Fitbit Ionic Charcoal & Smoke Gray
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According to our smartwatch expert
With the Fitbit Ionic smartwatch around your wrist, you'll always be up to date on your calls, messages, and notifications from your smartphone. The Ionic also has its own app platform, and you can use the watch for listening to your favorite music. The heart rate sensor on the back of the watch case measures your heart rate throughout the day and indicates in what heart rate zone you are. This comes in handy when you want to monitor the intensity of your workouts. Do you prefer running or cycling? The integrated GPS sensor shows you exactly where you've been, or lets you navigate new routes. The smartwatch is fully waterproof, allowing you to wear it while swimming as well. The Ionic's battery lasts for 4 days, so you can keep it on day and night.
Note: an adapter isn't included. Do you want to charge the watch via a socket? If so, order an adapter separately. Note: Fitbit isn't compatible with all Huawei smartphones.
Compatible with operating system | Android, iOS | |
|---|---|---|
Height | 38 mm | |
Recommended for wrist circumference | 13 - 15 cm | |
Type of heart rate measurement | Optical heart rate measurement | |
Required iPhone model | iPhone 5s or later | |
Independent music player | ||
Width | 29,2 mm |
5 stars
227
4 stars
162
3 stars
29
2 stars
9
1 star
3
User friendliness
Battery life
Design
Options
I've been using the Fitbit Charge 2 for over a year. I bought this because I wanted to improve my condition and to provide insight into a number of things, such as my sleeping pattern. The Charge 2 more than met my requirements! I mainly used it to monitor heart rate, count steps and measure my sleep patterns. All very insightful! Last year I took up running. As the distance grew, I started to get annoyed with taking my phone and the cable from the earphones with me. That's why I bought a Fitbit Ionic, along with a Plantronics Backbeat BT headset. The Ionic has built-in GPS and an MP3 player, so the phone can stay at home and the wire is gone.
Let me start by comparing the Ionic with the Charge 2 for the basic functionalities: activity tracker. The Charge 2 was excellent in my opinion, the Ionic does everything a little better. It seems a bit more accurate for heart rate, it registers everything well, is faster with everything (especially syncing to smartphone, very nice) and easier to operate (due to larger display). Despite the larger size, I also find it more comfortable to sit on (especially when sleeping). The smartphone software is the same in both cases, namely Fitbit OS. Which is nice, because I'm already used to it and it neatly took over the old Charge 2 data. Messaging (Facebook messenger, WahtsApp) is much better, although I sometimes seem to miss a message (doubt the BT quality sometimes). The Ionic is waterproof, the Charge 2 is not. That's really nice: showering, rain, swimming... together with the Samsung Galaxy S7 and the Plantronics it doesn't matter. The battery works fine on basic functionality, think about 4 days. That is slightly less than the Charge 2, but I did not expect anything else because of the larger screen. Charging does take significantly longer than with the Charge 2. Unfortunately, a unique charger has also been chosen here. So don't forget to travel! In short, I think the Ionic for a basic activity tracker is better than the Charge 2 on all fronts, but given the price difference I would go for the Charge 2 unless the design really appeals to you (me) and you think it's worth the money.
Then the top 3 reasons I went for the Ionic to replace the Charge 2: 1 - Built-in MP3 player (no wire/phone needed when running) 2 - Built-in GPS (for running, route and stat tracking) 3 - Design (subjective)
It started badly ...... the received Ionic dropped the necessary stitches within 1 day. The heart rate monitor, after all the "heart" of an activity tracker, sometimes inexplicably failed for several hours. I also often had BT connection issues. After several days of trying to fix this, and reading similar complaints on the ionic forum, decided to return it. I buy from Coolblue, because as expected, it was not difficult at all about exchange / money back / credit ..... I indicated that I wanted to try it, so I brought a second Ionic. This one works great! So don't wait, trade in those kinds of problems.
