17 Reasons Why Fitbit Versa Is The Best Smartwatch Out There
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1. It's Really Tiny And Lightweight
The Fitbit Versa borrows the Apple Watch’s sleekness and the Pebble Time’s compact and ergonomic design. As a result, it’s lightweight and comfortable to wear: when strapped on the wrist, the watch doesn’t even feel like it’s actually there, which is an excellent thing considering it won’t be a nuisance when one is engaged in fitness activities.
However, the Versa doesn’t just feel good, it also looks good. The Versa features a rounded square design and comes in Black, Graphite, Silver, and Rose Gold. The Versa practically looks like it is designed for the gym, but it doesn’t look out of place in other situations, like a night out on the town, or a dinner at a fancy restaurant. It looks sleek, stylish, but not too garish as to bring attention to itself.
1. It's Really Tiny And Lightweight
The Fitbit Versa borrows the Apple Watch’s sleekness and the Pebble Time’s compact and ergonomic design. As a result, it’s lightweight and comfortable to wear: when strapped on the wrist, the watch doesn’t even feel like it’s actually there, which is an excellent thing considering it won’t be a nuisance when one is engaged in fitness activities.
However, the Versa doesn’t just feel good, it also looks good. The Versa features a rounded square design and comes in Black, Graphite, Silver, and Rose Gold. The Versa practically looks like it is designed for the gym, but it doesn’t look out of place in other situations, like a night out on the town, or a dinner at a fancy restaurant. It looks sleek, stylish, but not too garish as to bring attention to itself.
2. It's Perfect For Fitness
Of course, the Versa shines when it comes to fitness. This watch is practically made to appeal to fitness and sports enthusiasts, given its roster of fitness-focused features such as sleep tracking, on-screen workouts, smart tracking, cardio fitness levels, and more.
Fitbit has long been the de facto brand for fitness bands and health-centric consumer technology. Its product portfolio, which includes wristbands, clips, smartwatches, and a Wi-Fi smart scale, shows as much. While the Versa has more of a mass-market appeal than any of its previous products, it’s still a Fitbit device through and through, so get it if you want a smartwatch that’ll help keep you fit.
3. It Has A Better Design Than The Fitbit Ionic
The Ionic was Fitbit’s first attempt at a smartwatch, and while it was a pretty decent attempt, its design was something critics and the Fitbit community had qualms with. With its blocky design and questionable color pairings, the Ionic looked more high-tech than fashionable.
The Versa, meanwhile, strikes a delicate balance between ergonomics and flashiness. With its rounded design, the watch looks not too stunning so as to look lurid and glaring. Instead, it looks sleek and svelte in a subdued way that allows it to blend into whatever situation its wearer is in. Unlike the Ionic, it doesn’t feel like the result of an experiment. It rather looks like the result of Fitbit correcting its mistakes and refining its design even further.
4. It's Waterproof!
The Versa is water-resistant up to 50 meters, which means you can take it out for a swim. Not only that, the watch also features a dedicated swimming mode that tracks laps, duration, and calories burned while engaged in water-based exercises.
It works extremely well, too. It accurately recognizes, for instance, when you’ve finished a lap in the pool, at which point it then starts timing your next one. How Fitbit’s mix of hardware and software does this remains a mystery, nevertheless, it’s proof that the company is still the master of fitness devices.
One caveat, however, is that the screen doesn’t really recognize taps that well when underwater. It’s not a specifically Fitbit-related problem, though, but a common issue with capacitive touch screens.
5. Get 4 Days Of Battery On A Single Charge
While the Versa’s battery life isn’t as impressive as its predecessor Ionic, Fitbit still claims users can squeeze up to four days from the device on a single charge. According to TechRadar’s testing, the watch has pretty much lived up to Fitbit’s claims, with the watch’s battery life emptying halfway through the fourth day even after intense workout and sleep.
