Review on 💪 Optimized Fitbit Ionic Smartwatch by Joe Patterson

If your primary purchase decision is a health/activity tracker, get the Fitbit Ionic. If you want a smartwatch with tons of features (which you definitely won't be using), get an Apple Watch. As a former Apple Watch user, I really like this. First, they look great (I always thought the Apple Watch face was too small for my wrist) and the various tracking options are very reliable and accurate. The most understated feature is the battery life! I can't tell you how frustrating it is having to charge your watch every day. It also renders other watches useless for my favorite feature, sleep tracking. The sleep cycle models are really insightful, they're already affecting how much time I get to sleep and tracking how small changes in my "sleep" (different pillows, oil diffusers, etc.) affect my light sleep vs. deep sleep, etc. - no, it does not have all the features or apps of the Apple Watch. However, I promise you won't use most of them. You may think you are sending messages from your watch, but in reality you are not. Most Apple Watch apps are very useless and basically just compress the phone app's amazing features into a much smaller and less useful interface. For me, tracking heart rate, activity, and sleep patterns is the most important aspect of a smartwatch (below). The tracking distinguishes the Fitbit from any other smartwatch. I don't think the Apple Watch compares at all here, although honestly I think they're trying to achieve different goals. In that regard, I think it's better to compare Fitbit to some Garmin watches. For a time, Fitbit lagged behind Garmin in accurate heart rate and elevation tracking. Although I don't have a Garmin I've experimented with it and from what I've read it's closed the gap in terms of accuracy. I really like how Fitbit automatically recognizes different activities. I don't know how it works, but it kind of learned while riding a bike a few days ago, which I found incredible. Also, it's pretty cool to be able to track V02 max (basically how well your body is using oxygen and how fit you are) and compare that to age benchmarks (I don't think that's part of the Apple Watch offering). UI - I've read reviews about slow UI and sync issues etc. I'm not sure if this was fixed by a software patch, but I haven't encountered it at all. The interface seems very responsive to me and syncs with my phone when I open the app. I haven't used the Fitbit board yet, although it seems pretty cool (in theory). The Fitbit app - The last thing to mention is that the Fitbit app is amazing and only gets more and more useful over time. I really like how they compare your health and fitness to reference standards for your age. I open it multiple times a day, which I never did with my Apple Watch/Apple Health app. Conclusion: I obviously like my Ionic a lot. I don't normally post reviews on Amazon, but I've been disappointed by items that seem to miss the point of having a wrist tracker. I don't know if these reviewers are just Apple fans, but man, I've rarely used an Apple Watch for anything other than checking the time. The concept of the "smart watch" changed in my opinion after purchasing it. For me, at least, fitness tracking is the most compelling use case, and Ionic is the gold standard for that. Stop reading reviews because you can't text. Get this watch and see that you care a lot more about your overall well-being. I'm not sure how to make sure this isn't a paid review other than checking my user history or posting a photo of it on my wrist/order form. I ordered it directly from the Fitbit website (order form attached). I also ordered a leather strap (expensive I know) but haven't received it yet. I really like the blue and gray stripe. Hope this helps with your decision!