Fitbit Ionic GPS Smart Watch, Charcoal/Smoke Gray, One Size (S & L Bands Included)
If your primary purchase decision is a health/activity tracker, get the Fitbit Ionic. If you want a smart watch with a bunch of features (that you really will not use), get the Apple Watch. As a former Apple watch user I really love this.
First, it looks great (I always thought the apple watch face was too small on my wrist) and the various tracking capabilities are super robust and accurate. The most understated feature is the battery life! I cannot tell you how frustrating having to charge your watch every day is. It also makes other watches useless for my favorite functionality - sleep tracking. Sleep cycle patterns are really insightful is already impacting how long I allocate to sleeping and tracking how slight tweaks to my "sleeping experience" (different pillows, oil diffusers, etc) impacts my light sleep vs deep sleep, etc.
Features - No, it does not have all the features or apps of the apple watch. However, I promise you will not use most of them. You may think you will send texts from your watch, but you really won't. Most apps for the apple watch are super gimmicky and basically just scrunch an awesome phone app experience into a much smaller and less useful interface. For me - tracking heart rates, activity, sleeping patterns is the most important aspect of a smart watch (below).
Tracking - This sets the Fitbit far apart from any other smart watch. I do not think the apple watch is even comparable here, though to be fair i think they are trying to achieve different things. In this regard, I guess it's better to compare the Fitbit to some of the Garmin watches. For awhile, the Fitbit lagged behind Garmin for accurate heart rate and elevation tracking. While I do not own a Garmin, i have played around with them and from everything I have read the gap is closed in terms of accuracy. I really like how the Fitbit automatically detects different activities. I don't know how it works but it somehow knew when I took a bike ride a few days ago, which I thought was awesome. Also, tracking V02 max (basically how well your body uses oxygen and thus how fit you are) and comparing this to age benchmarks is pretty cool (I don't believe this is a part of the apple watch offering).
Interface - I have read reviews about the laggy user interface and difficulties syncing, etc. Not sure if this was resolved with a software patch but I haven't experienced this at all. The interface seems very responsive to me and it syncs to my phone whenever I open the app. I haven't used the Fitbit pay yet, though it seems pretty cool (in theory).
The Fitbit app - last point to mention is that the Fitbit app is awesome and has been consistently getting more useful as time goes on. I really like how they compare your health and fitness to benchmark standards for your age. I find myself opening it multiple times a day, which I never did with my apple watch/apple health app.
In conclusion - I obviously really like my Ionic. I usually don't post amazon reviews but I found myself frustrated by articles that seem to miss the point of having a tracker on your wrist. I don't know if those reviewers are just apple fanboys, but man, I rarely used the apple watch for more than checking the time. The concept of a "smart watch" has changed in my mind after owning one. For me at least, fitness tracking is the most attractive use-case here and the Ionic is the gold standard for this. Stop reading reviews hung up on the lack of being able to send a text message. Get this watch and start seeing yourself caring much more about your overall well being.
Not sure how to verify this isn't a paid for review other than you checking my user history or posting a photo of it on my wrist/ order form. I ordered it direct on the Fitbit site (attached the order form). Also, I ordered the leather band (pricey, I know) but have not received it yet. I actually really like the blue/grey band though.
Hope this helps your decision!
Battery, Battery, Battery
I don't understand why this smart watch is being compared to apple watch 3. Every article about this is either “is this the apple watch killer” or “More fitness tracker than smartwatch” The comparison to the third generation of apple watch is just odd, this is the first real smartwatch that Fitbit has done, yet it's being compared to a device that has had three years of refinement and development
The general comments seem to be based around if the Ionic is smart enough to be considered a smartwatch, comparing features to the apple watch 3.
For me its simple, a smart watch is smart, when it has built-in GPS, card payments, can store music and works with Bluetooth headphones - The basics that mean I don't have to have my phone with me if I want to head out on a long walk, pay for things and listen to music on the way.
Above all else though, a smartwatch is NOT a smartwatch, when it's on charge. When it's on charge, its a piece of metal and chips that have no use. This for me is the fundamental reason that makes the ionic amazing; you can wear it none stop for four days and reap all the benefits that come with that (sleep insights and true resting heart rate data etc.)
I think there is a clear line between the 2 devices and users (Apple watch & Ionic) I have a phone, so I don’t need to send text messages from a 3cm display, I don't need to access social media or the various other apps that the apple watch has and I don't need to make calls from my watch like dick Tracy, I have a phone.
The Fitbit community is based on the active lifestyle and the Ionic blends into that lifestyle perfectly. If you read an article and they are talking about certain apps or functions that the Ionic doesn’t have, just think about the actual day to day use you would get from those apps.
When it comes to technology, the companies seem to be on a mission to reduce the size of devices and completely ignore battery life, the inconvenience of which can not be overstated.
