Fitbit Ionic Adidas Edition Review: Should You Pay More For Branding?

Fitbit Ionic Adidas Edition Review: Should You Pay More For Branding?

Does the added Adidas partnership give you more value?

Fitbit’s Ionic smartwatch/fitness tracker had its faults when we reviewed it a few months ago but honestly you couldn’t really ask for a better wearable outside of Apple’s own offerings. Today we’re taking a look at the Adidas-branded version of Ionic. Retailing slightly more at Php 17,690 or around a Php 2K more than the standard version, the special edition Ionic has a niftier band, an exclusive watch face plus a few training exclusives for serious runners.

Okay, so what’s the difference with the regular version?

Only a few aesthetic touches really separate the regular version and the Adidas-branded offering. The most obvious is the wristband, decked out in iconic Adidas blue on the top and white on the bottom, and the grey finish on the Iconic itself. The design is funky and more importantly, feels more secure on the wrist since it uses a standard buckle over the pin on the original Ionic.

There are two straps of the same design in the Adidas edition of the Ionic (one for men and another for women) and if that’s not your thing you can easily swap them out for any band that fits the Ionic.

The other big aesthetic change is the exclusive Adidas watch face, which shows you the time, steps, calories, heart rate plus date at a glance.

Is that it?

Pretty much. Internally the special edition Adidas Ionic has all the features of the regular Ionic, which includes Fitbit’s legendary health tracking, onboard GPS, the ability to listen to music without a phone, optical heart sensor, 50-meter waterproofing as well as FitBit Pay for areas where it’s supported.

Fitbit Ionic Review: Great Fitness Tracker, Meh Smartwatch

Aside from the standard apps that come pre-installed, the Adidas Edition of the Ionic also comes with the Adidas Train app: workouts that are aimed at improving your pace as a runner.

Each workout guides you through stretching and static exercises, with a short demo showing off proper form and how many reps you’ll have to do. The watch then tracks your progress through each one.

While these exercises are useful, they’re a little hard to follow especially if you’re not used to them. It’s hard to focus on a tiny 1.4-inch display to see the next set while you’re struggling to recover from the exercise you just did. You only also get a 5-second preview of the exercise before you’re expected to do it by yourself, which isn’t enough especially if it’s the first time you’ve seen the workout.

It’d be easier to just list down the exercises on a piece of paper, YouTube them and watch how they’re done properly before attempting them.

Should you buy it?

It’s hard to recommend the Fitbit Ionic Adidas Edition over the regular version since there’s not really a big difference when it comes to overall function. Yes, you do get ballin’ limited edition watch straps and that watch face, but it’s not really worth paying Php 2K more for that alone.

We recommend that you skip this one and just go with the regular version plus a nice, third-party strap to make it unique.

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