What do you Think of your Ionic so Far?

[gibbyhome]

So I just ordered the new Ionic and it should arrive on Friday and was wondering about the ones that have received their Ionic so far what do you think?

• is it very heavy or light ?
• is it to big ? 
• what to you think about transferring music?
• how is the battery life? 
• is the screen bright enough?
• do it stay on long enough to read your text messages and can you respond to texts from the watch.
• how is the accuracy 
• I'm sure I will have a lot to say once I get mine in, i'm going from my Microsoft Band 2 that I loved and will miss dearly

[RobbPrice]

I received mine today, and out of the gate, I'm a little annoyed.

It turns out that there is an existing bug where you can't move music over to the device. I thought I was losing my mind, so I contacted support, and they said they hope to have the fix rolled out this week.

The watch is great outside of that huge oversight, but I hope that will be corrected soon!

[DaronU]

I have had mine for about 2 hours now.  Unfortunately it arrived as I was getting back from the gym.

I actually really like the size, look and feel on the wrist.

I haven't tried it in bright daylight yet, but is looks bright and crisp.

It seems like it turns off pretty quick but I haven't really tried yet with texts and notifications.

Like you, this is what I am replacing my MS Band 2 with that bit it about 2 months ago.  Have been without a tracker since.  I had been looking for replacements but never found one I really wanted to try.  When I saw this one, I hit the pre-order button almost immediately then sat impatiently for just over 1 month until it arrived today.

The only thing missing right now from the MB2 is the golf app which I am sure one will eventually come along.

[DaronU]

Are you able to get to the app settings for wallet. starbucks, etc?  I am not.

[CopperWolf808]

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@gibbyhome wrote:

So I just ordered the new Ionic and it should arrive on Friday and was wondering about the ones that have received their Ionic so far what do you think?

• is it very heavy or light ?
• is it to big ? 
• what to you think about transferring music?
• how is the battery life? 
• is the screen bright enough?
• do it stay on long enough to read your text messages and can you respond to texts from the watch.
• how is the accuracy 
• I'm sure I will have a lot to say once I get mine in, i'm going from my Microsoft Band 2 that I loved and will miss dearly

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Maybe @RoyG96 can chime in since he also got his Ionic in today! 🙂

Edit: He is talking about what he thinks and set up in this Preorder/Release Date Thread

[RobbPrice]

Daron,

I haven't been able to either. I wonder if this is going to be fixed in the update that is (hopefully) rolling out this week.

[DaronU]

From Support:

Pablo: May I know the brand and model of your phone?

Me: Microsoft 950XL windows 10

Pablo: Daron, I'd like you to know that payment related apps are only available for iOS and Android based devices.

Me: I hope this is going to addressed in an update. This was a big reason I bought this and there were no caveat to this in the pre-order material.

Pablo: We are working actively towards our options and compatibility with other devices and operating systems, Daron.

[RoyG96]

Lots of questions, just a few hours into using it lol.

-It's light in my opinion.

-Perfect size

-Wish they had signed the deal with spotify but I will give Pandora Plus a shot with a one month trial and hope for a Spotify app in the future. Haven't worked on pandora yet, will do so now.

-Battery Life...first day in, fully charged now so we will see. But Fitbit is usually spot on with its estimated usage and these beats many other smartwatches, maybe except for Garmin

-Screen is more than bright enough and is crystal clear

-You can view messages quite easily, but can't respond...Fitbit made this clear (use your phone to respond to messages, most of us have it on us at all times to begin with)

-Accuracy? As far as steps? Works very well, Fitbit has a great track record

[CopperWolf808]

Thank you @RoyG96! Appreciate your opinion even if you only wore it for 2 hours 🙂

[davidf100010]

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@DaronU wrote:

From Support:

Pablo: May I know the brand and model of your phone?

Me: Microsoft 950XL windows 10

Pablo: Daron, I'd like you to know that payment related apps are only available for iOS and Android based devices.

Me: I hope this is going to addressed in an update. This was a big reason I bought this and there were no caveat to this in the pre-order material.

Pablo: We are working actively towards our options and compatibility with other devices and operating systems, Daron.

Why do you need it to talk to the phone for NFC payments to work? The NFC chip is in the Ionic not the phone. Its only transmitting the card information.

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[gibbyhome]

I'm assuming that it would need to connect back to the bank ? or maybe not CC's don't talk to the bank

[davidf100010]

After reading about the NFC I don't think it has anything to do with the phone. its more of a software issue on the ionic. I have seen that it is not available yet for anyone. They say there is an update coming out.

[pedris]

Mmm, it sounds like the smartwatch side of the Ionic is pretty half baked at launch: very few apps, buggy music transfer, no Spotify, Fitbit Pay not working/supported yet, nor the SpO2 sensor...

I'm still planning on picking one up on release, but really hope Fitbit sorts this all out speedily: there seem to be a host of bugs that need fixing, and services, apps and features that need adding.

