The Fitbit Versa 2’s long-lasting battery has kept it going strong throughout a busy week of work and exercise. After nearly a month of use, we can confidently state that the Fitbit Versa 2 is the company’s finest wristwatch to yet.
It includes Alexa built in, a vivid AMOLED display, and excellent fitness tracking functions. But, it is not without flaws. We lauded the first Fitbit Versa because it was the greatest affordable smartwatch/fitness tracker hybrid.
Now, a year and a half later, the Apple Watch Series 3 has the same pricing as its closest competitors, the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 and the Garmin watches, both of which include GPS and a number of health-related capabilities.
All You Need To Know About The Fitbit Versa 2
The Versa 2’s built-in sleep tracking is decent, and it’s compatible with both Android and iOS, all of which are advantages over the Apple Watch. But it does not have GPS. You can do that with the Fitbit Ionic, which is now two years old.
Design: Good Enough
The Apple Watch is well-designed and expertly manufactured, but it’s a little too flashy and round for my taste. The Fitbit Versa 2 is an adequate substitute for the original and performs admirably in everyday situations. From a distance, an Apple Watch Series 5 and a Fitbit Versa 2 worn side by side may easily be mistaken for one another.
Although the straps are still a headache to fasten, the Versa 2 is a comfy option. The fitness watch faces that display information at a glance can be helpful, but loading new faces from the companion mobile app is a pain.
With a more powerful CPU, switching between apps and viewing notifications or a summary of your daily fitness stats is a breeze. It’s not as silky as we’d want, but it’s far improved over how things were before. Changing the volume or turning off notifications is now as easy as pulling down a new menu.
The addition of a colour AMOLED screen is a major upgrade compared to the original model. The always-on display is bright enough to read outside, however it could use a little more illumination when used for exercise.
Though Useful, Fitness Tracking Offers Little to Tempt Consumers to Upgrade.
We put the Versa 2 through its paces in a variety of running, cycling, Pilates, and spin classes. It’s easy to choose an activity in which it doesn’t compromise comfort. The Versa 2 streamlines the process of beginning and ending exercises by replacing the three physical buttons of its predecessor with a single button and a touch screen.
Apart for the watch’s cosmetic update, not much has changed between the first Versa and the second Versa in terms of tracking your workouts. You can still get workouts on the go via the Coach app for the Fitbit Watch, but you’ll need to download it from the Fitbit app first.
For your personal workouts, you may set a goal, such as calories burned or distance travelled, and the watch will notify you when you’ve reached it. But, there are no pace warnings (as the Apple Watch provides) to let you know if your speed is too fast or too sluggish. While running, you may view your pace on the screen.
You may also rearrange the exercise screen’s data to put the ones most important to you in the spotlight. Your current heart rate zone, whether it be for cardio or fat burning, is displayed.
Our heart-rate readings from the Versa 2 have been fairly consistent with those from other fitness trackers we’ve tried, but we haven’t yet tested the device with a chest-strap to verify this. The always-on display during workouts may use a brighter setting to improve readability in bright outside lighting.
It’s unfortunate that there’s no in-built GPS, so you’ll need to bring your phone along to check your location and navigate. The Fitbit Ionic is what you need for that. The inability to use the GPS when running or working out outside may be a deal breaker for some people.
But, the Fitbit app has always been its main selling point, as it provides a more comprehensive and straightforward summary of your workout metrics than rivals such as Samsung’s Health app or even the Apple Watch’s Activity/Health applications. The social aspect is also much enhanced.
The Fitbit app does more than just track workouts; it also monitors women’s health. Those with regular cycles should get consistent results after using it for a while. Nevertheless, you’ll need to whip out your phone and use the Fitbit app if you want to keep track of your cycles or view more information.
Keeping Tabs on How Much Sleep You’re Getting can be Relaxing But Worrisome.
We found that putting on sleep mode from the quick settings menu to muffle notifications was the best way to make this watch suitable for sleeping with. To access the watch’s settings, scroll down from the watch’s top, tap the settings toggles, and then tap the crescent moon icon.
At the end of each night, the Fitbit app will give you a sleep score that details the percentage of time you spent in each of the five different stages of sleep. More information on your heart rate when resting and recovery is available with a Fitbit Premium subscription (more on that below).
Nevertheless, the app doesn’t provide as many helpful suggestions to subscribers on how to increase their sleep quality or decrease their agitation levels. Nonetheless, we’ve come to like the feature over time, especially when combined with our Premium membership.
We’ve been able to pinpoint our successes and shortcomings in terms of sleep and take steps to improve them. Given that Apple has chosen to exclude any form of built-in sleep monitoring from the Apple Watch, Fitbit’s recent improvements in this area stand out as particularly noteworthy.
Fitbit’s sleep tracking features are among its most intriguing offerings, and the device’s ability to drill down into statistics gives us a window into the potential future of sleep technology.
A smart wake function analyses your sleeping habits and gently vibrates your wrist at the best time to get you out of bed. For measurements like breathing rate and heart rate variability, Fitbit now provides Versa 2 users with access to weekly trends on the health metrics dashboard within the app. 30-day trends are available to premium subscribers.
Fitbit Premium Costs an Exorbitant $10 Per Month.
Do you really have room in your life for yet another subscription service? That’s what Fitbit is hoping for, at least. This subscription ($10/month or $80/year in the United States; £8/month or £125/year in the United Kingdom; $15.49/year in Australia) provides you with nine guided programmes to assist you, for example, eat healthier, get more sleep, and begin running.
We used the Understanding Calories programme to track our food intake and form healthier habits, but we didn’t notice any major benefits compared to using a free food tracking app like MyFitnessPal. (The food did, however, appear appetising.)
Even so, it’s wonderful to have the choice. Nevertheless, a tailored coaching tool for Fitbit Premium customers that comes at an additional cost and claims to aid in the management of weight loss or diabetes, for example, may be the most exciting feature.
Longest Lasting Battery Life in its Class
One of Fitbit’s main advantages over competing products, such as the Apple Watch, is longer runtime. We were able to go five and a half days without charging by disabling the always-on display. Turning on the always-on screen cut that down to slightly over two days.
We’ve accepted the reality that every Fitbit requires its own special charger, and the Versa 2 is no exception; if you’re upgrading, you won’t be able to use the charger from your old Versa device.
The fact that your watch will never be able to rest flat on a surface when charging is made worse by the fact that the cable feeding into the charger does not sit flush with the base of the unit.
The fact that this watch can go almost a week without charging is fantastic, though. This is the way that smartwatches (or any watches) should be, as it makes charging a seldom event rather than a daily one.
