average life span of ionic

[Sandyott]

Hey,

I am curious  How many users have an Ionic that has been functioning more than 8 months?

I bought one  IONIC upon release.  I don't like running with a phone but love my maps.  It died 8 months into use.  Fitbit replaced it. My replacement is now dead.  Replacements don't come with warranties, so  I need to either buy a new Ionic or get something else. So I'm trying to see if it is worth trying again. 3rd watch will be a charm?  My husband's blaze is going on 4 years with no sync issues.  Ionic has always had sync issues..  But sadly the Blaze has no GPS for maps.

[madgrizzle]

Mine lasted 3 months past warranty expiration (total 15 months). 

[Zambia1]

I am on number 3 after less than 2 years, both my previous ones just stopped holding a charge and eventually died.

Both were easily replaced, but I have to say this one hasn't started out well, as I am having the synching issue, so I will not buy a fitbit product again after this. Definitely a Garmin or similar will be next watch.

[madgrizzle]

You're lucky to have yours die so frequently.. many of us have ones that lasted long enough to run out of the 12 month warranty.

[SunsetRunner]

My Ionic died after 14 months just outside the warranty of 12 months.  Other countries have a 24 month warranty.  I have owned several Fitbits and they all failed within the year or just over a year.  I really like the fitbit but the watches just don't hold up and they will not stand behind their product.  I will be purchasing a more reliable brand.  Good luck.

[sportsmom9698]

I hesitate to reply here (knock wood, throw salt, rain dance, whatever) but I have an original Ionic, purchased when they first came out directly from Fitbit.  It has quirks and gets more and more as it gets older but still working....of course, I'm sure it will stop working now.  🙂

[Rich_Laue]

And many still are using their 4-6 great old fitbits. I'm not sure why millions have no problems and a few can not keep them working,  are these few getting only defective units?

[DBoth]

@Rich_Laue - guess you came into the conversation late. The OLDER simpler Fit Bits work great and last a long time. Its the new ones with the updated technology that seems to not be very reliable. To be fair, I wore mine all the time although I never swam or showered with it. So maybe I wore them too much - although I thought that was the point?

[Rich_Laue]

@DBoth I did not come in late,  I know several with the Ionic, many with the Blaze and Charge 2, and a few with the Charge 3, on user is having Charge 3 problems, we're still forget about the Alta, Alta Hr, and Flex 2 of which I still see them almost daily. It has been several years since I have received a complaint and they where for the older trackers. Now considering how fast the newer trackers are selling,  there really is not many complaints across the web.

[DBoth]

@Rich_Laue I also understand that most of the people that post are only those that had problems. I am just fed up because I am on my third "smart watch" device in under three years - two of which stopped working right after the warranty ran out. I wear them all the time, minus shower or swimming, keep them clean, have a screen protector, and even wear a wrist band over it when working in the yard. There is no reason for them to have 'just stopped working'. Like I said, I am on my third as I went ahead and purchased a second Ionic (only because they gave me 40% off). If this fails within two years, I will be done with this product for good.

[madgrizzle]

The number of posts to a forum or even negative reviews are not a really measure of the extent of a problem.  Only people with problems post problems.  But also, many people with problems dont post problems.  Some post reviews, some don't.  What is becoming apparent from posts here is that there is a distinct issue with ionics just dying.  How big of a problem it is is unknown to anyone but Fitbit (and they likely won't be telling).   Also, the Ionic is too old for media to do a review.. they've already done them 15 months ago.  They probably don't care to follow up on them.. maybe consumer reports might since they seem interested in long term history, but probably no one else is.

[AmethystLH]

My ionic suddenly died 6 hrs ago after only 4 mo. of use (It looks brand new only the screen is black and will not turn on). I searched and found a forum titled "ionic suddenly stopped working and will not turn on" that had 17 pages of the same complaint generally with 12 mo. or less of use. Fitbit moderators replied with a few generally not helpful "fixes". The bottom line is based on the many people with this issue there appears to be a serious flaw that Fitbit is not addressing. The most they offered people was a 25% off a new Ionic. Bottom line since they don't stand behind their products and after sticking with Fitbit since their 1st roll out I will be exploring other options.

[mhanwell]

Came here after mine died this morning. Pre-ordered direct from fitbit at launch. Wore most of the time, sudden death as others described with an offer of 25% off... Looks a lot like a defect, support would not say more than you are out of warranty, here is a code. Searching brought me here...

[RicardoFitbit]

Welcome aboard @Mrs_Mook @frenchyb  @Zambia1 @SunsetRunner @AmethystLH. I'm glad to see you participating again in our forums @DBoth @madgrizzle @SunsetRunner @sharenslz @sportsmom9698 @Rich_Laue and @mhanwell. Let me provide assistance with your concerns.

