A:AnswerBush,
I've had the Ionic for just over a week now and its so much better than the Surge (which I also owned for close to two years).
What makes it better:
1) The bands are detachable/replaceable. This means the the ripping and tears of the bands from normal wear and tear won't render the whole unit unusable.
2) Magnetic charging cable. This fixes the issue of the Surge charger not staying seated in place and preventing charging. Now the cable stays in place and ensures a good charge.
3) The bands seem to be designed better to help get after the ripping/tearing problem that plagued the Surge bands. The connection to the face unit also puts less stress on the band material.
4) The user interface and overall experience is more enjoyable for me.
5) A lot more customization options:
- On board storage to store music so you don't need your phone.
- Different watch faces to change the look.
- Wifi built in to provide internet to apps, like Pandora
- App store so you can add functionality (this is currently limited but I'm hoping it grows)
- Payment capabilities (like starbucks)
Only current negative is you can only see the notifications on your watch, there is no interaction, meaning no expanded preview, delete, mark as read, etc. You can see them or clear all of them, nothing else.
I almost gave up on Fitbit due to the poor experience with the Surge. I did some hard digging into the Ionic before committing. They seemed to take all the negative feedback from the Surge and fixed it in the Ionic so I gave them another shot. So far so good.
There are not many options out there for a fitness watch that has built-in GPS, heart rate and allows you to get notifications from your phone (along with all the other standard features) and the Ionic is one of those few and has a decent price point. I use the GPS to track my running mileage and pace. I use the heart rate for my workouts, heart health tracking and sleep tracking.
Hope all this helps.
A:AnswerBasically you can't go scuba diving in it. 50 meters is rated for swimming in a normal pool (with a 5 ft deep end/3ft shallow end), daily hand-washing and showering. Anything beyond that needs a higher rating. I've warn my Ionic for swimming, showering, walking in the rain, and have had no issues with it.
A:AnswerThere is a subscription fee for some of the Fitstar workouts, from what I understand there are some free Fitstar workouts but if you want more then it requires a subscription.
Either $7.99 per month or $39.99 per year
A:AnswerYes you can download your own music to the watch, then use wireless headphones. it also has the Pandora App but you have to be a paid subscriber to Pandora to be able to use it.
A:AnswerThe ionic supposedly can do oxygen levels via the new red sensor. Fitbit has really good sleep tracking already in their latest devices so expect the same with ionic.
A:AnswerThey are going to have an App Store so golf will be a feature in the future but not at launch. Fitbit bought out Pebble last year which had Golf gps distance watch faces for their watch.
A:AnswerThe body is made out of aluminum, but it looks like not very much touches the skin since it tapers toward the sensors.
Specs: https://www.cnet.com/products/fitbit-ionic/specs/
A:AnswerYes it can. Because of my work having a 24 hour staffing, I always convert any digital time device, (watch or phone,) to military time. Also, any digital "face" you use on the watch will display in military time as well.
A:AnswerYou can NOT use the old charging system from other fitbits. The Ionic comes with an awesome magnet charger that connects in the back of the watch by the sensors. It's a magnet, so it connects super easy.
A:AnswerThe watch face doesn’t stay visible all the time. If you raise the watch and turn your wrist towards you it turns on (like with the Apple Watch). However, you can set the watch to stay on all the time during your workouts. I have mine set to have the watch face on throughout my runs, bikes, and other exercise because the “looking at your match” hand/arm motion might not be convenient during a hard workout.
