Fitbit Ionic quickly created buzz when it entered the local market recently, generating excitement among Filipinos—especially among millennials who are starting to pursue a healthy lifestyle. Basically designed to track a user’s health, it has a sleek nano-molded unibody and eight different sensors in one.
Moreover, it has created a great first impression on this writer with its features such as global positioning system (GPS) tracking, water-resistance up to 50 meters, music playback, smart notifications, and a variety of popular apps and clock faces available in the Fitbit App Gallery.
The long staying power of the Ionic is one of its best features. The five days of battery life is quite important, especially for people on the go who want their device to be always up for either physical or social activities. With longer battery life, a user is assured that he can use the device for a longer period of time. Add the automatic activity and sleep tracking, and cross-platform compatibility.
To test this writer’s endurance and the performance of the device at the same time, we attempted to complete the 10,000-step limit set by the device in one workout session on March 11. We started to do the brisk walking, doing it alternately with light jogging from Santa Ana to the Makati business district passing through South Avenue, Ayala Avenue and other different barangays in Makati City. This writer finished the workout in 90 minutes.
The Ionic provided good company for the calorie-burning activity and we were able monitor the progress of our workout.
In addition to these new features, Ionic has everything you love about Fitbit, like automatically track your steps, calories, floors climbed and sleep stages, see your cardio fitness level (estimated VO2 Max), maintain moments of calm, and more.
In terms of guidance, the Ionic can help a user on how to develop the right approach to be fit. There’s a coach for every workout session.
One of the loveliest features is its lightness. It’s a comfortable wearable, even when on your wrist in bed or during exercise. The designers made a wise choice in making the sides slightly tapered, enabling the Ionic to have less contact with your wrist. The fact that it angles away means it tends to bash against your wrist bone far less often, too.
There are three physical buttons on the Ionic, but this writer thinks one button is enough. The main button on the left side effectively acts as a “back button.” The other two on the right side provide direct access to specific features in the watch which can be accessed via swipes and taps anyways.
The 1.42-inch (348×250 resolution) display with Sapphire glass protection assures a user the Ionic can withstand the rigors of daily use. It has 2.5GB storage, and is compatible with Android and iOS systems. The wearable also has a Wi-Fi antenna (802.11 b/g/n), bluetooth 4.0, NFC, 3-axis accelerometer, 3-axis gyroscope, optical heart rate monitor, altimeter, ambient light sensor, and GPS.
In a news statement, Fitbit CEO and Cofounder James Park traced the growth of the company since it was established a decade ago that led to the development of innovative products geared for healthy lifestyle.
“Ten years ago, Fitbit pioneered the wearables category with the introduction of its first health and fitness tracker. Since then, we have become the leading global wearables brand, setting the pace of innovation in the category and establishing the largest social fitness network that helps millions of people around the world be healthier,” Park said.
“With Ionic, we’re delivering what consumers have not yet seen in a smartwatch—a health and fitness first platform that combines the power of personalization and deeper insights with our most advanced technology to date, unlocking opportunities for unprecedented health tracking capabilities in the future.”