The last thing I would say is in regards to the look and feel of the Ionic, with a lot of comments saying its ugly and blocky, after wearing it for a few weeks I find it really stylish, even though I understand it may be big on a petite person arm. The display vibrancy is an absolute joy and something I have not seen before, all the graphics just jump off the screen, and it's so crisp.
Again there are comparisons to the apple watch regarding aesthetics, as if the apple watch is some sort of beautiful design to use as a benchmark. The design of the apple watch has never appealed to me and always felt like it was the best shape they could make to fit in the tech. With its curved edges and thickness, it looks like the original iPhone.
There are issues with the Ionic such as every time I go to the Fitbit app it activates the card payment function on the watch, it also struggles to connect every so often and needs to be powered down and back on again. So its far from perfect, but it is a massive step in the right direction.
NOTE: Every device I have is apple, all my work is done on apple, and I have an iPhone as my main phone, so the above is not a hater throwing shade on apple, I’m just comparing what I see and my own experience.
I hemmed and hawed over whether to buy this and replace my Blaze which I'd had for less than a year. What pulled me in was the promise of it being waterproof, having longer battery life and the inclusion 3rd party developed watch faces.
Here are my impressions:
(+) Contrary to what you've heard in among tech site reviews, the Fitbit Ionic is not ugly. I think those journalists are basing their conclusions on the standard watch faces, vs Apples. Ionic's standard watch faces are, in my opinion, not very appealing in comparison to the Apple's. However, with the advent of 3rd party developers getting into the mix, I found some quite stunning watch faces. My favorite so far is "Threads," which paints a vertical line for each minute (I'm guessing that it's a minute). The length and the colors represent the amount of activity you've done. In essence, your activity has the ability to render a beautiful array of graphics each hour.
(+) Battery life is better, but even at the "default" auto setting, I'm getting about 4 day's max out of each change. It's nice but not earthshattering groundbreaking.
(+) Waterproof. I like the having the confidence that I jump into a pool or the shower that my Ionic will not drown. However, the first time I kept it on in the shower, I notice that the display glitched a little bit. I think if the water gets in contact with the sensors, this is what can happen. From that point forward, I decided...okay fine. It's waterproof. I won't worry if I happen to immerse it into the water. But if it's easy to remove it before I do some water-related activity, I will do so.
(+) Everything else. Having had the Blaze, the Apple app is familiar. I found the sleep tracking to be very motivational toward quitting habits such as looking at my phone in bed. Watch faces are being added all the time, so that's fun to scan through sometimes. When I do my spinning class at the gym, I love to see lines on my "Threads" watch face go extreme. I like the look more than the Blaze. I also like that Fitbit included two different sizes of watch bands instead of wasting everybody's time measuring their wrists.
Overall, I'm glad I got off the fence and upgraded from the Blaze.
I love my Ionic! I went back and forth between the Apple series 3, Ionic and Garmin, and finally decided on Ionic. I have had two Garmins in the past and a FitBit charge 2. It came down to fashion or function for me, and I wanted more of a sports watch than anything.
I was afraid the Ionic would be too big because I have very tiny wrists, but it fits and looks great! I also don’t feel the watch on at night when I sleep like I did my charge 2. Once on, it actually doesn’t look so bulky.
I’ve had it for a few days now and it’s everything you’d expect from FitBit. The face is bright and beautiful and I love the different face options you can change to. It’s super comfortable, I don’t feel it at all!
I am disappointed that I would have to pay 12.99 a month for a pandora subscription to get that, that ticked me off. I called FitBit before I bought this watch and specifically asked about pandora, they left the monthly subscription thing out conveniently. ( which is reason for 4 stars).
I have FitBit coach as well and that’s cool to use with the watch, I just need wireless earbuds now. FYI, definitely worth the money/subscription for FitBit Coach!!!
I’m hoping more apps come out soon for this, especially music apps!!
So, overall this watch is awesome, love it! Beautiful, comfortable and highly recommend it!!
I love the Fitbit Iconic! I have always been a Polar user and a happy one. I started considering switching because most of my friends are Fitbit users and I wanted to be able to track with them being the only Polar user in the group. I was very hesitant because my M400 had so many features I did not want to lose. I'm so happy I made the switch. The Iconic not only matches the features of the M400 but actually exceeds them. The only difference is the heart rate is tracked through the wrist and not the heart rate band. I've compared the accuracy of both the M400 and the Iconic to machines in the gym and found no difference in accuracy. If this isn't enough to convince you to switch the style comparison alone should be. It is a color touch screen with a customizable interface. The bands are even interchangeable and extremely easy to switch out. Not tools required. Just make sure it snaps in completely. You should hear a snap.
