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

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

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

Fitbit’s first smartwatch is good, but at this price it's not exactly going to have Apple Watches and high-end Garmins quaking in their running pumps.

Fitbit's app remains excellent; Good wrist cardio tracking; Good battery life for a smartwatch

Lacks smartwatch features; It still feels like a step-counter with knobs on rather than a truly useful running/gym companion; It really is not a sexy thing

The Fitbit Ionic, looks great and works as it should. Bought this as a gift and my partner loves it, the Ionic has more functions than he expected - very happy with this product. Ordering and collection process through Myer's online service and in-store pick-up was great.

I like the big screen and that all the relevant info is on my wrist.

After 1 year and 8 months, it stopped working. I tried all the recommended troubleshooting fixes to no avail. When I contacted customer support, we repeated all the steps again with the same result - nothing. They determined it was defective and out of warranty and would not fix or replace it.

Got the Ionic as a gift for the wife and she absolutely loves it. She loves how she can load and listen to music without using her phone and all the tracking features it has. Also the in built gps is a real bonus.

This is a great little smartwatch to take running as it has a built in GPS and MP3 playback over Bluetooth. No more carrying the phone around on runs! It was also the cheapest brand-name one that I could find at the time and the reviews I read were generally quite positive, particularly about...

I didn't think I'd find a replacement for my Pebble watch, it had all the features I needed and excellent battery life. My wife convinced me to try this watch after she had a good experience with the Charge 2, we both bought one and I have to say I've been very impressed.