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

[Giampi71]

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That wouldn't be possible, both Siri and Google Assistant are closed source. Only smartwatch that can run them are Apple Watch and Android Wear respectively.

@bbarrera wrote:

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Thats right, it would be possible to Hey Siri / Ok Google reply to texts with Ionic if it had a microphone/speaker and acted as BT headset.

[bbarrera]

@Giampi71 It’s technically possible for any device to masquerade as a BT headset, and therefore possible to use Hey Siri / Ok Google by just being a ‘dumb’ BT accessory. Its really that simple.

Also don’t get confused about closed source. A lot of tech is closed source, it’s all about having APIs. Fitbit is closed source, and has APIs to export activities including HR as long as the activity was tracked with GPS, including activities tracked with MobileRun using just Fitbit app (no tracker on wrist required). But no export with HR data without GPS, because it’s closed source and Fitbit API doesn’t support it. 

[Giampi71]

Thanks for lesson

[SunsetRunner]

for some reason Fitbit support calls this watch the "Pebble Ionic".... interesting :)))))

ontopic: Ionic not again, wouldn't recommend. Fitbit on the other hand, willing to give it another try in a generation or 2 of new devices, grilled by user reviews like ourselves, not media.

[WendyB]

@SunsetRunnerThe Pebble is the device alone without anything else. Always has been

I have a Blaze I have a problem they send the "Pebble" to replace it. No band no nothing just the Pebble....

[bbarrera]

@WendyB No offense, “pebble” is not a standard Fitbit term. Go search help.fitbit.com and I think you’ll agree. 

[WendyB]

@bbarreraMaybe not be a Standard term but that's what it is in most cases

And I dont need to do a search thanks anyway

[flighthalo]

Just  a horrible experience and waste of money. Mine died at about 75 days in. Horrible customer service, very poor product. Out $300....you can see what appears to be moisture in the watch on the back side, it was never in water, only worn while indoor cycling, always lightly rinsed after a work out... The product should have been recalled but instead fitbit failed to look at the long term picture... after chatting with their customer service team and following their out of sequence, poor instructions that didn't help or achieve anything I received an email message 5 hours later that I had a faulty device (no technical info or reason given) and that they would not replace as I didn't know where it was purchased because it was a gift. It was brand new and shiny when I activated it 76 days ago. I will never purchase a fitbit product again, it isn't even about the money, that is irrelevant/small potatoes, its that a company would show such poor regard for their customers, they will be out of business in 2 years or so as customers like me (any many of you) who spend money on these high end items will certainly walk away for good. I thought they were a good company so I stuck with them, big mistake!!!! Do not buy this watch unless you are willing to lose your money, become fairly frustrated and waste a lot of your time. 

[AshLynn043]

Nope. I bought my Ionic on 2/14/18, since then I have contacted customer service 3 times and had to do a reset twice already. First was syncing issues, today's was the watch itself. Halfway through my run I noticed the ionic screen was black, no buttons worked, just the green sensor light on the back seemed to be functioning. I know the battery is fully charged, customer support had me do the second reset in a matter of 2 weeks, and the screen came back on, I was then instruceted to "plug it up and let it charge"...the battery is at 100% and I made support aware of this. It tracked 827 steps of a 3 mile run and all support could say was charge a fully charged battery. I'll buy a $100 Charge next time

[Purrstachio]

Yes, absolutely. I have been through a couple of fitness "gizmos," beginning with the Fitbit Flex and trying other brands over the last few years. The Ionic is the best so far. I know others have had issues, but the few minor things I've experienced have been promptly solved by the support team. I'm really happy with it.

[mr_manager]

I bought a handheld abacus and am going with that for a while. For music, I'll hum.

[jrobbins]

Yes I would buy again. Sure there are some issues, but the Ionic fits my needs perfectly. I have not run into too many issues with the exception of sync to my old Pixel XL - moving to iOS I have had 0 issues syncing. I am not looking for much in a watch:

• Multi-day battery and ability to wear daily
• Notifications (iOS is much better with my Ionic than Android after using both with my Ionic)
• Step/Activity Tracker
  • Notice here I said activity and not fitness. I cycle during the summer and I will use my phone with Wahoo sensors. I will still use the Fitbit activity, but wont be too upset if it is not perfect or screws up in the middle of something. I also spin and elliptical indoors as well as some indoor workouts - these all have worked perfectly to date. 
• GPS for activities - see above
• Ecosystem that friends and family use - Fitbit is that 
• NFC for payments (not a deal breaker though it is nice to have!)

The Ionic meets my needs perfectly. I would even recommend it to anyone looking for a activity watch - or the Versa depending on their needs.

[SantiR]

Hello everyone! Thanks for your continuous participation on this thread regarding buying the Ionic again or not.

I would like to thank everyone for your feedback (positive and negative). This helps Fitbit a lot, so it much appreciated.

Fitbit Ionic is the first watch from Fitbit. It is a new generation of devices that will keep getting better and better.

More apps will be come from third party developers, the same as clock faces. I'm sure that Ionic will get better in the nearest future and the only way to make something better is by taking the feedback you provide. Thank you again for that.

Once I have updates on any new apps, I will let you know! Keep checking the Fitbit App Gallery as these apps are out every now and then.

Thank you again. Keep me posted! 

[QuintNYC]

NO riddled with interface problems took 3 hours to synch music and my ionic is 4 moths old and has died 4 times and this time will not restart they are replacing it but it will take a week, and I am going on vacation in 5 days so great I will be with out a watch for vacation DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY!

[Swing43]

 I don't think I would purchase the Ionic again.  But if you're going to compare it to the Blaze...... I for sure wouldn't get that one.  The Blaze is very pretty and considerably smaller than the Ionic, but that's about it.  I gave mine to my granddaughter who does more gym work than I do.  My favorite for what it does so far has been the Surge.  Downside on Surge is not being able to get different bands to use with it.  I've been trying to alternate between the Surge and Blaze but it doesn't seem to be working too well. I think the program would rather I didn't have those two together.  Ionic is very large and while I like the colored display, it doesn't stay on and you have to tap it a lot.  My calorie burn went down a lot with Ionic.  It seems to give you nothing if you happen to be doing desk work or something.  I'm running 200-300 calories less burned a day.  My feeling is that a lot of time went into the extra things it does and not much into the fitness aspect. 

[s976]

Never... F-ing waste of money.

[Giampi71]

Definitely yes. And in fact I just bought another one, the Adidas version, since I passed my Ionic to my son who, after 5 months of happy use of my former Blaze, moved on to the Ionic.

[mr_manager]

You wouldn't want to buy another, slightly used one, would you?

[Hebrews12-1]

@SantiR

Forget about new apps, clock faces and new features.  What I think Fitbit needs to do is take all the software resources off of product development and move them to resolving issues.  Once the software is stable and the basic features are working properly then you can think about new features.

What Fitbit has now is a problem of trust.  When basic features don't work or aren't reliable you will lose customers and they won't come back.  Build the trust by delivering on the promised features.  People will hang around to wait for new features but they will be gone if the current features they were promised when they bought the product don't work.

[Swing43]

You missed out on the first watch from Fitbit - Surge.  There was also Blaze before the Ionic.  I'm wondering if the new one - Versa I believe - will fix any of Ionic and Blaze problems....