dead fitbit ionic

[IonicOne]

Looks like the most consistent statement about the Fitbit Ionic is that the battery dies between 16-24 months due to poor charging or a charging fault. I had attempted to return mine, but was beyond the 30 day window. Now I am the proud owner of a blank-faced, irreplaceable battery, and non-functioning device. It was my mistake to make this purchase.  It is complete nonsense to advertise a product with all these wonderful features, which kill off the battery, regardless of how well you charge it.  It is not restarting, charging, or doing anything. Thanks FITBIT.

[Minn74 · Accepted solution]

I had the same issue 2 times. Luckily I had purchase insurance for it. But the next time it happens, I will change to the charge 3 or other brand. 

[IonicOne]

Thank you so much for your response. I worked with the customer service folks who offered a 40% off a new device, as I had gone beyond the warranty year. It was difficult to check on my Amazon warranty, which should have been for 2 years. I had only used my device 6 months and it wasn’t keeping a charge. Long story short - after attempting to charge all yesterday- I just plugged it in and left it alone. It is now actually charging and I hope to get a few more months out of it.

[Madzoeysmom]

I have the exact same problem. Called customer support and got the same offer. This is the second fitbit product I have had with this problem. Just a year outside the warranty, so of course there is nothing Fitbit will do, save for the 40% discount. Why would i spend more money on something that might......work for a year?? Never again. Shame on fitbit. Customer service is horrid and seeing as how there have been hundreds of complaints about his very issue, you should be doing something to make it right. I will NEVER EVER purchase another fitbit product again. I will advise others to do the same. This is very very upsetting and I am very disappointed.

[SweetMustelid]

OMFG, it is horrifying that THIS is the "solution" to the OP.

The solution is "be certain to insure our garbage product?" 

[SunsetRunner]

Same. My device lasted 1 year and 4 months. At about the 1 year mark, it stopped syncing with my phone. I did a factory reset that seemed to fix the problem. I wasn’t having any issues with it at all, but I woke up one morning a few weeks ago and it was off. I plugged it in, but it won’t respond or charge. I contacted customer support and they offered me a 25% coupon for a replacement, but that just isn’t enough. This is my 3rd Fitbit in just over 4 years. I’m done with  replacing a fitness device every year. To make things worse, I was on my second bad because the first one broke. My parents each have Fitbit Charge II and they are also on their second and third bands. The Fitbit company needs to being making products that last a little longer or else they will last about as long as their trackers. 

[BleedingHeart]

Same here. Bought device on Amazon in March 2018. Stopped working 2 weeks ago. Called customer support and walked through all the reset combinations with them. Nothing.

Their offer: 40% discount on new Ionic. This is how you ruin a company. 

[MS_2017_12]

*sigh* I am now another addition to the dubious statistics.

Bought my Ionic in December 2017. Just after the 1-year mark, saw notification that a firmware update was available. Tried it; after numerous failed sync attempts via Bluetooth/WiFi, it appears the update was partially completed. This meant some parts worked, but apps no longer did. So no walk/run/bike/.... tracking anymore, besides the default step counting and auto-session-tracking.

Finally got it working after extraordinary perseverance and many attempts at factory resets last month. Almost immediately as if on cue, display glass partially separated from the body. Held it together with tape as no one I knew repaired Fitbit devices. Great. No swimming with this thing on from now on. OK, fine. I figured I can still bike/walk, run. etc.

Then on July 17, 2019 right in the middle of the 10,000 steps congratulatory fireworks, it froze. Screen then went blank after a few seconds. Tried rebooting. Nothing. Tried factory reset. Nothing. Tried recharging fully and then repeat steps. Nothing. Can't detect a pulse or a heartbeat on my pulse/heartbeat tracker. Ironic.

It is now well-and-truly dead. Rest in peace.

$300 piece of equipment. Dead in 19 months. Shameful. No more Fitbits for me.

