Fitbit Ionic Review

Scoring right in the middle of the pack, the Fitbit Ionic delivered an overall lackluster performance. While we didn't dislike it, it still paled in comparison to the Editors' Choice award winners. The Ionic scored a few points less than the LG Watch Sport, the Editors' Choice award winner for Android users and well below the Apple Watch Series 3 and the Samsung Gear S3, the top two models of our tests. The Ionic scores slightly higher than the original watch from Huawei and is priced comparably and much better than our Best Buy award winner, but costs about $70 more.

Ease of Use

This watch doesn't have a physical interface method, like a rotating bezel or crown for navigating menus, but it does have a decently responsive touchscreen. There was hardly ever a delay when moving between menus, but it felt slightly slower than the Apple Watch.

It is very easy to swap wristbands, with the straps popping in and out. It is pretty easy to plug in the Ionic to charge, but it is prone to accidentally disconnecting when it is slightly jostled. The Ionic earned some bonus points for being water resistant for up to 50 meters, but this watch doesn't have the ability to take screenshots of the display. However, this feature may become available at a later time.

Smart Functions

Out of our sample set of apps to test compatibility, the Ionic was the only one fully compatible with Strava. It showed an ETA for compatibility with Uber, but no actual functionality. While the app compatibility of the Ionic should hopefully expand in the future, for now at least, it is quite limited and severely hurts its score in this metric.

This model doesn't have any standalone cellular connectivity, but it has a dedicated GPS module and the ability to pay for items with Fitbit Pay. It also offers some bare-bones music controls, but lacks the ability to make or receive phone calls on the device.

Display

The screen quality of the Ionic is exceptionally high, matching that of the Gear S3 and the Gear Sport, only being outmatched by the Apple Watch Series 2 and Series 3. The display is 348x250, though it is a little hard to read the text in bright sunlight.

However, it is very easy to read in darker conditions and features both an always-on and automatic brightness adjust modes.

Fitness Impact

We found the step counter on the Ionic to be quite accurate, only deviating from the true manual count by about 1.8%, or 57 steps over a mile-long walk.

However, we weren't the biggest fans of the heart rate monitor on the Ionic. Its measurement felt very erratic to us and somewhat inconsistent with the chest strap heart rate monitor we compared it to — exhibiting a discrepancy of over 20 bpm at one point while on a short walk.

The Ionic has a handful of different activities that can be tracked, including running, treadmill, swimming, cycling, weights, intervals, and a generic workout, with a handful of pertinent stats displayed for each workout. These include distance, duration, average and maximum speed, average and maximum heart rate, estimated calories burned, and elevation.

This watch also tracks the number of flights of stairs climbed each day.

Battery Life

This watch lasted for an amazing 96 hours of normal use in our tests before dying, outperforming the next closest watch by close to a full day. It also charges quite quickly, only taking about 45 minutes to reach 50% and a little over two hours to completely top off the battery.

Value

The Ionic is a bit on the pricey side relative to its performance, so it isn't necessarily a great pick when shopping on a budget.

Conclusion