It runs on Fitbit’s new OS, which the company says will be the platform for its current and future watches.įitbit has just dropped a big update with a bunch of watch faces, a few new apps including Fitbit leaderboard, altimeter, and even a game called Think Fast to test your ‘cognitive flexibility’. The Ionic not only connects to your phone, but also allows you to download and install apps. It’s common knowledge that GPS speed isn’t 100 percent accurate, but what does matter is that the watch is consistent.įitbit just added a whole bunch of new apps and watch faces Colin Levitch / Immediate Media When it came to GPS accuracy the Ionic consistently read 2mph faster than the Wahoo, though at the end of my ride the distances would match up. It seems the best thing to do is ignore it until a signal has been located, which the Ionic manages to do pretty fast. Doing what it says not only leads to dodgy data, but also makes acquiring a signal take longer.

The first quirk that surfaced is that the watch display’s a ‘Let’s Go!’ message while it’s still attempting to acquire a GPS signal. The touchscreen is also hit or miss with full finger gloves, including those ‘optimised’ for touchscreens. While touchscreens are all well and good, when the rain begins to fall they become pretty useless. You operate the Ionic through a combination of the touchscreen and buttons Colin Levitch / Immediate MediaĪs well as its touchscreen, the Ionic has three buttons on the side, one of which is used to start and stop your ride. In fact, Fitbit claims this new arrangement provides more accurate readings during cycling, intervals and running. Fitbit’s new HR sensor has three LEDs (green, red and infrared) that are paired with three sensors in an effort to improve accuracy. The Ionic isn’t the first Fitbit to have a built-in GPS/GLONASS chip and, like the Blaze and Charge 2, does not need to piggyback a Bluetooth connection to your phone in order to record your activity.Īs with almost all wrist-worn fitness trackers, the Ionic features an optical heart-rate sensor and a new one at that. 2.5GB memory (stores approx 300 songs and syncs to Bluetooth headphones).Built-in GLONASS GPS, altimeter, three-axis accelerometer and optical HR sensor.Four-day battery life, 10 hours using GPS.As well as being the most expensive unit Fitbit has ever produced, at £299.95 / $299.95 / AU$449.99, the new Ionic has a feature set that’s similar to the Apple Watch and mid-range Garmins.

Ionic watch