The end comes first. Not worth the price.
I wanted a fitness SMARTwatch. I got a very expensive fitbit. Impressions after almost 6 months of constant use.
The smartwatch features are very weak, downright bad. Almost no apps. App ecosystem seems very weak, lacking developers, ideas, variety. Perhaps fitbit is regulating too strongly, or maybe there is zero interest in this platform from developers.
What I like about Ionic:
What I don't like about Ionic:
In short, do not buy this watch. If you care about the dashboard, get a cheaper fitbit. If you care about the smart features, get practically any other watch. Serioulsy. I'm thinking of even getting one of those $15 from China knockoffs instead of this fitbit ionic. At least if it didn't work quite right, I'd only be mad about $15 instead of flippin' $threehundred.
I wanted a fitness SMARTwatch. I got a very expensive fitbit. Impressions after almost 6 months of constant use.
The smartwatch features are very weak, downright bad. Almost no apps. App ecosystem seems very weak, lacking developers, ideas, variety. Perhaps fitbit is regulating too strongly, or maybe there is zero interest in this platform from developers.
What I like about Ionic:
- The app dashboard. I like the fitness stats, the dashboard view, the insights. However this interface is available with all fitbits. So don't get the ionic, get a much cheaper fitbit.
- I like that it is waterproof. Unfortunately, of all the fitbits this is the only one that is waterproof. Waterproof is not a $300 feature.
What I don't like about Ionic:
- Lifting and rotating my arm to turn on seems very intuitive. However, I tend to lift my arm and shake my watch out of my sleeve and/or pull my sleeve off my arm. This motion does not turn on the watch. Annoying. Several times a day, just to know the time or see my steps, annoying.
- Apps. The apps are terrible. Terrible variety. Terrible functionality. The app store interface is also terrible. Can't search. If I scroll down then view an app, then go back, it takes me back to the top and I have to scroll back through to find where I left off. Particularly annoying, because there is NO SEARCH FUNCTION so the only choice is to scroll through, peek, then get mad again.
- It seems like if I don't swing my arm, it doesn't count steps. So, when I walk around Costco for an hour with my hands on the cart, no arm swinging, no steps. All other step trackers can do this. Jawbone, Pebble (oh, beloved Pebble...)
- Notifications get disabled constantly. One of the things I hated about the Blaze I briefly owned was that it didn't send through all notifications. The Ionic can send through any/all notifications that I configure. BUT, for some reason this feature becomes disabled with some frequency and it's completely annoying.
- Again with the lift/rotation to turn on screen, but if I want to see a notification, I have to lift/rotate my arm just so. Not conducive to sneaking a peek at my notification. Receiving a notification should turn on the screen, or at least have that option.
- Workout tracking is somehow wonky. Sometimes it doesn't track my heartrate accurately. (Yes, I have it on properly.) The workout reporting overview screen lacks certain data, and/or reports it inconsistently. This is the only part of the dashboard/app interface I don't like.
- No menstrual cycle tracking. Seriously! Fitness tracking companies track your steps, workouts, sleep, weight, food, water... just let me click one time on day 1 of my cycle, and you count it up one day at a time after that until I click again. This is a major oversight from a body/fitness/health/tracking company. Gives the distinct feeling you don't care about women. Do you think periods have nothing to do with weight loss/gain, fitness? Aren't most of your customers women? Track it!
In short, do not buy this watch. If you care about the dashboard, get a cheaper fitbit. If you care about the smart features, get practically any other watch. Serioulsy. I'm thinking of even getting one of those $15 from China knockoffs instead of this fitbit ionic. At least if it didn't work quite right, I'd only be mad about $15 instead of flippin' $threehundred.