Fitbit Versa vs Ionic

I have the Ionic and the smart watch features only work sometimes. I actually just had a week where it wouldn’t sync right and had to factory reset it 3x to get it to sync again and the first reset it actually got stuck with a red x on the screen (which I had to figure out how to get rid of on my own b/c Fitbit CS wasn’t responding to my ticket unless it looked like it was working on their end...5 days of no data and they kept trying to tell me it was syncing 😑). For 11 months my watch didn’t track distance right. Finally in January there was a firmware update that fixed that. There are also a lot of complaints of them dying a few months after the warranty is up.

If you want a smart watch with fitness tracking, I’d suggest a different brand. Don’t get me wrong I’ve used Fitbit since 2013 and loved it, but the Ionic has been nothing but trouble and their CS hasn’t been any help.

I actually bought an Apple Watch Series 4 in December, because I was tired of all the issues. The only thing I miss is the community and challenges.

I have both. I have an iPhone X (which I mention only because some of the smartwatch features only work on android and like the poster above-I have spotty success with the smartwatch features that are supposed to work with iPhone).

I habe yet to have notifications work continuously for an entire day. Call and text notifications seem to be even less reliable than app notifications. I spend a lot of time turning Bluetooth off and and and rebooting my phone/device to get it to sync. Text replies and things are android specific so I can’t remark on those.

Aside from smartwatch features - ionic has built in GPS. Versa uses connected GPS (through your phone) so you need to have your phone with you and it’s reliant on the watch remaining connected to the phone for the duration of the run (see previous paragraph on how that’s going).

Other things work fine-step counting, heart beasts per minute, all the other stuff is fine. And the battery life on both is quite good-the Versa really excels in battery life compared to other similarly featured devices from other brands.

I have not put music on either the Versa or the ionic-I’ve read in the Fitbit forums that it’s an exceedingly complicated and time consuming process. Since I have my phone with my anyway (so I can call for a ride if I trip over a curb or air and get hurt-I wish this weren’t actually 100% serious), I just listen to music through my phone.

I use Fitbit because I have a health insurance incentive program that only syncs with Fitbit and it’s a fair amount of $. And the calorie burn estimate is reasonable for me. And I enjoy the challenges. And my brother has a Fitbit and it’s important that I beat him. And all of that stuff works just fine. Plus I have an extensive history in Fitbit and it’s easy to access and export that info.

If you’re committed to the Fitbit brand, the Versa and Ionic are identical in function except the ionic has built in GPS (which is as accurate as any other GPS device I use). The Ionic is also quite a bit larger and IMO less stylistically diverse (it’s not going to pair well with a nice dress).

If you’re not committed to Fitbit, I would look into Garmin. There are a few models that now include music storage (and various smart watch capabilities). They are a bit more money, but my Garmin is just far less hassle.

I may switch to a Garmin. I have a Versa and all I can really say is that IF everything worked as advertised, I wouldn't need anything else, but constant ongoing bluetooth and app issues are really annoying - been through all the trouble shooting too, no go. Fitbit's forums are loaded with similar issues.

I just got my Vivo3 and am loving it. The data I get on my runs is far more extensive than Fitbit.