[datalore]

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@pedris wrote:

Mmm, it sounds like the smartwatch side of the Ionic is pretty half baked at launch: very few apps, buggy music transfer, no Spotify, Fitbit Pay not working/supported yet, nor the SpO2 sensor...

I'm still planning on picking one up on release, but really hope Fitbit sorts this all out speedily: there seem to be a host of bugs that need fixing, and services, apps and features that need adding.

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It sure sounds like they need to push out a software update this week. I'm more convinced than ever that my strategy of waiting for the inevitable Black Friday sale is the correct one. I think Spotify may be more to blame than fitbit on that particular issue. The music business can be tough. 

[RoyG96]

The deal with Spotify fell apart months ago, Pandora was the fall back. As for the other "issues", it was well known that few apps were launching with the product. The SP02 sensor use will be implemented in the future, as mentioned by Fitbit multiple times. More apps will come, this is a fitness first smart watch. 

[RatedE]

Curious to know if any of you new Ionic owners are former Blaze people and how they compare to each other 😊

[Martinefski]

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@CopperWolf808 wrote:

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@gibbyhome wrote:

So I just ordered the new Ionic and it should arrive on Friday and was wondering about the ones that have received their Ionic so far what do you think?

• is it very heavy or light ? Lighter than the Blaze
• is it to big ?  Coming from Blaze not at all!
• what to you think about transferring music? I have only used Pandora, so far so good, but was very slow downloading stations. Once loaded I love this feature not needing my phone for music. 
• how is the battery life?  Too early to say
• is the screen bright enough? Seems to be
• do it stay on long enough to read your text messages and can you respond to texts from the watch. Yeah for the most part, but it could still use an always on mode or at least let you choose how long. Probably no different than Blaze here so there is still no way to view a stopwatch for more than 10 seconds or so without tapping the face or pressing a side button.
• how is the accuracy It tracked my test jog just fine so probably pretty good, I really like how it just started logging my run without having to start or find the right tracking mode. Much nicer than the Blaze here.
• I'm sure I will have a lot to say once I get mine in, i'm going from my Microsoft Band 2 that I loved and will miss dearly

Other things I noticed and this is from a user coming from a Blaze, the silent alarm is stronger if vibration is set to strong, personally I would prefer they give the user a until acknowledged mode. Vibration is still no where near original Charge or Charge HR levels.

Weather app is nice although a bit slow, still pretty nice.

Fitbit pay is not working yet, kind of a rollout goof if you ask me, but I am they will get it going fairly soon.

I am not a fan of the Settings app or whatever you what to call it. It's not the most user friendly and frankly poorly organized and too limiting. 

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Maybe @RoyG96 can chime in since he also got his Ionic in today! 🙂

Edit: He is talking about what he thinks and set up in this Preorder/Release Date Thread

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[Frenk]

I like it very much, definitely not to big. No way compared to modern watches!

I have a small 17cm wrist. It is really light, you dont feel it wearing it. Now waiting untill the update is done. The band is a little to grey perhaps, it is not charcoal i think. Im happy so far!

[pewaukeemike]

Received the Ionic yesterday late. I previously used the Blaze. Here are my initial impressions compared to the Blaze

- It weights less and is more comfortable on the wrist compared to the Blaze

- Three display brightness levels. I'd guess that the normal is about as bright as the brightest setting on the Blaze. The Ionic high brightness setting is bright enough to use in a pinch as a flashlight in the dark. No problem seeing the display in any light setting

- Display off is much more solid then the Blaze. My wife complained that the Blaze seemed to flash on too much at night even though I turned off the display. The Ionic when off, is totally off plus there is no light bleed from the elements against your wrist.

- Nice to have the weather available at any time

- Ionic has a much better look then the Blaze. Although I was fine with the Blaze, looking at the two now, the Ionic has a much more finished look to it. I have the standard band but I'll pick up some alternative bands when I can see them in a store.

- Better organization of watch features/apps. For example, to turn off the display at night the Blaze had 6-7 swipes to be able to turn off the display. The Ionic has a single swipe to turn off the display. Even though there are more options/apps available on the Ionic it's better organized so will take fewer swipes to get to pretty much anything.

- Lots of watch face options. To change the face you do so on your phone and wait for it to update the watch. That's fine for me in that I'll not be swapping too often. I'm guessing that the current 17 clock faces will increase a lot once the SDK is available and people have time to work with it a bit.

- Not tried transferring music, too early to judge accuracy and determine the battery life. 

Overall so far the Ionic is a nice upgrade from the Blaze.

[Blackish]

I agree with the positive comments. I’ve used a Charge HR, Blaze and Charge2 before. After reading DC Rainmakers in-depth review yesterday I ordered the Ionic and within 24hrs it was on my wrist (I live in the Netherlands). First impression is just very good, I’m pleasantly surprised with the looks (much smaller than expected) and accuracy of the tracking (at least after one workout where the HR and GPS were spot-on compared to my my Polar device and MUCH more consistent than my Charge2). I have not yet tried to put music on my Ionic, but that can wait. So far so good!