Feedback about Fitbit Ionic

[MelissaRN]

I've never owned a Fitbit product.  I recently began using the Fitbit app as a way to log water, food and steps and I am enjoying it and finding it motivating.

I'm thinking about making the plunge and purchasing the Fitbit Ionic.  (I also was looking at the Blaze.)

So question, would you buy the Fitbit Ionic again?  Do you regret it?  Love it?  Think it's worth it or not?

Any feedback is appreciated.   Thank you in advance!  

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[DramaQueenDiva]

Once the syncing issues get sorted out, sure. Other than that, I love it. Let me be clear: it's not that the Ionic can't be synced, it just likes to be finicky. Sometimes it will sync to one syncing device, sometimes it won't but it will sync to another. But any new piece of technology will give you the same issues so that's not top priority for me...as long as it counts steps and syncs to something, I'm happy.

[mlindgren]

I wrote a long-ish review with my thoughts on the Ionic.

tldr: I like it, but as this forum attests to, there are some significant issues right now. I think the main thing that remains to be seen is how good Fitbit's support for the device is over the next year or so. So far I haven't been terribly impressed with that, but it has only been about a month.

If I were looking to buy a smartwatch/fitness tracker with what I know today, I might be tempted to give the Garmin Fenix 5 a try. However, that one is $600, so it's not a really a fair comparison. $600 is a lot to spend on a watch for most people.

At $300 I think the Ionic is a good choice. From what I've read, the Apple Watch is a better smart watch, but not a better fitness tracker, since it lacks native sleep tracking and has seriously annoying GPS and heart rate tracking issues, not to mention terrible battery life.

[winb83]

I exchanged my first Ionic but have yet to open the second. I'm still using my Blaze. 

[USAF-Larry]

I love the Ionic, and have had almost no problems with it.  As others have mentioned, sometimes syncing it is a problem, but it has not been a major one -- sometimes the tracker will sync immediately, and other times it will take 4 or 5 times trying before it will sync. But, yeah, I'd get another one.

[Venkats]

IONIC, the way it was released seems immature from both hardware and software. Perhaps in the next 6 - 8 months things may change. At its current state, you will have to have some sort of blind passion or love relationship to fitbit to buy IONIC. It also depends on specific needs of a person, whether he is interested in notifications / local music storage within watch etc versus tracking fitness oriented aspects.

Certain line items that can be classified as defects (for lack of better term) are so borderline that it is doubtful whether a firmware update can fix it. If we argue that firmware update will resolve and improve the device's quality or user experience, how do we trust that hardware has zero issues. In other words, is software alone the problem child or does it include hardware too?  

[BoozyGoose]

I've only had mine four days, but I really like it.  I haven't had any syncing problems (knocking on wood), and I like the hardware.  My only complaint is it is a bit big for my wrist, but I'm getting used to it.  It also feels a bit lighter on my wrist than my old Charge 2.

[WendyB]

Yes I would! I love my Ionic and the added music is awesome

[Greythorp]

On balance, I'd say "No". Admittedly it is a personal thing.  It depends what you are looking for. I'm after something I can use for heart rate tracking, run tracking, Calorie counting and swim tracking. Taking each in turn:

Heart rate tracking: This is flaky. Most of the time it is accurate, but then it will give impossibly high readings (200 BPM for a 65 year old doing a gentle jog for 5-10 minutes) before reverting back to sensible readings.  I've tried all the fixes mentioned in the forum but it is still unreliable. So on that basis, it is a Fail!

Run tracking: I've found that it tracks runs pretty well. I've not had the GPS issues reported by many in the forum, so a Pass!

Calorie counting: I don't think it is possible to check the accuracy of calorie burn without access to a lab. However I don't see how it can be trusted given the problems with heart rate tracking. So another fail.

Swim tracking: It is better than my Poolmate for counting lengths but still manages to lose 1 or 3 lengths every 50. (it tells me I have done an odd number of lengths when I always finish at the same end of the pool as I started).  Also I understand that it doesn't track heart rate when in the swim exercise, so I don't see how it can accurately calculate calories. It claims to be able to detect the stroke used, but this seems to be random. Again a fail.

I'm certainly suffering from "buyers regret" on this one. It might be just that it is an immature product or is designed as a fashion item rather than a serious sports/fitness aid. Given all the other issues reported on the forum I think it would be wiser to wait to see if the bugs are ironed out before buying and certainly compare it with all the products on the market against your personal requirements.

[Crazy-Fritter]

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@MelissaRN wrote:

I've never owned a Fitbit product.  I recently began using the Fitbit app as a way to log water, food and steps and I am enjoying it and finding it motivating.

I'm thinking about making the plunge and purchasing the Fitbit Ionic.  (I also was looking at the Blaze.)

So question, would you buy the Fitbit Ionic again?  Do you regret it?  Love it?  Think it's worth it or not?

