My second Ionic stopped working after 2 years

[catu-ualos]

**See Update to this issue in comments

My second Ionic has failed lest then 2 years after replacing my first one (a blank screen before 2 years). My second one which has never been worn in a shower or water is now failing. One of the three little chip windows has become fogged up and it no longer tracks steps or HR. Just a plain old watch now. Question is. Do I spend another $250 for a 3rd one or do I look at Samsung or other brands of trackers? Not happy with the Fitbit brand any longer. Has anyone else had these problems?

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[crunker21]

My Ionic just raised issues with the touchpad - 2 years and 3 months of use. Surprisingly 3 months after the cease of the warranty - suspicious. Especially as you experienced it 2x. 

I never had any problems before and never had any "rough" or damaging incident. 

All the support is offering, is 25% off. But I am totally not buying a new (or better said 3 year old product) for 200 €.

I am highly disappointed by fitbit and now considering switching to Apple - at least their products work and are made to last long.

[catu-ualos]

Thanks for your input. Everyone in the family has an iPhone but me. I am
going to look at the Samsung products and if that does not work. I may have
to switch to an iPhone.

Thanks...

--
Mike Cahill
c: 630.244.3210
"catu-ualos"

[zeb146]

Hi,

I too have had problems with the build quality of the Ionic and Fitbit products in general.  2 years ago my Ionic had the screen fall off after 15 months of use.  I had a rant on the forum and Fitbit discreetly replaced it.  Since then I have used a Garmin Vivoactive 3 and have only used the Fitbit for sleep (it's really the only thing they do better than anyone else). After a little under 2 years, you guessed it, the glue/gasket holding the screen on gave up and the screen fell off.  This time the watch continued to function so I superglued it in place this proved to be very lucky as Garmin Connect has been down since the 23/7.   It was such a pain going back to the Ionic for fitness tracking... the interface is truly horrible after the Garmin and Fitbit sync has always been problematic.  

Peter

[zeb146]

Not just an Ionic problem.  My surge also had a similar problem. Fitbit build quality really is fairly poor. However, the Surge still counts steps though so I use it when I mow the lawns by putting it in my sock in my gumboots!

[catu-ualos]

I am glad that it is not just me and seems to be an overall Fitbit problem. Time to start comparing other products. Thanks for all of the inputs. 

[crunker21]

ok, today while running the display finally disappeared and stopped working.

this is just highly disappoining as I never done anything which damaged the devices - just wore it daily and at night.

the offer from the support for 25% discount is embarrasing.

the full-priced ionic in the shop is even with 25% discount more expansive than the ionic at retailers around here.

even though i love all the statistics and data tracking, i already deleted my fitbit app. now waiting on the apple watch 6. if the watch comes near 2 day battery life this would be a no-brainer.

But after the bad and not lasting product quality, the poor gps tracking, the no-goodwill by the support and 3-year long time without a successor of the ionic fitbit died for me 😞

[catu-ualos · Accepted solution]

I have to report an update. I contacted Fitbit and told them about my issue with the watch. They were very interested in my problem and even though it was out of warranty by a year they wanted to look at it. I sent it back to them with the charger. Fitbit to my surprise sent me a new Ionic at no cost! I would love to know why the sensors got all hot and started to discolor? In the end, Fitbit stood behind their product! 😊

[majorpeedoff]

I’ve had 2 Ionic replacements due to screen black out. Now the 3rd has done the same. Contacted Support who told me to try Factory Reset - really is that the best you can do? I asked for yet another replacement but they said my warranty was now invalid but offered me 35% off voucher. Sorry but I won’t be using it. I’ve had it with Fitbit - very disappointed in them. This is built in obsolescence and is immoral - Shame on you