Unreliability of Ionic

[Philm45]

So, here I am on my 3rd Ionic in 4 years, and my latest one which is a year old has just started to go wild. Heart rate is showing around 120, when it is usually around 60, device keeps switching off by itself, top right button jammed in...…….. the list goes on.

My first Ionic packed in when the LCD went haywire

Loving the features, I bought another

The second one, the strap connections came loose and fell apart, despite me taking the greatest of care.

Now I need to get my 4th but before doing so need to raise the question of why are these Ionics so unreliable and have such a short life span ? What alternative brands are out there with the same features ?

The Fitbit team can check the validity of my complaints by looking at my database.

I don't expect any reply as I understand that this one goes in the "Too difficult bin" the same place as this current Ionic is going.

[rozscott]

To say I'm frustrated doesn't come close...

I'm on my 2nd Ionic, which will be my last Fitbit.

I've been with the platform since 2013 and have owned plenty of expensive hardwear, accepting that occasional glitches are just things that we experience along the way BUT this time I'm afraid that I've had enough.

I've an Ionic which is no longer fit for purpose.

It doesn't have a GPS capability any longer, something which has been the case for several months now. This isn't acceptable for a fitness tracker.

When I look across these community boards they are full of exactly the same issues from people across the world. We are all sharing our frustrations (and attempted fixes) amongst ourselves with a notable exception - the Fitbit company itself has not managed to provide any useful information to us whatsoever. They haven't admitted that there is an issue, there is no acknowledgement that there are a lot of people currently frustrated at the lack of service and they have made no commitment to improvements for the many of us that have paid for products that don't work any more.

Much as it pains me I'm going to jump ship and buy a product from a rival company. I don't want to have to export all of my data but don't feel as though there is any alternative.

The unreliability of my Ionic is the instant reason, but Fitbit have been woeful in their response to the issues that we're all facing and that, ultimately is my reason for going.

Let's hope that Garmin are more responsive...

[Philm45]

@rozscottthanks for your input and for something you mentioned...……… exporting my data......…..If I can find an alternative brand that will allow me to export all my past 5 years of data, I will do so in a heartbeat, I am totally done with Fitbit now, their hardware is nothing more than a liability, and an expensive one at that in my experience. I'm on the hunt for a decent Garmin that I can export all my data to.

[rozscott]

Within an hour of me posting the above comments my Ionic has lost all connectivity and no longer has any ability to connect with the outside world... 

I'm hoping that that is simply an unfortunate coincidence, but I haven't previously had any issues...

More things to complain about, it almost feels as though Fitbit want rid of me now...

[Philm45]

Coincidence indeed...……… unless the watchdog gremlins have been at it ! Speaking of coincidences, during the night my heart rate returned to normal (Fitbit heartbeat I mean) and so far this morning I am apparently human again. Still having trouble to charge it, but managing. The power of the Fitbit forum perhaps or just mere coincidences - I'd say the latter.

Anyway, was able to download a full archive of my data since day one so will experiment it transferring this to another devise. My quandary now is which device offers all the features of the Ionic - and at a similar price.

[SunsetRunner]

Sorry to hear about your issues with your tracker, if you need to export your Fitbit data you can but only in 30 day chunks so 5 years worth will be about 60 exports.

[Philm45]

Thanks Mark, I downloaded an archive which was 125mb so am assuming that was more than 30 days - or was it ?

[SunsetRunner]

Your archive would be all of your data but not in a format that any other device can read.  From the same page on the dashboard

you need this option to save in .csv format which then can be read by other programs.  Note though that this won't save your runs/walks etc.  they will need to be downloaded as .tcx files by selecting the activity and then clicking here:

these can then be imported into another program that you choose.

[Philm45]

Just as an update and without going into too much detail, I am now on my 7th Ionic after a heap of varying issues - the last one being a battery life issue. Why am I on my 7th ? Simply because these great folks at Fitbit keep giving me new replacements free of charge............ really, one can't fault that. I now have 1 good one, one dodgy one and one new one on the way........ based on past performance, these 3  should last me for 12 months from now at which time I'll be going for the Charge 4 as as much I love the ionic features, it was, and will remain the white elephant of the higher end Fitbit range.