If the Ionic smartwatch is the best Fitbit can do, the company might be doomed, and the Apple Watch has nothing to worry about. As sensors shrank and gadgets became lifestyle choices, Fitbit's propelled itself to the top of the wearables heap with ever-improving fitness trackers and bands.

All in all the Fitbit Ionic is without question Fitbit’s most impressive offering to date. And in doing so they’ve got a very legit competitor to certain variants of the Apple Watch, as well as Garmin, on the fitness side.

Fitbit adds some much-needed features to its flagship smartwatch, but is it enough to rival the Apple Watch Series 3?

Incredible battery life.

Ugly design and buggy software.

Fitbit’s best all-round fitness tracker, just don’t call it a smartwatch yet

Bold design; Excellent sleep tracking; GPS and heart-rate tracking work well; Strong battery life

Virtually no third party apps yet; Fitbit Coach not available till later in 2017; Fitbit Pay not ready in the UK yet; Expensive for what it can currently do

Very accurate readings; Strong battery life; Sharp display; Comfortable; Can transfer previous Fitbit data

Bit on the bulky side; May have some difficulties with technical set up; Water resistent not water proof

The Ionic is Fitbit's best all-round tracker so far. The trouble is, it’s a £300 fitness tracker with some smartwatch scaffolding around it. That is way too expensive for what it currently offers. Many of its best features (the sleep tracking, SmartTrack, heart-rate sensor, long battery life, Fitbit app) can be found in the £130 Alta HR. Frankly, it only just scrapes four stars. On the other hand, if you want a Fitbit that adds GPS tracking and swim-proofing to all of the usual goodies, it’s the only model that can do it all. The Fitbit Coach feature is very promising too, if not available till late October 2017. Still, the Ionic is far from the only option at this price. Apple iPhone owners are better off paying £30 more for the Watch Series 3 (GPS), unless daily recharges are a deal-breaker. And Android-loving runners, cyclists and swimmers should check out the cheaper but more sport-focused Garmin Vivoactive 3. This isn’t to say that the Ionic isn’t a good buy for more casual exercisers. It has huge potential with more apps, Fitbit Pay and Fitbit Coach on the horizon. But you should just be aware that it’s what commentators would call a ‘raw talent’ rather than a title contender.

Bold design; Excellent sleep tracking; GPS and heart-rate tracking work well; Strong battery life;

Virtually no third party apps yet; Fitbit Coach not available till later in 2017; Fitbit Pay not ready in the UK yet; Expensive for what it can currently do;

The Fitbit Ionic ($199 at Amazon) was announced in August 2017 and released in October of that year to less than rave reviews. The design wasn't great, the software felt unfinished and its price ($300, £300 or AU$450) was hard to swallow. Even worse, it arrived after the 2017 refresh of the Apple Watch ($169 at Best Buy) line, which introduced the Apple Watch Series 1 and Apple Watch Series 3.

Fitbit’s fitness smartwatch has gotten better with an infusion of watch faces and apps, but some of its extra-smart features still aren't as polished as the competition.

Fitbit Ionic has a better-than-most-smartwatches four-day battery life, while still having always-on heart rate and a comfy fit; It has features galore: waterproofing, GPS and on-wrist mobile payments, plus new watch faces and a growing app store; It works with iOS and Android, and has an excellent phone app and social community.

Wrist payments don't work with as many banks as Apple Pay and Android Pay; On-wrist music is hard to set up and use; Software and apps sometimes feel buggy.

Ever since Fitbit bought Pebble last year, the question wasn't if the company was going to release a smartwatch, but when. The answer is finally here, in the form of the $299.95 Fitbit Ionic. It's a smartwatch-fitness tracker hybrid with an open SDK, superb battery life, and NFC payments, making it more of a competitor to the Apple Watch than Fitbit's other, more fitness-centric devices. You won't find standalone cellular connectivity like you get in the new Apple Watch, and a lot is riding on how well Fitbit builds out its app ecosystem over time. But if you're looking for a smartwatch that puts fitness first, the Ionic deserves a spot on your short list. A Familiar Face At a glance, the Ionic looks like a cross between the Apple Watch Series 3 and the Fitbit Blaze, thanks to a rectangular touch LCD that stands out from many of the circular smartwatches on the market. The screen measures 1.2 by 0.85 inches (HW), about 1.5 inches diagonally, and features a resolution of 348 by 25...

The Fitbit Ionic is an ambitious and promising smartwatch with a focus on fitness and accurate tracking, but its success will depend on the growth of its app ecosystem.

Vibrant screen; Changeable straps; Safe for swimming; Excellent battery life; Smart notifications; Built-in GPS and NFC; Pandora integration; Open SDK for app developers

Expensive; Thick bottom bezel; Case easily scratches

This product was featured in our Holiday Gift Guide! Check it out to find gift inspiration for everyone in your life. A mainstay in the fitness tracking industry for years, Fitbit’s ascension to the cream of the wearable crop was originally met with subpar competition. Today, companies like Garmin, Suunto, TomTom, and Samsung properly push Fitbit forward, preventing the company from resting on its existing innovations. However, an unsurprising master class in wearables taught by none other than Apple — in the form of the Apple Watch — has Fitbit scrambling to maintain its position as king of the fitness hill. Its answer? The Fitbit Ionic. Our Fitbit Ionic review reveals a wearable that blends the impressive fitness tracking ecosystem of its two-year-old Blaze with a host of modern smartwatch capabilities such as a dedicated app store and NFC tap-to-pay transactions, along with Bluetooth and WiFi compatibility. We put Fitbit’s Ionic through its paces to see if its updated software, cust...

Incredible battery life; Automatic workout tracking is a nice addition; Waterproof up to 50 meters; Great interchangeable bands; Stores up to 300 songs;

App offerings leave a bit to be desired; Lacks the ability to respond to text messages/emails; Not as full-featured as other smartwatches on the market;