I would like to let you know that Fitbit is striving to improve our user's Fitbit experience with our products and services. We appreciate all of the input we receive from our users because this information help us to evaluate our procedures. Thanks for the feedback provided about our Ionic device and for your patience. If you have inquiries about our warranty policy please refer to Return Policy and Warranty. Thank you all for sharing the experience with your devices. 

@Rich_Laue Thank you for your replies and the information that was posted, I'm sure that it will help other users to resolve their inquiries. 

I'll be around. 

[cffhello]

mine started have problems about 10 months i choice to keep it instead of having someone elses headach it died completly at 18 months

[Irishwolf66]

Mine lasted 4 months then bricked itself. They are sending a replacement but if that bricks will be done with Fitbit for good, get a Garmin most likely. Had a Blaze before that that suddenly stopped logging my pulse, the green light just stopped, didn't even have that for 2 years. Started having issues with the Ionic a month after I got it, would not autolog sleep, had to manually enter the time I went to bed and woke up, then it would analyze, but was really annoying that it stopped doing it automatically.

[Joelyba]

I'm on my second Ionic. The first lasted around, wait for it, 8 months. It then just died. They sent me a replacement, but I'm concerned on how long it will last. Pretty shoddy really.

A few years back I had a Surge, and I had 3 of those as the straps kept breaking. They had some negative publicity in the UK because of it.

I like Fitbit, but feel even with a replacement, it should be covered by a warranty. Seen as the Ionic is their marquis product, it seems beset with issues.

[madgrizzle]

"I like Fitbit, but feel even with a replacement, it should be covered by a warranty. Seen as the Ionic is their marquis product, it seems beset with issues."

I think that's what disturbs me the most.  These aren't $35 throwaway devices you pick up off eBay.  This is a $300 fitness tracker/smart watch made by the company that made fitness trackers and smart watches what they are today.  Fitbit was to trackers as what Xerox was to copiers and Kleenex is to tissues.  The Ionic was my first fitness tracker/smartwatch and I picked it mostly because of it being a Fitbit and having SpO2 meter (hmmm...).  But for them to not stand behind their marquis product is disappointing.  The company I worked went bankrupt after being paid a considerable amount of upfront money for a project.  Some of my fellow coworkers and I formed our own company and we went to the client and told them we would finish their project for them, at no charge.  We had no obligation to do so and came at a significant expense, but that level of customer service paid huge dividends for us down the road.  If you ask the client who they would recommend, they name us.  I (and obviously many others) won't be doing the same for Fitbit considering the situation.

[RatedE]

Looks like I jinxed it with my previously reply as my Ionic just recently went bonkers about 16 month supply after I bought it. The problem started earlier this week with really high floor counts over a couple of days (when I actually wasn’t physically doing that many floors), then it went into a flashing logo reboot cycle which I couldn’t get it out of. Called Fitbit support and thankfully they helped me get it working again, but since then the altimeter is no longer working at all, so somethings got fried there. Fitbit has offered me the 25% discount since I’m out of warranty. Trying to decide whether I go back to the Ionic (which they are offering at a 40% discount) since I have already own several other aftermarket bands for it, or try something new like the Versa (I don’t really *need* GPS), or if I leave Fitbit entirely...I’ve looked at Garmin but for the price range I’m looking at, they seem inferior in quality (just my personal opinion), I use an iPhone so that rules out some of the other smart watches, and I’ve toyed with the idea of going to an Apple Watch Series 3 but the battery life is just terrible compared to Fitbit and I’m really quite liking the sleep tracking on my Ionic. Plus I don’t need another iPhone on my wrist...I kinda prefer the fitness focus of Fitbit plus I like the variety of clockfaces.  Wish I knew if they were coming out with a sleeker Ionic 2 which might convince me to wait!!  BTW - my only other previous Fitbit was a Blaze and I never had any trouble with it - I just decided to upgrade to an Ionic. 

[ionicJH]

I bought mine from Amazon 11/17.  My battery was at 73% when I left my house and now it's dead. My battery life started dying rapidly when I installed the fitbit emoji...then I uninstalled it and did a plain FitBit one...now my battery lasts a day, if that.

I'm sad because I'm kind of stuck with Fitbit products now...and I really like the interface, but something happened with this last release, I think.

[RatedE]

I would try a factory reset and then reinstall OS 3. The first time I installed OS 3 my Ionic wasn’t very stable (battery issues, rebooting itself for no reason) but a fresh install seemed to fix that.