ionic in my right hand kept a steady signal (presumably the flyer's bluetooth receiver is in the right ear).  So it worked okay as long as it was within LOS.

Not sure if it is a fault of the ionic's signal strength, or the flyer's antenna reception being poor quality.  Might also be a voltage issue.  I'm going to recharge it (the ionic) and try again.  Ionic battery was around 20% charge.  Flyer was at medium charge.

[TheRunningFool]

This didn't help. It did initially to get music to play uninterrupted but as soon as I started a run tracking it cut out again. Seems to be related to doing both at the same time. Very disappointed.

I had my Bluetooth on my phone shut off and it does it every time

Moderator edit: merged reply

[Mallow9]

Did you ever figure out a solution to this?  It seems that when i am moving my arms while running the fitbit cuts my music in and out.  if i keep it level it is fine.  I have had this issue since i bought it.  Very frustrating. 

I should note... I don't have issues with my bluetooth headphones with any of my other devices.

Moderator edit: merged reply

[TheRunningFool]

I never found a solution. It still cuts out when running. I gave up on trying to use the music. I just carry my phone to listen to music. It is sad because this is the second smart watch I purchased to listen to music and track my run with GPS. Neither worked. It seems to be a limitation of the small form factor. 

[WillemvB]

I have a Fitbit Ionic and have no problems.

Try Earphones/Headset with Bluetooth 5.0.

I bought Ihip Voyage Earphones at the Action for 8 euro and it's working very well.

[TheRunningFool]

Good idea. I checked. My Airpods are on Bluetooth version 4.2. That must be
the problem. I didn't expect it from an Apple product. Thanks.

[want2bfit]

Versa,  bluetooth 5.0, followed all the tips. Still cutting out. It doesn't appear that Fitbit has responded to this thread recently. Any other ideas, or will it simply not work as advertised?

Also, I kept stopping to try and troubleshoot. When I looked at the Versa, it would say "connecting" with a picture of a phone (well, it was a rectangle that looked like a phone icon). Is the Versa trying to connect to the phone back at home and that's why it's struggling?

Moderator edit: merged reply

[Kilt]

I'm guessing it is trying to connect to the phone for the music source, as opposed to music located on the watch itself.  Try pressing and holding the button for a few seconds to switch the music source to the watch itself.

But yeah, product doesn't work as advertised.

I read somewhere that cheap old Bluetooth headsets might work, but I recommend avoiding the Fitbit Flyer brand headset.  It's no bueno!