How long the battery lasts depends on how much strain the watch will be put through, of course. Setting the screen’s brightness level and making similar other adjustments may lead to a longer battery life, for instance. Even still, four days is a pretty impressive battery life for a watch that’s so feature-packed.
6. It Has A Really Bright Screen
Since Versa is the perfect fitness companion, it means its screen should be able to perform well outdoors, especially in direct sunlight.
The Versa has a really bright and vibrant display of up to 1,000 nits, in fact. Just for comparison, the Galaxy S9 display has a peak brightness of 1,130. It means the Versa’s screen is clear and visible in direct sunlight and even underwater when not set to maximum brightness. It’s just as bright as the Apple Watch, which is also 1,000 nits. Keep in mind, however, that the Versa promises four days of battery life while the Apple Watch promises just 18 hours.
7. The Special Edition Has An NFC Chip
Fitbit sells a Special Edition version of the Versa that has a couple of exclusive features, including an NFC chip. With it, the watch can be used for Fitbit Pay payments. Just add a debit or credit card and go to a store that supports wallet-free purchases.
The Special Edition, which costs $30 more than the standard model, also comes with exclusive strap options that can’t be purchased separately.
Oddly enough, the Versa sold in European and Asian markets comes with an NFC chip regardless of the model. Thus, if you live in the United States and want to use Fitbit Pay, you can either get the Ionic or the Special Edition Versa.
8. It’s Cheaper Than Other Smartwatches
Ask around. It’s hard to find another smartwatch that’s as excellent as the Fitbit Versa for $200. At such price, users are basically getting a beefed-up fitness and activity tracker, a health companion, and a sleek-looking watch on top of everything. For those who are especially new to smartwatches and people who don’t really find them all that appealing but still want to see what the fuss is about, the Versa is the perfect starting point instead of other more expensive devices that offer just as much as, if not only slightly more than the Versa.
Actually, though, there are smartwatches that are as exceptional and affordable as the Versa. They’re called Pebble devices, but guess who owns Pebble now?
9. You Can Swap Different Straps
With the Versa, Fitbit decided to go with proprietary bands, and they’re quite different from the Ionic lineup. Users can swap different bands by moving a small metal component on the watch. Keep in mind that swapping them out isn’t as easy as on the Ionic, but they do feel more secure thanks to the new mechanism.
Fitbit also sells a variety of bands in different colors and materials. There’s Classic, Horween Leather, and Stainless Steel. Just in case none of them really appeal to your sense of style, a number of third-party accessory makers are selling more designs online.
10. You’ll Be Able Quick Reply Soon
Android users are in for a treat if they’re planning to buy the Versa as it will receive an update that will really boost its standalone functionality. When paired with a phone, Versa will deliver notifications such as calls, text, messages, and calendar events. Being merely alerted to these isn’t enough anymore, though, at least not enough for something that costs $200. Somehow, there’s got to be some basic form of interactivity, right?
Fitbit understands that, which is why it’s going to roll out a Quick Replies feature in May that will let both the Ionic and Versa to reply to texts, WhatsApp messages, and more directly from the wrist.
11. Fitbit 2.0 Has Been Improved
Fitbit OS is the company’s answer to Apple’s watchOS and Google’s renamed Wear OS smartwatch platform. The Versa gets the new and improved Fitbit 2.0, which carries a lot of welcome improvements.
For starters, there’s the Fitbit Today app that now shows more information than ever such as three of the user’s most recent workout, a week-long graph for the user’s primary goal, and their resting heart rate for the past week.
As for the performance, apps now open much faster, and the animations look a lot snappier and smoother. Fitbit also worked on ways to make the Versa feel more like a traditional smartwatch instead of just a glorified fitness tracker. For instance, there’s an excellent Deezer integration that makes it easier to load custom playlists, but more on that later.
