Fitbit’s second smartwatch is the one worth buying
We liked Fitbit’s Ionic, the company’s first smartwatch after years of making fitness trackers for health-conscious consumers. But despite its many positive attributes, the Ionic was ultimately flawed: it was expensive, it had limited access to apps and had a design that was pretty polarizing, especially to women, a key demographic. But it seems Fitbit is a quick study as their second smartwatch, the Versa, addresses many of the issues that the Ionic had resulting in a smartwatch that’s a worthy alternative to the current smartwatch king: Apple’s Watch.
Petite design and size means it fits on more wrists
While the Versa is a tad smaller than the Ionic, its design has a broader appeal compared to its larger sibling. Its square design with its rounded corners gives it a safe (some would say boring) and appealing aesthetic. Its smaller size means it won’t look weird on petite wrists, opening up its use to both men and women, and Fitbit includes small and large wristbands for both sexes. The Versa is available in more colors than classic black, and special edition versions of the smartwatch even include snazzy textured wristbands for that extra feeling of premium-ness.
We’d forgive you if you mistook the Versa for the Apple Watch from a distance, since their design is quite similar. But unlike the Cupertino firm’s wearable, the Versa has three buttons instead of a crown – two on the right, one on the left – for navigation and use. The lone button on the left turns the screen on and off and doubles as the back button, while the two on the right start and stop your workouts.
The Versa has a 1.34-inch color display, with brightness topping out at 1000 nits. The display is bright enough to be used even in direct sunlight without any problems. Much like Fitbit’s other fitness trackers, the Versa is water resistant up to 50 meters.
Has the same suite of sensors as the Ionic save one
Being a Fitbit product, the Versa has all the sensors you’d expect from a top-tier fitness tracker. It has an optical heart rate monitor as well as a SpO2 sensor, which monitors your blood oxygen saturation levels. That’s on top of the usual 3-axis accelerometer and gyroscope that you’d associate with regular fitness trackers in the market.
But the Versa doesn’t have a built-in GPS sensor unlike the Ionic, which means you’ll have to take your phone with you when you run.
If you do decide to run without your phone, you can still listen to music via Bluetooth since the Versa has around 2.5GB of onboard storage. There’s an option to connect to Deezer as well for your music needs.
The special edition also has NFC capability which the base version lacks for wireless payments, specifically Fitbit Pay, which isn’t available as of the moment in the Philippines.
Check out the Versa’s connectivity options and UI on the next page
Tracks all of the relevant metrics easily
Fitbit’s made a name for itself for producing accurate, easy to use fitness trackers before diving into the smartwatch game so it’s no surprise that the Versa does exceptionally well in that regard. Just like the Ionic, the Versa tracks many metrics of your fitness routine easily and accurately, including how many steps you’ve taken, distance covered, how many floors you’ve climbed, calories burned and so on.
The Versa also tracks your sleep patterns down to your REM periods (where you get the most rest) so you can see how much (or how little) sleep you’ve been getting.
Tracking runs and other exercise regimens is made simple: simply swipe left from the main menu, select exercise and then select what activity you want to track. Options range from running, biking, swimming, treadmill and lifting weights, as well as general interval exercise tracking and workouts.
The coach function (Fitbit’s attempt to give you guided instructions on basic exercises) that debuted on the Ionic is also available on the Versa as well.
Swiping up from the home screen also gives you a quick glance at your day so far, which includes how many workouts you’ve finished, calories burned, steps, etc.
A better smartwatch experience from the Ionic, though there are things that still need improvement
While Fitbit managed to nail the fitness tracking part of the Ionic, our experience with the smartwatch part left much to be desired. The Versa picks up where its bigger brother left off, giving us a better experience overall.
Navigation is cleaner and easier, and there’s a few more apps available on Fitbit’s app store that wasn’t available when we reviewed the Ionic.
There are a few niggles still unfortunately. There’s no Spotify app available, so if you want to listen to music you’re stuck with either downloading it to your watch or making an account in Deezer.
The watchface selection needs a bit more curation, since there’s a ton of nice-looking ones mixed in with crappy ones.
While the overall app landscape for Fitbit’s smartwatches has improved since we tackled the Ionic, the company needs to get more developers on board to make their apps available on their platform.
Find out how long it lasts on a single charge and our verdict on the next page
Four days on single charge is fantastic
One thing that we really like from Fitbit’s smartwatches is battery endurance. The company promises around four days of battery life for the Versa, and it delivers. Even better, the Versa uses a far sturdier charging solution than the magnetic cable on the Ionic. While we found the latter’s solution to be more aesthetically pleasing, the former’s charging approach proved to be far more secure.
Verdict: It’s a legitimate Apple Watch challenger
Apple’s Watch has long ruled supreme over the smartwatch world. With Google’s Android Wear initiative seemingly fizzling out, there’s very few decent alternatives that exist to take on the king. The Versa has all the of the sensors and tracking hardware you’d expect from a smartwatch and it’s significantly cheaper to booth. While its app ecosystem is a little thin, it’s still a great choice for people looking for a decent smartwatch that doesn’t need to be charged as often as the competition.