Any feedback is appreciated.   Thank you in advance!  

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Since you've never owned a Fitbit device before, but like the app (don't we all lol), I think the Ionic might be a big step up to a device that really isn't newbie friendly at the moment. You might want to try an Alta HR or something similar..... it would make a nice affordable easier to use first step into the Fitbit world 😉 

Let you get your feet wet so to speak lol.

[Blackish]

Yes, I would no doubt buy the Ionic again. The fitness features and heartrate tracking are  some of the best available anywhere. The smartwatch features are lacking, but that’s nothing a software update can’t fix. Battery life is just great. Overall I’m very glad I chose the Ionic over the AW3.

[bbarrera]

@MelissaRN Suggest starting with MobileTrack on your phone, if you carry phone in pocket. Otherwise I’d suggest looking at Alta HR or Charge 2 for better value unless there is something specific about Ionic you want. Even then, it’s an interesting debate about Ionic vs Samsung vs Garmin vs Apple Watch.

[WendyB]

@bbarreraI have a Garmin. I'm sorry their Dashboard doesn't compare to Fitbits. But that's JMHI

If it doesn't sync which is a lot I have to un-install S/W and re-install.  Huh???

[NellyG]

I started off saying the Ionic looked great, loved the features, but who wants a smart watch? Not me. And as I have such thin little wrists it would look rediculous. Well now I have it and I LOVE it. Best tracker I have had and love the smart watch features. I havent had any issues with it appart from grumbling syncing that others have mentuined. Some days it syncs like lightening and other days is is like pulling teeth. I think this is something that will be addressed fairly soon though as it upsets so many people! Would I get another if this one died? YES like a shot. 

[Julia_G]

I have had ZERO issues syncing ever so I would like to say that although many people have reported this, it is certainly not a universal problem (and remember that the majority of people on these forums are looking for solutions to problems -- those without problems are probably just enjoying their Fitbits without even realising others are having issues...)

I do not currently use any of the smart watch features except to check the weather, because some of the Ionic features don't work with Windows phones and because other features (music, pay) have limited availability outside of the USA.

My feeling is that even without the full smartwatch features it is great as a fitness device.  I love how quickly it connects to GPS and tracks hikes and runs, with excellent battery life.  As @NellyG mentions it fits comfortably and well, even on very thin wrists.  I think it looks a little silly, but all the young people just think it is cool...

Also agree with @WendyB about Garmin app vs Fitbit app.  I found syncing my Garmin a total nightmare and the website not at all intuitive.  

If you don't care about GPS or tracking all your activities then I agree the Alta HR is great.  However, it is not possilbe to put that Fitbit into "activity mode" so if you wanted a record, you would have to create a manual log of activities like weightlifting and yoga that don't involve steps and aren't aerobic.

It really depends on what you want to get out of your device.  Fitbit have a nice little comparison facility here

[bbarrera]

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@WendyB wrote:

@bbarreraI have a Garmin. I'm sorry their Dashboard doesn't compare to Fitbits. But that's JMHI

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Fitbit only has a nice and compact summary dashboard. Very nice. After that, if you want to answer simple performance questions, like seeing a trend of average pace, then Fitbit fails to deliver and Garmin is so much better. 

[Giampi71]

I think a good answer can be given in one month or so when the firmware will be updated and the AppStore will be released. That would be the real test on Ionic, as today I think we are all early adopters.

Still the DP of the firmware is very stable and definitely an improvement over the current official one.

GPS is very good but I can't say better than, for example, a Tomtom Runner. I hope few developers will produce dedicated running apps (I would love Runtastic) as the Fitbit one is very very basic.

[bcalvanese]

I am on my third Ionic.

I am compulsive when it comes to these things. Returned my Garmin fenix 5x because it freaked out on me and I had the BestBuy 2 year coverage. Used the money to get a Garmin Vivoactive 3. The next day the Ionic came out at BestBuy so I picked one up. I kept the Vivoactive 3 and the Ionic for a couple days to test them against each other and liked the Ionic better, so I returned the Vivoactive 3. Then when the Samsung Gear Sport came out I returned the Ionic to try that. I didn't like it all that much so I returned the Samsung Gear Sport and got another Ionic. I then decided to go back to the Garmin fenix 5x and realized it was way too complicated for me, so today I returned it for another Ionic.

So yes. I would buy it again...:)

[Giampi71]

LMAO!!! 

Good for you that you live in a country where you can do that. In Italy that wouldn't be possible.

[hawkstv]

I wouldn’t.  It’s the worst FitBit and fitness tracker I’ve ever owned across various brands. The Ionic has too many issues and upon contacting support, they keep saying the engineers are aware and be on the lookout for a firmware update. I preordered and there still hasn’t been an update. Pairing and unpairing as suggested by support only helps momentarily.