Feature Product
- Start dynamic personalized workouts on your wrist with step-by-step coaching. Syncing range: Up to 30 feet. Certain features like smartphone notifications may require Android 5.0+. Syncs with Mac OS X 10.6 and up, iPhone 4S and later, iPad 3 gen. and later, Android 4.4 and later and Windows 10 devices
- Store and play 300+ songs, plus download playlists from Pandora
- Use built-in GPS/GLONASS to track pace, distance & routes and get Pure Pulse continuous heart rate tracking & real-time zones
- Package includes both large and small size bands for the perfect, comfortable fit for all-day & all-night wear
- Access your favorite apps for sports, weather & more and make payments on the go with a built-in NFC chip. Durable screen - corning gorilla glass 3 is tough and damage resistant
- Track runs, swims, rides, workouts, all day activity and sleep with 4+ day battery life (varies with use & other factors)
- Increased pixels & amplified brightness up to 1000 nits, Operating temperature: -4 degree to 113 degree fahrenheit, Maximum operating altitude: 30,000 feet
- Buy with confidence when your Fitbit product 'ships from and is sold by' the following authorized Fitbit retailers: Amazon.com, Heart Rate Monitors USA and Clever Training. Fitbit does not guarantee the quality or authenticity of products purchased from non-authorized resellers on Amazon, and they are not eligible for warranty and replacement from Fitbit.
- The minimum and maximum circumference range between 140 - 206 millimeters
Description
Fitbit Ionic Smart Watch. The Fitbit Ionic is designed to give you your fitness big picture. Housed in a sleek-looking wearable is a smart hub that provides coaching, workouts, tracking, and more--all backed by built-in GPS, multi-sport modes, and SmartTrack automatic exercise recognition. The Ionic functions as a traditional smart watch, too, delivering notifications (like texts calls, and calendar alerts) and access to apps, onboard music, and built-in payments. The large watch face is on-trend with a bright display and sleek metallic accents that make this tracker infinitely wearable--all-day, every day. PRODUCT FEATURES Dynamic Personal Workouts Start dynamic personal coaching right on your wrist, complete with on-screen guidance during every move and routines that adapt based on your feedback. Built-In GPS Built-in GPS with GLONASS lets you see pace, distance and other key stats on display, while also recording elevation climbed, split times and a map of your route. Integrated Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and a GPS antenna in the unibody frame create a much stronger connection with satellites in space and more accurate tracking. PUREPULSE CONTINUOUS HEART RATE & TRACK RESTING HEART RATE Use PurePulse continuous heart rate to better track calorie burn, optimize intensity during workouts, and measure your health and fitness over time. Get insights on your cardiovascular health and fitness by tracking your resting heart rate and following your heart rate trends over time. Multi-Sport+ SmartTrack Use Run, Bike, and other multi-sport modes to track specific workouts with real-time stats on display, or rely on SmartTrack to automatically record exercises for you. Swimproof + Swim Tracking Wear Fitbit Ionic in the pool or rain and use it to track swim workouts with stats like lap counting, duration, and calories burned. Cardio Fitness Level Get a better understanding of your fitness level and learn how you can improve over time with a personalized Cardio Fitness Score
Love it! Came with half a charge and lasted for over 2 days on just that... Would have lasted more but I an opportune chance to charge and decided to take it. The screen is crisp and clear, not bulky at all. Design was well thought out and totally awesome that there are customizable clock faces! I've had several styles of Fitbits... This is by far my favorite. I haven't been daring enough to dunk it in water yet, but I'm sure that day will come soon! Seems to track my activity better as well. Not many apps but I'm not sure what else I would use it for! And.. being Fitbit, I'm sure more will show up soon as it's a newer version and this is their flagship model to essentially rival Apple's 3rd version of their smart watch.
Essentially, it tracks my daily activity as I like, provides subtle motivation that I need, but stays out of my way enough to let me get on with my VERY BUSY life! Plus the notification array helps keep me moving when things can wait or helps alert me when there's something I need to shift my focus to for a moment. Very pleased and excited to see how the new Ionic evolves.
I am a bit of a tech/fitness tracker junkie and I think I have owner ever tracker that Fitbit has ever produced. I never got into Jawbone and I still mourn the loss of my Pebble Time (who doesn’t?!?) but I went back to Fitbit again after Pebble fizzled.
Large screen with 16-17 choices of clock faces, but since you cannot customize at all, I would only use a few of them. The colors/schemes are really jarring on some, like 20pt red digits from a 1980s alarm clock — or a scenic mountain lake with the digits in white and partially obscured by the rocks and clouds. No option at all to change/ customize the image. WTF Fitbit! This poor imitation of a Pebble clock face makes me miss them even more.
