Fitbit Ionic - Review 2022

Ever since Fitbit bought Pebble final year, the question wasn't if the visitor was going to release a smartwatch, but when. The respond is finally here, in the form of the $299.95 Fitbit Ionic. Information technology's a smartwatch-fitness tracker hybrid with an open up SDK, superb battery life, and NFC payments, making it more of a competitor to the Apple Watch than Fitbit's other, more fitness-centric devices. You won't detect standalone cellular connectivity like you get in the new Apple Sentinel, and a lot is riding on how well Fitbit builds out its app ecosystem over fourth dimension. But if you lot're looking for a smartwatch that puts fitness first, the Ionic deserves a spot on your brusk list.

A Familiar Face

At a glance, the Ionic looks like a cantankerous betwixt the Apple tree Watch Series 3 and the Fitbit Blaze, cheers to a rectangular impact LCD that stands out from many of the circular smartwatches on the market. The screen measures 1.2 by 0.85 inches (HW), well-nigh 1.v inches diagonally, and features a resolution of 348 by 250 pixels. It'due south surrounded by a bezel, thicker at the lesser than at the sides or pinnacle, which gives the face a square course cistron.

While the bezel isn't the nearly bonny blueprint element, the screen itself actually pops with rich colors, precipitous image quality, and 1,000cd/g² of brightness. That's due in part to a curved, spherical glass lens. Fitbit vice president of design Jonah Beckett explained the curved glass was a deliberate selection to break away from the apartment-screen feel y'all often encounter on other watches.

Unlike the Blaze, the screen is firmly embedded in the scout case—y'all tin't pop it out to change straps. On the right side y'all'll notice two buttons with tactile geometric faceting—a fancy style of proverb a textured stop to brand identifying them by impact practical—and a single button on the left. The Ionic has a fairly slim contour, and even though the back protrudes a bit, information technology shouldn't snag on shirt or jacket sleeves. The case itself made of lightweight aerospace-grade aluminum, and while that gives it a premium feel, I noticed some small dings and scratches after a pool workout with Fitbit ambassador Gabby Reece (the Ionic is waterproof). Dragging myself across the bottom of a pool with ii 20-pound weights was definitely challenging, just I didn't scrape the lookout upwardly confronting any walls, so seeing the damage was surprising.

Similar the Apple Watch, the bands are swappable. The default ring features an bonny isometric design, and a combination buckle and prong enclosure. The Ionic comes in iii strap and case color combinations: Blue Gray and Silver, Charcoal and Graphite Grey, and Slate Blue and Burnt Orange. You lot can buy alternative Sport Bands, which feature hexagonal perforations and a more secure clasp, for $29.95 each. There are also perforated leather options in Cognac Chocolate-brown or Midnight Blue for $59.95 each.

In terms of hardware, the Ionic has one notable divergence from previous Fitbits. If you flip it over, you'll come across an array of iii LEDs—ii red, one blue—in addition to the customary green optical sensor. That'due south a noteworthy change that opens the Ionic upwards to more medical use cases. Currently, most trackers use green calorie-free to mensurate heart charge per unit, but red light tin can requite you a more accurate read, likewise equally measure out a host of other biometrics. For example, red low-cal is used in pulse oximeters to measure SpO₂, or blood oxygen saturation. While Fitbit didn't reveal any concrete plans for these sensors, information technology recently updated its sleep tracking features for the Alta 60 minutes, and confirmed its interest in sleep apnea—which can be detected through monitoring SpO₂ levels.

Smart, merely Not Standalone

The Ionic is compatible across mobile platforms, which is great news for Android users who are ambivalent toward Android Article of clothing and experience left in the cold by the iOS-just Apple Sentry. When information technology comes to smartwatch features, Fitbit has clearly been paying attention to the competition. For starters, it has its own operating system and app store called the App Gallery. The interface hews closer to Apple's watchOS than the improved-simply-still-clunky Android Wearable 2.0. Pebble fans shouldn't become their hopes besides high, however. Little hither bears resemblance to the dearest Pebble Steel or Pebble Fourth dimension.

Fitbit is also taking a page from Pebble with an open SDK for third-political party developers. Anyone with a bit of coding savvy will be able to create their own clock faces and apps from a spider web-based platform. That'southward of import, equally the Ionic'south success will depend at least somewhat on its app ecosystem. While the selection available correct now isn't the most extensive, information technology's too early to make any sort of sentence telephone call, as the watch itself isn't due to ship until October.

As of this writing it comes preloaded with the Coach app (a rebranded FitStar guided workout), Music, Weather (powered by AccuWeather), Pandora, Starbucks, and Strava. That'southward on pinnacle of Fitbit's native Today (an overview of your daily stats), Exercise, Wallet, Alarms, Timers, and Relax apps. Fitbit plans to expand its offerings this fall with apps such as Adidas All Day, Flipboard, Game Golf, Nest, and Surfline. Every bit of now, in that location are also 17 default clock faces, simply this number is sure to abound equally more developers get the chance to play around.

