Fitbit Ionic review review

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;

Fitbit Ionic Preview

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 250 ...

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