Then I needed quite some time to understand how to put music on the Ionic. Now Fitbit turned out to have a general malfunction, that played a part, but I have to say: what an unclear process. Once you know it, it's not that hard at all. Advice: find a video on Youtube that explains it to you. The next setback is that uploading music is very slow and the storage capacity is very limited (2.5 GB) if you want to listen to higher resolution MP3. I now mainly use it for running programs so now that they are on it I don't have to worry about it anymore. A case of "meh" as far as this part is concerned.
Next: running together with the BT headset. Delicious! No phone, no wire. Another setback here. The BT connection is simply not stable enough, so the music has disturbing hick-ups and the first time a song was even skipped, so that I ended up in another running class (solution: create playlists of 1 lesson). Very annoying, you're really going to get annoyed by this. I've converted the MP3 files to a lower bitrate, and it's already a lot better, but even then there are hickups every now and then. The quality is now so low in terms of bitrate that this is fine for running programs, but certainly not for listening to good music. This is actually not OK, I bought it for this reason. It all works, but you have to take the time to get it working properly and take it fairly often. In my opinion, this function is a nice gadget, nothing more. It's a real shame if you buy it for this reason. By the way, with my Samsung Galaxy S7 I don't have these problems and I can stream high resolution audio (Deezer HiFi, FLAC and MP3) just fine over BT to the same headset. From that I conclude that it is the Ionic.
GPS is nice and seems to work well. You can read the Ionic via Runkeeper or Strava. I don't do much with it yet, but at least it works. I do notice that walking with music and GPS drains the battery quickly, keep an eye on this. Other apps are also supported, but I don't do much with them yet. Nice that Deezer (I have an account) is supported, Spotify also seems to be coming.
Then some general things:
My advice:
Kornel Hoekerd
3 May 2018
Automatically translated from Dutch
After 2 surgeries with broken (and irreplaceable) straps, I almost switched to a Blaze. But I found the lack of GPS a disadvantage with running or a long walk, still nice to see in the app where you have been and how long you have done over certain distances.
Fitbit then suddenly announced the Ionic and decided to be patient and fix my Surge with new bands from a faraway land for very little. It finally arrived on October 3rd and I was amazed at how nice it actually fits on your wrist, the bottom seems to stick out a bit in the photos, but once on you don't see it and it's just a nice flat watch.
I had also read a few things on the fitbit community and the first experiences there were not very good, many people had problems updating, couldn't get the Ionic on, couldn't change clock faces or had problems with synchronization anyway. Let alone the misery that was with putting music on it.
But, the installation and updating actually went straight for me and quite smoothly, where I read with others that it took 2 hours, it was done within half an hour for me. Please note that you install via Wifi and then on 2.4 GHz and not on 5 GHz via the router because I don't believe that works. It will indeed take 2 hours via bluetooth. The settings afterwards also went well and you can also do a lot via the app and there is even a short user manual available, but you really don't need it.
Everything has already been arranged and set up and to full satisfaction, transferring the music yourself went smoothly via Windows Mediaplayer (you have to create playlists), playing via bluetooth earplugs (not the Flyer but another brand) also goes well and the sound is fine!
All in all, I'm very happy with the watch and I think it's much nicer than the Apple Watch, but that's personal of course.
Guido de Kleijn
4 October 2017
Automatically translated from Dutch
In my experience the top smartwatch of the moment, especially for sports enthusiasts! Much more elegant than the apple watch, beautiful design! Very user-friendly, installed immediately (hour or so), very bright colors and top info about just about everything you do, not least very accurate info about your sleeping patterns.
More than a dozen different displays, several of which are very tasteful, light device with comfortable straps (including a dozen different versions so that you can put together a "new" timepiece, as it were: sporty, for going out, etc...), etc. ...
There is also an app store of which only a few are available today but this should change soon as the development platform has not yet been activated, hundreds of companies are interested. Today you can follow the weather (impress your friends :-)), as well as make wireless payments after, for example, you have linked your master card via your mobile device.
