New Fitbit Ionic

[Shakey-Shane]

Well, it was my birthday, I already own a Blaze which has been faithful for 16 months and I was super excited about getting the Ionic as the Blaze has been good

Opening the packaging was again super exciting, it looks simply stunning.. so to have a great looking watch with a built in GPS and it being water proof ticked all the boxes I’d been looking for

On my first run, something odd, it was outlandishly wrong with my pulse. Up at 204bpm. On the Fitbit Forums, many say it’s about tightness and location on the wrist

The next day, I tightened whilst on the treadmill, it seemed to have done the job. Move forward just a two more days and this time it displayed 199bpm. At 45, I think blue lights would have been the order of the day. Next day 207bpm, blimmy, I’m Dead!

At least on the treadmill (very new machines too) I was able to test my heart rate against the Ionic and found on average it was 40bpm out

Phoning the major retailer (who have been fantastic) put me in touch with Fitbit technical who asked a number of questions. Very helpful to start with. They could see over 16 months of records where my heart rate never tried to do an Alien scene. 

I was directed via email to a website which I’d already been to plus given a couple of questions which I replied to

A few moments later (super quick reply) I received an email

Thank you for getting back to us and for the information that you've provided.

We’re aware of it, but may not be able to provide a fix in the immediate future. We'll continue to monitor the situation, and keep our team informed of the impact to you and other customers. We understand that this isn't the resolution you're hoping for, but rest assured we're always working to improve our products.

We're sorry for any trouble. We appreciate your patience and look forward to getting you back on track.

Please let us know if you have any other questions.

Sincerely,

Wow! So Fitbit are aware of an issue with the watch and basically it’s fine as they know it has an issue, no fix date, no other explanation

Obviously I replied to the email with my disappointment and thus had no replay. So, phoned the retailer explaining the issue and the fact that Fitbit are aware that the watch really isn’t fit for purpose and have offered me a full refund

So, it’s back to my trusty old Blaze and it’s shame on Fitbit as looking on these forums it seems they could have known about this all mighty mistake since it launch with people reporting issues with heart rate monitors when used in conjunction with vigorous exercise or swimming 

I really hope this helps people who are thinking of purchasing one of these stunning looking watches. For me, I just wished it worked instead of it being not fit for purpose

[Shakey-Shane]

Seems my last post was seen as spam by the moderators

So, I’m guessing this one will too.

if you wish to see what I said you can find my review on TrustPilot and simply search for the watch

i have asked trusted review to inform Fitbit of my review too, very disappointing behaviour 

[SunsetRunner]

You post was still there. I have merged them to make it easier to follow.

[Shakey-Shane]

Thank you!

[Shakey-Shane]

Have had a few hours to think about the email I have received from one of Fitbits employees, I just wondering if this is in fact from a disgruntled employee and I’ve just been on the backend of there day

so, I have asked the retailer who wished to replace the item earlier are now happy to do so, just in case this is what has happened

ive also noticed that the PIN number is now not working correctly too, which coming from retail myself. I know that if things are going to break, they usually do early one and since this Fitbit is only six Days old. I suspect this is what’s maybe happening. 

I shall check back in once my replacement arrives 

[Shakey-Shane]

So, I received another email from Fitbit for you to read below

Thanks for taking the time to reply back.

We’d like to let you know that at the moment a workflow from our team has not been established yet regarding this matter and we are unable to provide you a frame time. However, We can assure, that we aware of the problem and we are working very hard to to resolve this issues as quickly as possible. 

If you have already agreed a refund with Amazon, that would be okay. 

Also, we wan to thank you for your Feedback in previous email, really appreciated! 

Please let us know if there's anything we can do for you. We will be always here for you. 

After reading this email I was a little worried about receiving a replacement (even though the password pin had started to play up showing signs that something wasn’t just right anyway) then I thought, if Addis’s was allowing their name to be attached to this watch (all be it at a premium for the consumer), then they wouldn’t all a sports health watch with such a blatant issue onto the market without making that company sort the issue or they would make FirBit pull the watch from sale.

With that in mind, I also purchased an official sports strap to go with my replacement ionic. Instantly, the difference in be able to tighten the strap was obviously where things felt different (no discomfort just tight). There was also no movement unlike the standard strap issued

So, first tests today and I can confirm that it was showing very similar reading to my Blaze. I shall keep testing, but I feel this is more of a marketing boo boo and not actually a fault of the watch

FirBit should really issue a sports strap plus the standard strap for none exercise usage in place of a large and small strap which may have been the plan all along until the marketing guys got involved. You can see in doing this, they would remove the premium attached to the Adidas watch other than the obvious bits which to me is not relevant

I’ll be out for an outdoor run tomorrow and see if the HRM plays up. I’m guessing it will not as virtually no sweat can penetrate he sensor thanks to the strap design