Should I wait to buy the Ionic

[SunsetRunner]

I had planned on getting one for as a xmas present for myself but after seeing many of the issues others seem to be having, I'm starting to have doubts.  I currently have the blaze and it is working fine but I was hoping to get the ionic to use for swimming as well as walks. 

The pay feature also interested me but as only one bank in my country is supported (and it is not one I use) that is not relevant at this time.  I also liked the idea of having my music stored on the watch itself, but I see many posts about problems with this, not to mention that I'll have to get a wifi adapter just to be able to transfer the files across and now I see issues with bluetooth range as well.  Surely given the price of the watch these issues should have been sorted in  development and not be so prevalent in the released product.

Or am I only seeing the bad things so much as people usually only post what is wrong with an item and not what is good so perhaps the problems aren't as epidemic as they appear to be?

[SunsetRunner · Accepted solution]

Only you can answer that question @SunsetRunner. However, if it helps, I’m glad I bought the Ionic and have no issues with it on a day to day basis. Also, if you’ve got the Blaze working happily, the probability is the Ionic will too. Music transfer has apparently improved but as I tend to have my phone with me I’ve not bothered putting any on my Ionic. I’d hate to be limited by the watch’s memory when I’ve the capacity of my phone nearby but I can see why some might want it.

All in all, as you say, most people only post problems and at the end of the day there aren’t that many (and are usually user related). 

[DramaQueenDiva]

I tend to agree with @SunsetRunner. Only you can make that decision. For what I use mine for, I only had to deal with sync issues, which seem to be getting sorted out. 

[FlyFrosty]

If you want a full smart watch, I recommend you wait until Fitbit can finish getting their act together.  The Ionic has all the basics for an incredible watch but just isn't there yet.  Having said that, if you are willing to have more of a basic fitbit now and a smart watch in the future, go for the sale. 

Many things have gotten better.  Specific to your music concern, I use my Ionic to map my neighborhood jogs while using the Bluetooth to play my music stored on the watch.  The early glitches appear to be gone and everything seems to be working fine (no crashes since two firmware updates ago).

[SunsetRunner]

Thanks for the responses, it never hurts to ask the opinion of others when considering to spend such a large amount of money (well for me it is 😉 ). I have noticed there are far fewer angry posts for the ionic than their was when the Blaze was launched and most of those have since been resolved (although they never did provide a band size to cater for my superbly muscled forearms, (that's my view and I'm sticking to it 🙂  ) so the strap was always a little tight, but I found a solution to that issue elsewhere)

I may hold off on getting the ionic though at this point as only 1 bank is supported in NZ at this time so aside from the swimming ability my Blaze will function fine for now, but I will most likely get one sometime in the near future.

I am also wondering if anyone is suffering from burns. I originally bought the surge with the built in GPS but it left me with gaping wounds on my arm (not from the strap) and I had to return it and got the Blaze instead. So with the Ionic having built in GPS as well I'm unsure if the same thing may occur as a result.

[SunsetRunner]

Well I went and bought one on sale at $100 off the normal price (aint xmas great for bargains) Hopefully things will go smoothly and there will be little to no teething issues. Now I won't have to take off the tracker when I get in the water, of course the only problem with that is when I get in the waves throw everyone else out of the pool, but oh well such is life 😉

[FafferCapper]

So how have you got on with the Ionic? I'm also a Blaze wearer and was thinking about upgrading to the Ionic.

[Appin]

Hi NZWhitenight, I had exactly the same thoughts as yourself before eventually thinking, och, what the heck, and when the price dropped bought an Ionic. I haven't regretted it and everything seems to be working fine. Like you, we don't have banks here in Scotland that will work with the Fitbitpay but its not a big issue for me. Transferring music from iTunes was easy and I like the notifications. Just remember that it's first and foremost a fitness tracker rather than a smartwatch. If you really want a smartwatch you should go for the Apple Watch but only if you like the idea of charging it daily! 

[bwanacameron]

How'd it all go? 

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@SunsetRunner wrote:

Well I went and bought one on sale at $100 off the normal price (aint xmas great for bargains) Hopefully things will go smoothly and there will be little to no teething issues. Now I won't have to take off the tracker when I get in the water, of course the only problem with that is when I get in the waves throw everyone else out of the pool, but oh well such is life 😉

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[SunsetRunner]

@FafferCapper   @bwanacameron   So far so good, setup worked out fine with few problems, even if I did stuff things up by leaving the wifi area before it was done. I set a static (manual) IP as DHCP can cause issues sometimes esp with a lot of devices on the network.

The battery life is about 2 days shorter than the blaze (I got 6 days on the Blaze) but that's ok. The first time I charged it overnight I got over 10,000 mysterious steps, turns out the fan I had next to it may have been the cause, I moved the watch to a different location and it has not happened since.

I have not tried a GPS workout yet so will have to see what happens when I do and how well it tracks, just as soon as I get off my lazy backside. My main reason for getting the Ionic was the water resistance feature so I could swim after my workouts and so far despite being immersed in water it has not failed yet.

Unlike the Blaze, the band has not caused a nasty rash so I'm really happy about that, but the Ionic band is slippery and slips down my arm when I sweat so I may change the band anyway like I did with the blaze.

The Ionic Pay is a nice feature to have but was not a major reason for me getting the Ionic so I can wait until my banks finally catch up with the times and start supporting it.

So all in all I'm happy with the Ionic so far, but if that changes and things start to go wrong then, like others I'm sure I'll drop to the floor and roll around in an almighty tantrum while chewing on the carpets, then I'll post to the forums 😉