Start Swim mode, Ionic is now dead :/

[RaberBL]

So I’m on vacation. Hit the community pool. Enter swim mode on my Ionic for the first time, kinda stoked to see how it performs. I’m super happy using it to track and map my runs so I figure the swim data should be pretty sweet! Make a lap, stop to see what’s happening so far but when I hit the left button I get nothing, blank screen... thinking to myself well it had over 50% charge last I checked but maybe it just died, no big deal! Get back to my room, plug it in, no response. Tried reset (soft and hard) no dice. Can’t quite understand how a tracker that has a built in swim mode is going to kick it the first time I try to use it in water?!? Like really? Am i missing something? I see a lot of posts about similar issues. I can’t see any signs of moisture inside the tracker (like condensation or anything really) the screen still looks crystal clear but yet it’s totally unresponsive... any advice?

[vladom]

Do you get a red instead of the greed one on the heart-rate sensor? Did it turn on while trying to charge it? I have had the same issue yesterday, thought maybe it died but the red light was still on. I got a bag of rice and pushed it in the middle of it until this morning when i saw the red light was off so I figured the battery was drained. 

When I plugged it in to charge, screen came on with the 0% indicator, red light followed as well. Then the screen died again and was unresponsive since. The red light is still on while charging, I've put it back in the bag of rice with the charging cable connected. I suggest you do the same and will update if anything changes.

I have tried soft and hard reset without success.

[RaberBL]

I didn’t get any red lights on the sensor side of the tracker, green lights are off as well. So far no luck with charging. I can feel a bit of warmth when it is connected to the charger but no life out of the display to indicate it’s actually charging. I haven’t tried putting it in rice yet but that’s my next step! It’s just strange that there is no signs of water intrusion at all. No condensation on the screen side or in the sensor windows. I have to say I’m more than a little disappointed with this tracker now after reading more of the posts about this issue and what FB is doing to remedy the issues

[vladom]

No condensation or any signs that water entered the device either. I'm very disappointed as well and have read through a fair share of complaints on the same issue... seems that Fitbit is very bad when it comes to customer support.

This is my second Ionic in 2 years, last one having died after a software update - issue that was very wide as well. Last October they washed their hands saying that it was a 2nd hand product, even though I got it from one of my friends who I knew looked after it well, and the device bricking after a software update is highly untrustworthy.

Let's see how they deal with it now, I'm afraid they'll be just as nonchalant as before, case in which I'll be switching brands and never looking back

[RaberBL]

Truly is a shame! I’ve had it in rice for most of the day with no life yet, I’m going to let it sit overnight in hopes of some sort of miracle. Unfortunately mine is “secondhand” as well, only reason being a friend originally bought it and didn’t like the overall size of the tracker, so one day of use from the original owner and now it’s mine. It really has been great for over a year up until now! And I can totally see how many people end up leaving the brand after instances like this. I have yet to receive any contact from customer support and won’t be holding my breath waiting. Might as well bite the bullet and move to the dreaded Apple Watch 

[vladom]

Had it in rice for 3 days now. The only responsive thing on it is the red light on the back once I connect it to the socket but still no display or anything else.

I guess apple or garmin are the only manufacturers that provide their customers with peace of mind that they can take their devices through the whole suggested range of activities.. quite the shame since I generally enjoy competition and fitbit didn't disappoint so far when it came to tracking runs but that was more of an issue in the past as any competitor nails it quite well as far as I've seen the reviews. When it comes to swimming, apparently apple has a function that "blows out" any excess water after you took it for a swim - 150$ extra but considering that I've made the habit of buying 1 Fitbit Ionic a year, the investment pays off in a year lol