Busy watch interface — should I press a button, tap the screen or touch the screen? Still figuring this out but there are more options than previous trackers. The solid reliable Fitbit app has not changed at all, which I like. There is also an option to add a passcode, only required after the watch has been laying idle for awhile. Maybe someone would want to check the time without my permission? I don’t have any personal info on there and probably most people willing to steal a smartwatch would also be willing to invest some time in cracking the code, so I think I will disable this.
The tracker does seem to measure my daily steps and heart rate well, and this is where Fitbit always shines. I like the little messages of encouragement now and then, and the notification when you reach your step goal. Fitbit has been hit or miss with fully waterproof trackers but I am very happy to swim with this one, since I can never keep track of my laps anyway. The Ionic will vibrate at custom intervals, say every 100y. It keeps track of other fitness activities (hopefully as well as Charge2, my last tracker) but too soon to tell here. You can run your music playlist via the watch, but I usually swim, so I have not set up the tunes yet.
I have been dealing with sleep issues for a long time and LOVE the sleep tracking functionality and details, as well as the ability to follow trends over time. It still lights up the light like my Charge2 if I roll over when sleeping — Fitbit, you need to do a better job here with a “do not disturb” option.
Hoping the battery life will remain good — usually I can get 3 or so days with constant HR tracking. I wish there was an option to automatically track HR for only 2 min per hour, or only during exercise, as this would probably extend battery life to a full week. Fitbit, please work harder on improving HR tracking: the only people who require 24/7 HR monitoring are those with cardiac issues.
I have only had this watch for a few days, so I may add more updates as I become more familiar with the Ionic. Many of my friends have an Apple Watch (tried that too but send it back after 48 hours, too high maintenance) but I can’t handle a watch that needs to be put to bed at night or it will be useless the next morning.
Likes: Solid Fitbit tracker on a reliable platform, waterproof with good swim tracker, larger watch face without being overpowering, epic sleep tracking, easy to change out watch bands, there is a choice of clock faces although they are stock and boring
Dislikes: Bold but essentially boring clock faces without any customization, watch face lights up the room at night UGH, clunky watch navigation (should I press a buttton, or touch the screen, or swipe the screen or all of the above??), 24/7 HR tracking is entertaining but unnecessary and eats up the battery, curious option to add passcode to prevent others from checking the time without your permission
Like most Fitbits, it is hard to get everything programmed - I had a time getting wireless headphones paired, but once I did, this watch is great. The big pluses are that it is waterproof, has a GPS, and you can listen to music without a phone with you. It is going to be great when the weather is better for long walks. It keeps track of several types of exercise, including swimming so that is another plus. The bands cannot be easily taken off though, so putting on different bands is probably not an option for most people, but I like the way the watch looks - very classy looking. Different watch faces can be used as well - otherwise it is very similar to the Blaze which had the same issues and advantages. Fitbit watches have a history of lasting a year or less, so I will be interested to see how long this one lasts. If you are an avid exerciser, this is the watch for you. Otherwise, probably the Blaze works just as well (and easier to use different bands) and less expensive. I had both and do prefer the Ionic because I am a numbers person and want to know all the statistics! Love the sleep statistics - available on both the Blaze and Ionic.
Easy to read and accurate. This smartwatch actually reads heart rate accurately AND without having to be completely still while the device takes a reading. I have had several other "smart" watches in the past and not one of them could give me an accurate heart rate - this one does and that alone is impressive. Also unlike most smart watches, this one can be easily read in the dark AND in direct sunlight. It was a bit tricky to get set up initially and the update it downloaded took 3 tries to do before it finally installed and updated - now it works great. I am not overly fond of the proprietary magnetic charge connector but it does work if you're not too rough with it. The watch holds a charge really well - I have not charged it in two days yet the battery level is down only to 69%.
Pros: easy to read, intuitive menus and display, accurate heart rate, very good battery life, comfortable to wear.
Cons: was a time consuming pain in the neck to update and get set up. Initially refused to connect to my Asus wifi router - I had to make a few changes in the router to get it to connect. Once I did that, it connected immediately.
Screen saver timeout is not currently adjustable and only stays on for 2-3 seconds.
Not enough usable watch faces to choose from (that will change)
Not enough apps to choose from (that will change too)
Bottom line: I'm impressed and I am not easily impressed about technology anything. Beats the heck out of any apple watch hands down.
The Ionic is an improvement from the Blaze that’s for sure. Waterproof, gps and music folder. The reason I gave it a 4/5 is because the issues during initial setup with the WiFi or Bluetooth. Also, the difficulty in adding music to the Fitbit. They made it way too complicated for the average user. If you’re not tech savvy, get with someone who does, to help you out with this. Also, who ever was in charge of developing the charger should be fired... I won’t be surprised if Fitbit comes out with a charging stand in the near future. If so, it was mos likely premeditated in order to make a few xtra bucks. Overall, it’s good product. Fitbit just need to get their stuff together.
