Swimming with Ionic

[datalore]

Interesting comparison of the AW3 and Ionic here. Both watches nail down distance fairly well, but lap counts are a different story. I wonder if this is a software issue. Both watches seem to struggle some, but the AW3 has more swim metrics which is understandable for a more mature platform. I'm hoping my swim pro will be ported to Ionic before the year is out. Check out the article: https://www.wareable.com/smartwatches/apple-watch-series-3-vs-fitbit-ionic-swimming#c-15785

[TriFit]

How did you record your swim? Could it be an issue of auto detected vs tracked? I used to get ‘steps’ for bike rides I was recording via the Strava app on my phone while wearing my Charge HR that I don’t seem to get now I’m tracking rides with the GPS function of the Ionic. ie the Ionic knows that I’m not stepping ‘cause I’ve actually told it I’m on my bike and ignores them.

[BerniM]

 Actually, I have had FitBit count non-steps for me before.  One day I was intent on getting a crochet project completed (Christmas gift that needed to come with me on my weekend travel.) I was in my recliner rocking and crocheting the majority of the day, by dinner time, I had my 10K steps buzzing away on my band.  Needless to say, I take it off when I crochet now.  

[Beards247]

@TriFitI just use a flex2 for the time being. I wear it and it records - it has always 'tracked' my swims at some level, in terms of steps. Until these posts, I didn't realize it wasn't intended to convert swimming to steps.

[Laura-g]

How do you get it to show.such detailed analysis of lengths and strokes? Mine just shows the lengths and that's it 

[TriFit]

Which platform are you looking at? App or website? If you’re on an app it might be the version. I have an iPhone. Otherwise, I don’t know sorry. I don’t think I did anything special to set it up.

[Laura-g]

Using android, maybe it is the platform, can't find much info on it from the manual or from fitbit site 😞

[TriFit]

That’s a shame. Maybe it will catch up in a future update.

[Margarita1]

I had bad experience after i take shower couple times my 1st fitbit ionic stopped working.I hope my 2nd will work better but in store lady said fitbit ionic just water ressistand up 50 meter and she said for swim we need to buy waterproof.I think i going to change my fitbit to apple 2 or apple 3.

[aaonwona]

It's a hype

Abed's Note

[dang16]

The Apple 3 was very inaccurate for me in the pool.  My 2000ish yard workouts would regularly record 1000-1300 (depending on how much kicking)

[Freitasfpereira]

Same with mine

just bought today

[edit001]

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@datalore wrote:

Interesting comparison of the AW3 and Ionic here. Both watches nail down distance fairly well, but lap counts are a different story. I wonder if this is a software issue. Both watches seem to struggle some, but the AW3 has more swim metrics which is understandable for a more mature platform. I'm hoping my swim pro will be ported to Ionic before the year is out. Check out the article: https://www.wareable.com/smartwatches/apple-watch-series-3-vs-fitbit-ionic-swimming#c-15785

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Went to the pool yesterday and brought my Garmin Fenix 3 HR as a backup after reading all the complains that the Ionic does not register all the pool lengths that you do in a session. My surprise was that the Ionic registered all the lengths as my good old Fenix 3 HR.... all 42.

It's true that we can't talk about metrics because Ionic has very few and the Garmin has refined time and time again the metrics since it's first dedicated swim watch the "Garmin Swim" launched almost 6 years ago. 

If you are into loosing weight and not into performance I'll say that the Ionic provides enough data to be useful... after all the watch is not targeted for users seeking performance.

Having said that I don't think they will ever want to deliver more on the swim metrics.

[TriFit]

I was out of the pool for a couple of months over summer and upon returning I found a drastic improvement in the reliability and accuracy of the lap tracking and distance calculations. Whatever issue the Ionic had previously has apparently been resolved thank goodness!

[Hybrid7K9]

I went swimming with the Ionic yesterday, and mid-set, the Fitbit turned off and then I saw water condensation in the heart rate sensors. So Fitbit is refunding me with a replacement. Disappointing. 

[aaonwona]

It was never water resistant. You are lucky you are getting immediate
replacement. They would asked you to conduct all kinds of experiment/
test. I had to make a video of why my Fitbit wasn't syncing, twice. If
they want to be competitive, they must fix all those hypes about their
product.

Abed's Note

[TriFit]

I’ve had my replacement since late November from memory and it hasn’t skipped a beat, including swims in fresh and salt water.

[Duke552]

Fitbit does not Sync swim activities to strava.... 

[Colcow]

Yes swim 3 times weekly with my ionic no problems with water. The main reason I purchased the ionic is it’s waterproof. Get swimming!