Fitbit Charge 2 or Fibit Ionic

BWA468
BWA468 Posts: 101 Member
edited November 24 in Fitness and Exercise
Hi all! Im really wanting to purchase a decent fitness tracker as I currently dont track my exercise and feel like I am under eating for what im doing. I do incline treamill at least twice a week and weights 3x a week with a little bit of treadmill after. I dont trust the exercise database as my workouts are lots of different things. I really like the ionic look and am thinking about forking out the extra money for it but in terms of fitness tracking is it any better than the charge 2? Ive read so many reviews and dont know what to buy still! I like the features and waterproofing ionic has but am also wondering how many of the features i would use? I have a iphone 6s and do not want to pay the crazy price for an apple watch. If anyone can advise their experiences that would be great. Thanks :)

Replies

  • fionawilliamson
    fionawilliamson Posts: 110 Member
    I have the charge 2, been using it since Xmas. I too wanted to more accurately track calories burnt and I can tell you the estimates on my expensive cardio machines is about 20% higher than my charge 2 says it is, so I am glad I bought it. It isn't water proof but it seems to do ok, I have worn it in the shower a couple of times by accident and I do dishes with it on. I don't really need to extras that the ionic has and it's a lot more $$. the only thing I am not sure about is the number of steps it tracks, I barely go anywhere and it's at 1000. I don't focus on steps so I don't really worry about it. And it's supposed to 'wake up' when you raise your wrist, I find mine doesn't do that very well, I really have to flip it to get it to turn on. So if you are going to use it as a watch it might be annoying. Hope this helps.
  • Duck_Puddle
    Duck_Puddle Posts: 3,237 Member
    I have both. The primary difference is that the ionic is waterproof, has built in GPS, color screen, some apps, and better notifications.

    From a step and calorie estimation device, the two provide nearly identical numbers regardless of type of workout or day to day activity.

    I like that the ionic is waterproof (I swim), i find the built in GPS handier than trying to connect the Charge2 to the phone, and I like the customizable notifications. I don’t know if I like them enough to pay double the cost of the Charge 2. The Charge 2 is also much smaller and less obtrusive and has better battery life.

    They will produce the same numbers in terms of steps and calorie burn. Whether or not the ionic is worth it depends on whether you’ll use it for swimming, GPS activities (outdoor runs, biking, etc) and how much you enjoy color screens, apps of various usefulness and notifications.

  • steve2310
    steve2310 Posts: 9 Member
    I have the ionic and it’s the best I have I went from charge 2 to blaze now to this as I have added swimming in to my training more often... I don’t have a bad word to be said about it x
  • BWA468
    BWA468 Posts: 101 Member
    Hi guys thanks for that. I bought the Ionic and i love it!! Its really motivating me to go harder with working out ie taking the stairs and not the lift, going harder at the gym. Im a bit concerned though cause i am getting some high calorie burns from it which im not sure are accurate. I get about 700-1000 exercise calories from it. I have all my stats entered. I dont eat back all the calories but still im weary im still eating too much? Ive never really known how many calories ive burnt before. The fitbit is giving me aimilar calories to the treadmill (with weight entered) which is probably why im concerned its over estimating lol. @duckpuddle you find the burn estimates correct and I should trust it or just eat back a portion? Mfp gives me 1400 calories a day if i ate back all exercise calories thatd be at least 2000! Argh! I would love that haha but it seems like a lot.. female/32yr/ cw: 80kg, gw: 65kg
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    edited February 2018
    It varies person to person if the calories can be trusted. I find mind to be pretty darn close.

    Based on calorie intake and weight from Jan 8th to today, I maintain on about 2585. My 30 day average Fitbit burn is 2582.

    edit: Oh and I will add this. I am 28 yrs old, 5'4.5", 139.8 lbs and average around 2k calories a day to lose weight.
  • Duck_Puddle
    Duck_Puddle Posts: 3,237 Member
    How Fitbit calorie adjustments work is that Fitbit tells mfp how many calories you burned for the day (or if it’s before midnight-it sends an estimate of what it thinks you’ll burn for that day). Mfp then subtracts how many calories it thinks you burned (or will burn) and the difference is what shows up as your Fitbit calorie adjustment (or exercise calories). The number of calories mfp thinks you’ll burn is based on what activity level you chose (sedentary, lightly active, active, etc.).

    If you’ve set yourself as sedentary on mfp, but really get 10-15k steps a day, then maybe a workout on top of that, a higher Fitbit calorie adjustment should be expected because 10-15k steps is far more active than sedentary. Your Fitbit is measuring your actual level of activity.

    My Fitbit is reasonably accurate for me. Many find them to be accurate, some find that they over or underestimate. The best option will be to use it consistently, and eat a portion of the calories back and see if you’re losing at the expected rate or not. Also if you’re not weighing your food and/or you’re using hedgy database entries, you may want to allow a greater buffer to allow for logging inaccuracies.

    A “big” number from Fitbit isn’t inherently right or wrong. Give it a shot. Eat some of the calories back. Assess in 4-6 weeks to see if your losing as expected. Adjust as needed.

  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    edited February 2018
    My take is that if you want a smart watch and the features that come with a smart watch or need a waterproof tracker because you swim then get the Ionic.

    If you just want a solid fitness tracker save some money and get the Charge 2.

    They both basically track the same things...the ionic goes beyond being a fitness tracker and is a smart watch...that's the biggest different in my estimation.

    I recently bought a Charge 2...I've never had a fitness tracker in all of my years doing this due mainly to the fact that the early models were just step counters and you couldn't put in other exercise...I've been a bit curious for awhile as to all of the hubbub so I bought a Charge 2.

    I didn't opt for the Ionic or Blaze because I'm just not sure how much I'm really going to get out of this thing in regards to information that I don't already know, so I didn't want to invest a large sum of money...the Charge 2 was on sale and not a particularly large out of pocket expenditure so if I end up tossing this thing in the drawer in a few months, it's not a huge loss.

    If I ever go the smart watch route, it will be Samsung gear.
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