The Ionic isn't meant to be a standalone smartwatch. While you can get all your customary call, text, and app notifications, in that location's no LTE connectivity for making calls or replying to texts without your phone nearby. Y'all also need your phone for the initial setup, syncing information, customizing clock faces, and tweaking your preferences.

That said, the Ionic is perfectly capable of phone-gratis exercising. It features congenital-in GPS, Bluetooth, and NFC, as well as ii.5GB for music storage. Pandora Plus or Premium subscribers can also download playlists directly onto the lookout. And Fitbit has its own pair of earphones, the Flyer, that can pair with both the lookout man and your smartphone at the aforementioned fourth dimension.

Downloading music onto the Ionic isn't the simplest. You'll need some patience and a strong Wi-Fi connection, but it'south worth the effort. I was able to listen to my tunes while on a phone-free run in the park and pay for a java at Starbucks after without having to carry my wallet.

A single charge is estimated to last 4 days, or upwardly to 10 hours while using GPS. That'southward outstanding for a smartwatch—most but last for ii days max. In testing, I was able to get equally long as a week on a single charge, with multiple indoor and outdoor workouts during that time. That absolutely blows virtually of the contest out of the water—the Apple Watch lasts for little over a day—and seems similar a fair trade-off for the lack of LTE connectivity.

Fitness Beginning

Unsurprisingly, the Ionic has all-encompassing abilities to work as an practise companion and wellness monitor. I took information technology on a iv-mile outdoor run. Not only was the screen completely visible in direct sunlight, information technology was able to automatically observe when I stopped for traffic, and choice things back upward once I started moving again—a handy feature for city runners. In add-on to automated sport recording, you also get advanced slumber stage breakdowns and guided personal workouts.

As for accuracy, the Ionic delivered excellent functioning. On a one-mile treadmill walk at 3.5 miles per hour, it logged 2,097 steps compared with the 2,120 steps recorded past my Yamax SW-200 Digi-Walker, a pedometer often used in clinical studies. That'south a superb difference of just one.1 percent—most trackers tend to fall within the 3 to 5 pct range. Information technology did, still, underreport my distance equally 0.91 mile.

On a 1.24-mile treadmill exam at 5mph, the Ionic recorded 2,409 steps to the Yamax'south 2,523 steps for a difference of 4.5 percent. This time, it got altitude tracking expressionless-on at 1.24 miles. No tracker is perfect when it comes to step counting, but overall the Ionic performed consistently across controlled and all-day testing, which is of import.

During both tests, I also simultaneously compared the Ionic'southward heart rate monitoring against the Polar H10 breast strap and the Apple tree Watch Nike+. While information technology sometimes lagged a second or two behind the H10, information technology was more often than not within v beats per infinitesimal during low-intensity exercise, and within 10bpm for high-intensity workouts. That's on par with well-nigh wrist-based trackers with optical heart rate sensors. Information technology was as well able to pick upward my heart charge per unit during the puddle conditioning, which is great for swimmers.

I tracked my sleep for nigh a month using the Ionic and constitute it to be reasonably accurate. The Ionic was unremarkably able to notice when I fell asleep and woke upwards inside a 15-infinitesimal window. It was too fairly accurate in recording instances where I got up in the middle of the dark.

Comparisons and Conclusions

If the Apple Watch is a smartwatch starting time and a fitness tracker second, the Fitbit Ionic feels like the changed. Depending on what you're looking for in a wearable, that could be a very skilful thing. The Ionic's $300 price tag places it firmly in Apple tree Lookout man territory. Like Fitbit, Apple is making the case for the Series three to operate every bit a pseudo-medical device with enhanced eye rate monitoring.

Fitbit has an edge in terms of battery life and its established fettle platform, peculiarly when information technology comes to features like slumber tracking and advanced conditioning breakdowns. While the framework of what information technology'due south building in the app section is promising, however, it'south a bit of a gamble if fitness isn't your chief priority. It really will boil downwards to whether developers get on board with the Ionic's SDK and what future partnerships Fitbit builds out its ecosystem with. For a head-to-head comparing, come across my story on the Fibit Ionic vs. Apple tree Scout Series three.

For Android users, the Ionic is a solid choice. Android Wear 2.0 is nevertheless clunkier than it ought to exist, and the Ionic's battery life far outlasts even the best sports-axial Android watches.

If you still honey your Blaze or Surge, you probably don't need to upgrade to the Ionic just yet. It'll get you a nicer screen and back up for NFC payments, just again, only fourth dimension will tell what you'll get in the way of 3rd-party app offerings. We'll have another look at Fitbit'southward app store a few months from now to run into how information technology develops. If you're looking for a smartwatch, you might want to await until so. If yous're focused on fitness, the Ionic is likely to make you lot happy.