The watch is great to use as a fitness monitor. However, as a smart watch it is lacking in features. I cannot use the Fitbit Pay APP, because my bank is not on the Fitbit list. I can see my Texts and Messages, but I cannot reply like I can on my Samsung Gear S2.

At this stage it's hard to specifically recommend the Ionic. Not so much because of its hardware or interface problems, such as music sync, but because third-party support just isn't there yet. To compete with Apple, the product needs smarthome apps. Messaging apps. Ridesharing apps.

The Fitbit Ionic is a good wearable, but it's not the great smartwatch some had expected it to be. There are lots of positives, including strong battery life, Fitbit Pay and built-in GPS, but there's also a lot missing, and that leaves this device feeling more like a fitness tracker, rather than a...

Fitbit Pay works well; Great fitness features; Solid battery life

Controversial design; Little bit slow; Limited music offering

The Fitbit Ionic is an admirable first attempt to rival the likes of Apple, Google and Samsung on the fitness tracker-cum-smartwatch front, but it's definitely much further from the latter. Its software lacks the polish its physical design shows, and app support is sparse at present.

"The Ionic is Fitbit's first 'smartwatch' and is a capable performer. The optical heart rate falls short on point-to-point accuracy but this isn't unique to Ionic"

Looks; UI app integration

Bluetooth does not extend to external sensors; optical heart rate falls short on point to point accuracy

There's a lot that we really like about Fitbit's first smartwatch, but ultimately the software niggles make it difficult to put it in the same bracket as the Apple Watch, the best that Android Wear has to offer and Samsung's Gear smartwatches right now.

Four day battery life; Solid sports tracking; Guided workouts; Fitbit Pay

Buggy software; Too many TBC features; Design will divide; Inconsistent heart rate

Imagine there was a version of the Apple Watch that could go for four or five days between charges and work with Android phones as well as iPhones. The catch is that this superlative waterproof fitness tracker -- with sleep tracking!

The Fitbit Ionic offers a comfortable design, with 50-meter water resistance for swimming, GPS and mobile payments; You only need to recharge it once or twice a week

While the Ionic supports future apps and watch faces, few are available yet; Included apps feel slow and don't launch from the watch face; There's not much on-watch coaching and music storage and playback is often more trouble than it's worth

A wonderful wearable for those with an active lifestyle, the Ionic is the most feature-rich product from Fitbit thus far. It's waterproof, features GPS and NFC (mobile payments), and has an incredible software experience. The more you use it, the better it works.

Fitbit is probably the most well-known company in the fitness tracker world, but smartwatches are new territory. The closest they've come to making a smartwatch was 2015's Fitbit Blaze , but even that wasn't all that smart.

Interchangeable straps make it great for the office and gym Touchscreen is easy to read outdoors Great overall fitness tracker Sleep tracking is detailed and helpful 2.5 GB of storage for music 5 ATM water resistance Fitbit mobile app is intuitive and user friendly Fitbit Pay works flawlessly...

Design is clunky Can't interact with notifications Fitbit OS is laggy

The device brings most of the features and data from the excellent Fitbit app and brings them to your wrist in living colour. And like the Fitbit trackers, Ionic can count your steps, tell you how many calories you've burnt and also tell you how well you slept.

Great design; nice screen; exceptional fitness companion; excellent Fitbit app; amazing battery life

Expensive; hard to sync music; can't see the time while working out