[IonicOne]

I just ordered a Garmin vivoactive due to a ridiculous price posted as an Amazon prime day deal. A few friends love it.

I did not love charging the Ionic for maybe a days use.

Sorry to hear of your Ionic tragedy.


Barb T

[MS_2017_12]

Thank you Barb T.  At first I didn't even know Garmin made fitness trackers - until I started reading these forums.  I only knew them for vehicle GPS systems.  The more I hear, the more appealing Garmin gets. 

Apple watch doesn't work for me as it needs an iPhone to go with it - and I don't have plans to get one just for the watch.  So I'm now seriously looking at Garmin.  Thanks for your tip!

[TomDuke]

My Ionic died after 19 months without warning  on Amazon Prime Day.  Ordered a  Garmin Vivoactive 3 and a new Ionic at reduced prices.  After 2 days with the Garmin I can say it's not perfect.  Set up was easier than the Ionic, but notifications are just as buggy. First wasn't getting any for calls, after 30+ minutes of customer support chat got a call notification and was able to decline.  But now that notification can't be wiped off the watch.  Day one had a text notification I couldn't dismiss either. Garmin chat walked me through multiple steps to finally get rid of it. I'm using a new Pixel 3 phone BTW.  The Ionic worked okay pretty much (except the pathetic music function) until it quit.  Notifications were always iffy.  I question whether any of these gadgets really are ready for prime time and can promise any longevity. 

[Jazzin]

Why does Fitbit not compensate the consumers fairly. They only offered me 25% off a new Fitbit. At least a 50/50 split would be more acceptable.

[Szq18]

Yep. Adding my FitBit to the list of dead gadgets. Got it for Christmas 2017, and just died today. Haven’t contacted customer service yet, but after reading all these posts, I’m not expecting to hear good news. I loved it up until this point. A few issues here and there, but nothing I couldn’t figure out or deal with and it usually miraculously fixed itself. Sigh* I guess Fitbit will be hearing from me tomorrow.  Thanks for everyone’s story.  

[osudamon]

This happened to me today and I literally just got off the phone with Ronaldo. Don't waste your time or energy. He'll offer you 25% off of another device after he tries to tell you to turn it on 5 times. Waste of time and money! I left negative comments on their facebook page as well....it seems that someone is at least responding to those posts. So sad to see their customer service and quality going downhill so fast.

[Rhlazar]

I know this is an old thread but I had to share. I had the same experience, fitbit ionic totally dead after a year (past the warranty of course) wouldnt charge, wouldnt turn on, tried every reset and factory reset and spoke to fitbit a bunch of times and long story short I had a blinking fitbit logo and that's it and it was dead. 

Anyway, I put it in a drawer not on a charger (tried that too by the way, charging for a week straight and nothing) and periodically checked on it and still, flashing logo......it is now 3 months later, I am not kidding, and all of the sudden this thing has revived from the dead. I pressed a button today it turned on, showed 10% battery and I was able to charge it and then reset it to factory settings and set it up again as new. 3 MONTHS sitting in a drawer and for no apparent reason it started working again. Hope that helps! Dont throw out your fitbit, it clearly just needs a vacation! 

[Jazzin]

Thanks for the update. Still dead but have not thrown it out. I do check it about once a month.

Sent from my iPad

[Ldkatz38]

.mine just di Ed. Same issues. Not sure what to do. 13 months. It seems like it's programmed to do this after the warranty expires.

[Mingomom]

Same thing happened to me. Fully charged in morning, down to 15% that evening. Went completely dead. On charger, all night. Never came back to life. To hell with Fitbit, I’m not going to pay all of that, for a watch that does a little over a year old. What kind of a crappy product and warranty is this? This is my SECOND Fitbit, with battery issues, this replaced my Blaze. No, I’m not going insane and I’m not going for a 40% off, just to go through this, again, next year! My Alta came back to life and I’m hoping it will last long enough until my new Apple Watch arrives. If not, oh well🤷‍:female_sign: