Screen and bezel misaligned

[Kwono1]

Update:

Screen and bezel do not align. There is a considerable gap between the bezel and the screen which some here have suggested may affect the waterproof quality of the watch. Two of my three friends who have bought the watch have returned them due to water damage. They believe that this is due to this misalignment. From what I have seen both in this community and in person, many Ionics suffer from this issue including the demonstration models at the stores.  Other problems have included an inability to connect to the Wi-Fi, or not having the Wallet tile available at all. 

Luckily, Fitbit support got into contact with me and have asked that I exchange the product. I have now returned the watch and await for another one. I highly recommend that you test your Ionic. Maximize your brightness setting and simply enter a very dark area. It is important to manually maximize your brightness as the auto sensor will automatically set it to dim. Should you see light escaping the bezel as per the photos, then I would recommend that you contact Fitbit support immediately. 

Moderator edit: updated title for clarity

[RiseAgainst]

Hi @anoyce I was replying to mitwess's comments where he believes it's normal to have LCD light bleeding. No arguments there since a lot of LCDs have a light bleeding issue. This isn't a normal light bleeding issue. It's definitely caused by the screen not being aligned and fitting correctly. I can say I have never seen any other LCD product that has light coming from a gap. 

[anoyce]

Yeah agree.. I do understand there may be a few defects in production by the amount they make. Fitbit have agreed to replace my Ionic just hope replacement I receive from Fitbit will have no gaps. I did ask if they could check the unit they will send me they said > "I'm confident you shouldn't* have any further issue with the replacement Ionic" So hopefully they have sorted these issue's out.

[RiseAgainst]

I'm hoping you will get one that doesn't have any gaps. I'm currently waiting to hear back from support about mine. I'm liking the ionic even with the small amount of issues they are having. I'm sure they will all be ironed out sooner than later

[Kwono1]

Yeah guys, I don't think that guy knows what light bleeding is. He thinks that the gap we are talking about is light bleed because technically it looks like the light is bleeding out from the frame lol. Mate, we are talking about a separation between the screen and the bezel. A literal separation so big that yes, light is escaping from all the open sides but that is not light bleed lol. Light bleed is when light bleeds onto the screen of the LCD device itself. As i said before, the two units that I have had, had no issue whatsoever with light bleed. Again, just for you, I am reiterating that I am talking about a separation between the screen and the bezel. We all are.

[SunsetRunner]

Spoke to Support and sent a picture of my light banding along the top. They've asked me to send it back, and they'll replace under warranty. Shame I'm going to be without for a while but hey, kudos for swift rectification.

[Kwono1]

Let me know when you're on your 5th unit. Sooner or later, Fitbit will announce that this is normal. I guarantee you. Unfortunately for them, others who have conducted this test have shown that other Ionic devices do not suffer from the separation. My bet is on a couple of manufacturing centres having poor (if any QC) and it would probably be in Fitbit's best economical interest to state that that is the problem. 

[N8teGee]

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@SunsetRunner wrote:

Spoke to Support and sent a picture of my light banding along the top. They've asked me to send it back, and they'll replace under warranty. Shame I'm going to be without for a while but hey, kudos for swift rectification.

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Support are good, but there is a high chance the replacement will be exactly the same. I know I've said this before but I've had three different devices and they have all had this issue. Until fitbit have identified and fixed the problem,  you are probably better off waiting.

I really can't face going through the hassle of getting a fourth device only for it to have the same issue or even worse. Until I definitely know it's been fixed I think I'm just going to wait. I will post a picture of mine when I get home later, if I remember correctly I think it has light coming from the top and both sides. 

[N8teGee]

@Kwono1 You are probably right. They will then just deal with water damaged warranty claims on an individual basis and eventually filter out the bad ones. Who's got the time to keep sending them back and waiting in for delivery of the replacement until on the off chance you get a good one! 

[launton]

This is the only photo of the unit with the screen out I can find, it appears the seal is quite large but I don't know how it's secured in place. I'm going for my first swim with it tomorrow.  I'll let you now.  I have minimal light bleed so mine may be OK.  I'm not too worried as it's guaranteed for 2 years. 

[N8teGee]

If you look closely here, there seems to be a gap between the seal and the frame also.

[RL7]

With great regret, I’m returning the Ionic to Best Buy today. Not an easy decision to make but after numerous reports of replacement units showing the same issue, I’m going to back off for now and see where this all goes. I still have a Charge 2 and a flex 2 is on the way from Fitbit. Support did did a great job in responding and did offer to replace the tracker but I still have my concerns. 

I’ve sent them pictures and a video outlining the problem and hopefully that, along with other info here, helps them get to the bottom it.  

This is the second Fitbit tracker in a row that has shown some sort of defect right after getting it. My Blaze does not properly hold a charge and is not compatible with my S8 which may be a Samsung issue.  No progress there. Now this with the Ionic. 

