When the Fitbit Ionic was first released, it had two major advantages over the Garmin Vivoactive 3.
Firstly, the Ionic could store music directly on the watch.
Secondly, the Ionic allowed you to make payments.
This meant that you could enjoy just about any urban exercise, without having to drag your phone along for the ride.
But that was way back in 2017. Since then, the Vivoactive has been upgraded. It’s now called the Vivoactive 3 Music, and it has the ability to store music and make payments.
In other words, the two major advantages of the Fitbit Ionic have been eradicated. This actually makes these watches very similar in terms of total features.
But to really unpack what separates these two watches, let’s dive into the product specs.
Key Similarities - Fitbit Ionic vs Vivoactive 3 Music
Fitbit Ionic Smartwatch
See PriceVivoactive 3 Music
See PriceKey Differences - Fitbit Ionic vs Vivoactive 3 Music
Fitbit Ionic Smartwatch
View PriceVivoactive 3 Music
View PriceWhat advantages does the Ionic have over the Vivoactive 3?
1 – Slightly better touchscreen: While the Vivoactive 3 has a perfectly good hi-res touchscreen, the Ionic is a little bit better in this regard. You can expect brighter color and a sharper picture with the Ionic.
2 – The Fitbit app is better at motivating people: One of the main reasons Fitbit has become so popular is because the app experience is so brilliant. With the Ionic, you get access to this ecosystem which uses a combination data and personal insights to help keep you motivated.
3 – Personalized Workouts: With the Ionic, you gain access to a collection of personalized workouts. These workouts are easy to follow using the watch, and they look beautiful on the high res screen. If you need a bit of guidance with your training, the Fitbit Ionic will serve you well.
What advantages does the Vivoactive 3 have over the Ionic?
1 – Better for tracking gym workouts: The Vivoactive 3 Music allows you to track strength training, cardio training, elliptical training, stair stepping, floor climbing, indoor rowing and yoga.
The Ionic can also track gym workouts, but it doesn’t have as many workout options to choose from. This makes the Vivoactive 3 better for people who hit the gym frequently.
2 – Better Battery Life: It’s best to just state the facts here. The Vivoactive 3 has a standard battery life of 7 days, and a GPS battery life of 13 hours. The Ionic has a standard battery life of 5 days and a GPS batery life of 10 hours.
Longer battery life is a big selling point, and the Vivoactive 3 clearly dominates the Ionic in this regard.
3 – More Global Tracking Systems: The reality is that in some areas of the world, GLONASS outperforms GPS in terms of tracking accuracy.
With the Vivoactive 3, you can choose between GPS, GLONASS and GALILEO tracking. With the Ionic, you are limited to GPS tracking only.
This isn’t necessarily a deal breaker, but it’s nice to know that with the Vivoactive 3, you have options if you need them.
4 – Better Overall Sports Watch: It isn’t just gym modes where the Vivoactive 3 dominates the Ionic. It’s also the more accomplished sports watch.
In essence you can track the following:
- Running (Indoor + Outdoor)
- Cycling (Indoor + Outdoor)
- Swimming (Pool swimming only)
- Skiing and snowboarding
- Stand Up Paddle Boarding
- Rowing (Indoor + Outdoor)
- Golf
It’s pretty clear that the Vivoactive 3 is one of the most well-rounded fitness watches that you can buy. It’s only shortcoming is that you can’t track triathlons, but it shares this weakness with the Fitbit Ionic.
Which one would I buy, if I had to choose today?
On paper, the Fitbit Ionic and the Vivoactive 3 seem very similar. But when you dig a little bit deeper, a clear winner emerges.
If I had to pick between these two watches, I would definitely select the Garmin Vivoactive 3 Music.
It’s better looking, it has better battery life, and it’s better able to track fitness activities and sports activities.
The Ionic is still a very competent fitness tracker, but it’s not quite as good as the Vivoactive 3. It’s as simple as that.
Purchase the Garmin! The Fitbit Ionic has been plagued with problems; the music does not always work and the Ionic hardly ever connects to the WiFi to update or download as it does not work well with Microsoft 10. Fitbit promised an update to fix this – never happened. The watch will just go blank or turn off during a run or bike ride and you lose all of your data for the run or ride – this sucks if you are a stats person. I have complained and complained and Fitbit finally sent me a new Ionic; however; the new is the same as the first Ionic I had which was only 8 months old. I tried to return it to Best Buy where I purchased the watch and they would not accept it – even less than 30 days of purchase. It is a good watch if it does not turn off . . .