Fitbit Ionic GPS Smart Watch


Fitbit Ionic GPS Smart Watch

Oooh, a little bulky but I’ll be thinking about it. Here’s to hoping for refurb thursdays to have something a bit smaller.

I love Fitbit, but this model was discontinued several months ago. What’s that portend, after the warranty expires?

If you’re in the FitBit ecosystem anyway, and are a Prime member looking for a low-cost GPS tracker with a large screen, this is probably your lowest-cost option, since the cheapest FitBit GPS tracker with a large screen is the Versa 3, which has been sold for $200-$230.

That being said, none of the FitBit SmartWatches actually function well – they’re sluggish to use, and be it music, notifications, or NFC payments, it’s often faster to reach for your phone. So… get this only if you want a large screen. Otherwise, you can get GPS functionality with the Charge 4, which has been sold for $100-$170.

The one upside of the Ionic is that the battery life and longevity was much better than previous FitBits. I’ve used FitBits since 2009, and every single one died within 12~18 months from heavy, daily use. The Ionic was used daily, 24-7, for a full 3 years (2017 to 2020; rarely used GPS, though) before the battery started only lasting a day. I’m pretty happy with that.

Good luck!

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I have a Fitbit Versa 2 and it does fine on notifications (no delays that I’ve noticed). I also use it to manage Spotify and it works pretty well for that, except it gets disconnected periodically for unknown reasons. I don’t know if that’s Fitbit’s fault or Spotify’s. I will say it has trouble tracking my sleep – sometimes it doesn’t track it at all. And one time I met my steps goal because I was petting my cat with my watch arm and it thought I was walking instead.

That’s the only Fitbit I’ve owned so I can’t speak to the other models, including the one for sale. I only got mine earlier this year (months before the 3 came out) so the battery hasn’t had a chance to fade yet.

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This is my daily smart watch. I use it for two reasons - I’ve been a Fitbit user for so many years I am kind of stuck with their proprietary platform for step counting and such and I also am a runner and need a watch that does GPS without the need for a tethered iPhone. This is a good price if you are in the market. Reliability is pretty good - it initially had issues randomly resetting (so much so that I used a Garmin for my marathon running) but for everyday use it’s good. I really like fitbit’s sleep tracking. Heart rate seems to be reliable. In general I’d recommend if you are a Fitbit user. Note I like the Apple Watch when I need cellular capability and as I mentioned I use a garmin 235 for serious training (although I also wear a Fitbit for step tracking since I have so many steps on their platform). Best of luck all.

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Not gonna lie, I was really sad when Pebble went away, and was acquired by FitBit, because my wife has had many FitBits (we go all the way back to the pocket tracker days) and ever since the very first one, she’s always had problems with them. My Pebble and Time Steel are both running today exactly as they were the day I bought them, albeit with a little less battery life.
Got a deal for the Galaxy Watch Active 2 through our cell phone provider, and it’s another no-problem watch. Everything just works; there really isn’t an excuse for FitBit to keep having problems like it does with disconnecting and missed notifications like my wife has. Smartwatches aren’t new tech anymore.

Operating system… Windos?

You just hadddd to catch our mistake didn’t you? :woman_facepalming:

I don’t see the $15 off for prime members at checkout, does it show up after I pay?
Also, I thought it was free shipping for members? It’s showing a $6 charge for shipping.

Is this the Versa 2 Fitbit?

No, it’s a different model – Fitbit Ionic GPS Smart Watch.

Besides those that run, why would anyone need GPS on their watch? So their where abouts could be verified later or they get lost a lot walking around the mall?