There’s a lot to like about the Ionic, don’t get me wrong, but I need to see more on the quality control side before committing $300 to this product.  When I do, back to Best Buy for a New Ionic as Fitbit has been indispensable for my workouts and tracking my overall health.  I’d like to stay with them for the long haul. 

[N8teGee]

So this is mine:

[Dirk74]

Greetings from Germany.

I stumbled over this thread and I am glad to see I'm not the only one experiencing this issue.

Must be the same factory in China.

Display misaligned on the top

I really like the watch and the display itself is awesome. But for 349 € ($299) I'd expect a well fabricated watch.

So I returned it.

Either I'll buy it next time from a local dealer or I'll wait for the Adidas branded one in a few months. Otherwise I likely might receive the same build quality.

Regards

Dirk

[launton]

I'm unsure if a gap is actually needed for expansion and contraction of the metal body and the glass or other parts, mine is minuscule, and I guess it's possible the glass has been machined slightly smaller on some batches, or the bodies are not uniform.  It's difficult to tell.  I'm interested to know how many have actually failed from water ingress as a percentage.  As yet, there isn't a specific thread on this (unless I have missed it) and if there is indeed an air gap present we should see dust particles under the glass pretty soon.  I am a bit scared of plunging mine in the swimming pool tomorrow but I'm going to do it because I upgraded especially for the swimming part, otherwise I might as well put my blaze back on. Fitbit should get a thread opened showing us how they QC this device taking water, thermal and other factors as we're in the dark just now. Customer loyalty and confidence is paramount now and they really need to make a statement to ease our fears.  There watches are not cheap 

[N8teGee]

Yes it's either the glass has been cut too small or the metal machined too large. If it was a case of it just being misaligned, moving the glass closer to the top would then start creating a gap at the bottom instead. 

[WavyDavey]

This thead wins my award for Most Speculative.

@N8teGee, I assume your deep interest in the seal is academic? I can't see taking caulk to the tracker to fix this.

[bbarrera]

@WavyDavey he posted his interest above

@N8teGee wrote:

Support are good, but there is a high chance the replacement will be exactly the same. I know I've said this before but I've had three different devices and they have all had this issue. Until fitbit have identified and fixed the problem,  you are probably better off waiting.

I really can't face going through the hassle of getting a fourth device only for it to have the same issue or even worse. Until I definitely know it's been fixed I think I'm just going to wait. I will post a picture of mine when I get home later, if I remember correctly I think it has light coming from the top and both sides. 

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IIRC his first device was DOA. The second one had tilted screen. And now he is on third one and it has light bleed where display meets the aluminum housing.

[N8teGee]

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@WavyDavey wrote:

This thead wins my award for Most Speculative.

@N8teGee, I assume your deep interest in the seal is academic? I can't see taking caulk to the tracker to fix this.

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I'm just interested in the placement of the seal and how the display is actually held in. Then we might have more of an idea whether the gap is the cause of the water resistance failure or just dodgy seals. I'm leaning towards the latter. 

[WavyDavey]

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@bbarrera wrote:

@WavyDavey he posted his interest above

@N8teGee wrote:

Support are good, but there is a high chance the replacement will be exactly the same. I know I've said this before but I've had three different devices and they have all had this issue. Until fitbit have identified and fixed the problem,  you are probably better off waiting.

I really can't face going through the hassle of getting a fourth device only for it to have the same issue or even worse. Until I definitely know it's been fixed I think I'm just going to wait. I will post a picture of mine when I get home later, if I remember correctly I think it has light coming from the top and both sides. 

---

IIRC his first device was DOA. The second one had tilted screen. And now he is on third one and it has light bleed where display meets the aluminum housing.

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Which does nothing to explain the dogged interest in the build and the seals. We can't fix it, and I assume that Fitbit is more knowledgeable about the build than we are. Not a complaint, just made me curious.

Edit: Just saw @N8teGee's reply. That makes sense.

[N8teGee]

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@WavyDavey wrote:

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@bbarrera wrote:

@WavyDavey he posted his interest above

@N8teGee wrote:

Support are good, but there is a high chance the replacement will be exactly the same. I know I've said this before but I've had three different devices and they have all had this issue. Until fitbit have identified and fixed the problem,  you are probably better off waiting.

I really can't face going through the hassle of getting a fourth device only for it to have the same issue or even worse. Until I definitely know it's been fixed I think I'm just going to wait. I will post a picture of mine when I get home later, if I remember correctly I think it has light coming from the top and both sides. 

---

IIRC his first device was DOA. The second one had tilted screen. And now he is on third one and it has light bleed where display meets the aluminum housing.

---

Which does nothing to explain the dogged interest in the build and the seals. We can't fix it, and I assume that Fitbit is more knowledgeable about the build than we are. Not a complaint, just made me curious.

Edit: Just saw @N8teGee's reply. That makes sense.

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Yes, at moment I have no idea if my device may fail if I take it for a swim. Seeing how the screen is secured and sealed could reassure myself and others.

Yes we could send it back but I really like the device, and at the moment I'm convinced a replacement will be no different to the three devices I've already had.