Not cheap but very impressive; in the future, the possibilities of this specific model will also increase with measurement of oxygen in blood, sugar content (diabetes), etc...
I could go on for hours but I would say...find out for yourselves!
jan derudder
5 October 2017
Automatically translated from Dutch
Thanks to Fitbit Pay, it's possible to pay contactless with your Fitbit Ionic Charcoal & Smoke Gray. Even if you don't have your wallet or smartphone with you. Want to know more about Fitbit Pay and how to install it? Read this article.
Product number | 791470 | |
|---|---|---|
Manufacturer code | FB503GYBK-EU | |
Brand | Fitbit | |
Warranty | 2 years | |
Processing of your defect | Carry-in warranty |
Compatible with operating system | Android, iOS | |
|---|---|---|
Required iPhone model | iPhone 5s or later | |
Operating system | Brand-specific | |
Year introduced | 2018 | |
Guaranteed support with updates | Unknown |
Watch case color | Silver | |
|---|---|---|
Watch case material | Aluminum | |
Watch case shape | Rectangle | |
Height | 38 mm | |
Width | 29,2 mm | |
Depth | 21 mm | |
Weight | 45 g | |
Size watch case | Small | |
Recommended for wrist circumference | 13 - 15 cm | |
Total storage capacity | 2,5 GB | |
Water resistance | 5 |
Watch strap material | Plastic | |
|---|---|---|
Watch strap color | Black | |
Closure type | Buckle | |
Interchangeable watch strap | ||
Compatibility watch strap | Product specific | |
Minimum wrist circumference | 14 cm | |
Maximum wrist circumference | 20,6 cm |
Screen type | LCD | |
|---|---|---|
Always-on display | ||
Data display | Digital | |
Touchscreen | ||
Color screen | ||
Type of glass | Gorilla glass |
Wireless charging |
|---|
Bluetooth | ||
|---|---|---|
ANT+ | ||
Independent music player | ||
Music controls | ||
Built-in microphone | ||
Built-in speakers | ||
Smartphone notifications | Accept incoming call, Caller ID, Decline incoming call, Music controls, Notifications, Receive messages, Send messages | |
App installation possible | ||
Camera operation | ||
NFC | ||
Contactless payment | ||
Contactless payment system | Fitbit Pay | |
Country contactless payment | Belgium, The Netherlands |
Pedometer | ||
|---|---|---|
Speedometer | ||
Calorie counter | ||
Measures stairs climbed |
Heart rate measurement | ||
|---|---|---|
Heart rate zones | ||
Heart rate sensor | Integrated pulse sensor | |
Type of heart rate measurement | Optical heart rate measurement | |
Heart rate measurement moment | Continuously | |
Irregular heartbeat notification | ||
Heart rate measurement under water |
Oximeter | ||
|---|---|---|
Average heart rate during sleep |
Recommended for sports | Biking, Hiking, Mountaineering, Outdoor, Running, Swimming, Tennis, Water sports, Winter sports | |
|---|---|---|
Adjust sport profiles | ||
Save personal records | ||
Measure fitness age | ||
Recovery advice | ||
Interval training | ||
VO2 max measurement | ||
Automatic pausing | ||
Measures minutes of intensive training | ||
Measures average speed during activity | ||
Lap counter | ||
Race prognosis | ||
Measures step distance | ||
Measure running cadence | ||
Measures swimming distance | ||
Measures swimming speed | ||
Swimming lap counter |
Built-in GPS receiver | ||
|---|---|---|
Global satellite navigation system | GLONASS, GPS | |
GPS application | Navigation, Route registration |
Compass | ||
|---|---|---|
Altimeter | ||
Type of altimeter | Barometric | |
Accelerometer | ||
Thermometer |
Fall detection | ||
|---|---|---|
Alarm function | ||
Emergency button | ||
Geofencing |