The updated Coach app improves upon the Ionic’s guided workout, which, while pretty useful, felt somewhat static, but not anymore. The improved app now solicits feedback about a workout so it can upgrade its on-device workout routines over time. Fitbit also plans to roll out features such as more personalized suggestions, data summaries, and reminders.
12. You Can Store Up To 300 Songs
Part of the appeal of smartwatches is that it can double as a standalone music player, for some smartwatches, anyway. The Versa is one of the rare ones that can actually carry songs thanks to its 4 GB onboard storage. It means users don’t have to pair it with a phone just to listen to some tunes while taking a jog or working out at the gym. The only downside is that this feature is only available via the Deezer integration, and it only works for Premium users. No worries, though, as Deezer is offering a free three-month trial just for Fitbit users.
13. Apps, Apps, And More Apps
While Fitbit OS’s app library isn’t as Robust as, say, the Apple Watch’s, a number of pretty useful apps are still available, including ones for Pandora, Strava, Starbucks, Flipboard, Weather, Hue Lights, NYTimes, Yelp, and others. Fitbit also offers a Fitbit Software Development Kit for those out there who want to take a crack at developing apps for Fitbit’s smartwatches.
Aside from apps, Fitbit OS also supports a handful of watchfaces, which it calls Clock Faces. Set it to show a typical time-only watchface, or opt for a more informative screen that displays your fitness levels, heart rate, and other statistics.
14. You Can Watch On-Screen Workouts
If you haven’t realized by now, the Versa’s appeal extends beyond having a smartwatch. It’s basically a stellar fitness and activity tracker with a bunch of really useful built-in features to get the most out of every workout.
For example, Fitbit OS has what the company calls personalized on-screen workouts that play directly from the device. It coaches the user through each move and adapts its program based on their feedback.
On-screen workouts can be found in the Coach app and includes activities ranging from low-intensity to high-intensity. Some even focus on improving a particular part of the body such as the 10-Minute Abs program.
15. There Are Over 15 Exercise Modes
Quite the workout powerhouse, the Fitbit Versa features over 15 exercise modes:
• Run
• Bike
• Swim
• Weights
• Interval Workout
• Workout
• Spinning
• Golf
• Hike
• Tennis
• Stairclimber
• Pilates
• Circuit Training
• Bootcamp
• Yoga
• Elliptical
• Walk
• Martial Arts
• Kickboxing
The list above should cover pretty much all the bases, although it does lack a mode for CrossFit, which has become an incredibly popular type of workout over the years.
When paired with a smartphone, the Versa can access the phone’s GPS to see real-time statistics such as distance, pace, and others. Plus, the Versa also delivers post-workout summaries so you can stay on top of your game.
16. It Tracks Your Sleeping Habits
Sure, the Versa is the perfect workout companion, but it goes beyond the day-to-day activities at the gym or outdoors and actually still accompanies you even in your bedroom. Sleep is one of the most important components of good health, and it’s something the Versa aims to significantly improve for users.
As such, the watch can track the user’s sleeping habits, allowing it to collect information such as how long they were able to sleep and the quality of their slumber. Also, thanks to the built-in heart rate sensor, it also detects how fast, or slow the wearer's heart rate was while sleeping.
It also records how much time the user spent in different phases of sleep, including light sleep and REM sleep stages so as to get personalized insights on how to improve their sleeping habits.
17. It’ll Have Features Specific To Women, Such As Menstrual Cycle Tracking
In May, Fitbit plans to launch even more health-tracking features specifically designed to address women’s health. These will be available for both the Ionic and Versa. The program will enable female users to track their menstrual cycles and record symptoms — including headaches, acne, and cramps so as to get a better understanding of their female reproductive health. It shows the company’s dedication to cater to women and also further proves that their smartwatches are for everyone.
Data such as menstrual cycles and symptoms will be combined with other health statistics such as sleep, physical activity, and changes in weight to deliver a more holistic summary of the female user’s overall health.
Fitbit also plans to maintain a blog that will publish useful articles on women’s health.