Pros:__________
• It’s very comfortable. When you wear the Versa 2, the weight is balanced enough that it doesn’t bring any discomfort, and light enough to sometimes forget you have it on.
• The design is almost identical to an Apple Watch. With square rounded corners, it’s almost impossible to tell the difference if you had both of them side by side.
• I had no discomfort wearing this Fitbit when I slept and had no itchy feeling around my skin when I woke up. Overall, you can wear this all day without any issues.
• The screen has great contrast, vivid colors, and has excellent brightness. On a clear sunny day, I put this display to the test and it passed with flying color. Outstanding outdoor viewability.
• The Alexa feature does work. I did like the fact that with you can speak to this watch as if it was a smartphone, and Alexa will answer to you (in text). Weather report, nearby stores, and overall a quick way to get an answer (More details later on).
• Fitbit is pushing this Versa 2 into the world of smartwatches, as you’re able to control any of your smart home devices with this watch. I only have some smart light bulbs, so my testing was turning them on and off with this Fitbit. Please to say that it worked flawlessly.
• I felt the sleep scoring system was pretty accurate. I tested it for almost a week and the graph displaying for my sleep fit my experience. Fitbit always does a great job providing your data in a visually appealing look on the app and in desktop form.
• The alarm feature is very useful. When the Versa 2 is tracking your sleep, it will find the best time to wake you up before you “actually” have to wake up. Everyone has a different sleep cycle (light and deep sleepers) so you may expect a different outcome. Usually, it’s within the 30-minute time frame before your alarm is set.
• The other fitness programs in the Fitbit (activity trackers, heart rate, distance travel, calories burned, and so forth) are all decently accurate and effective. This technology isn’t new, but Fitbit does make fitness trackers that are consumer-friendly. You’ll be surprised how complex some tracker out there are. If you had the previous Versa, you should expect the same layout.
• Some features like the Relax app (guides you through breathing exercises), movement reminders (lets you know when you been sitting for too long) and step counts all stimulated me to be more active. It’s hard to explain but when you see your progress on a graph, or even a number, you feel compelled to keep growing it. Because of Fitbit’s friendly visual graphs, you don’t have to write anything and overall it brings a form of motivation to keep increasing your numbers.
• Numerous exercise modes, training guides, and even 10-minute training cycles. Like I mention before, if you need something to motivate you to work out, this will be it.
• One of the best features in the Always-On-Display. I’m a huge fan of this because you’re not wearing the watch every second of your life. It’s nice to see that you can leave it on a table and the display will still viewable, like any other watch.
• Third-party apps like Uber are available for this watch. I don’t use Uber, but it’s good to know that third-party app companies are putting their foot in Fitbit.
• Going for a jog, the watch vibrates when I get a notification, which is just a text for me. It’s also pretty straight forward in deciding what you want to be notified about.
• Yes, you can swim with it. Haven’t tested this out though.
• Battery life is good, compared to the other smartwatches out there. Around 3 days of use before I need to charge it. Maybe 2 if I’m using it a lot, and the Always-On-Display is on max brightness.
Cons and Oks:__________
• There is a connectivity issue that I’m dealing with my Versa. It would disconnect from my phone and would take numerous times in trying to reconnect it. I have no idea why it’s doing this but I’ve noticed past reviews online addressing the same issue. It has to be a software problem because others are not getting this issue as well. Be on the lookout.
• Another issue with the connectivity is you won’t know if there is no connection until you physically look at the display. This is a huge issue if you have notifications, texts, and updates coming from your phone to this watch. If the watch is disconnected, and your phone is not with you, you may miss some important stuff.
• On the display, I felt Fitbit’s main icons are very unclear. What I liked about Android and Apple is that even if you never used there OS, you can tell where to go with the icons they provide you. The icons that Fitbit provide are very unclear and if you don’t use this device often you’re going to be lost in there OS.
• You’re paying decent money for the device but Fitbit restricts a lot of it as they want you to sign up for their monthly “Premium” services. This monthly Fitbit service offers a great deal of programs, but if you don’t want to pay a monthly payment then you’re stuck with the “basic” software of the watch.
• No idea why Fitbit did this but you can’t stream Spotify on this watch unless you have premium Spotify subscription. Not only that but you can’t even allow playback from this device to your speakers, phone, etc. I hope they fix this as it seems you need to pay more to use the watch fully.
• Alexa provides the basics of communication but other than that I found it useless. The voice recognition lacks useful search results and since there are no built-in speakers, you’ll never get any audio notifications and hear Alexa’s answers. Middle of a workout, you will have to stop and look at the text that Alexa provides.
• To even use Alexa, you need to install Amazon’s Alexa’s app on the phone and have an account with it.
• No integration with Apple Health and Google fit. You have to stick with Fitbit all the way.
• No GPS. You need to connect it to your phone to all GPS tracking. Without it, this creates a reduction in accuracy when you run. I didn’t find it to be that much off, but it’s enough that I think you should know.
• Has some thick bezels around the screen.
• If you want to change the strap, expect a fight. Fitbit locks the brands pretty solid, so taking them out ain't going to be fun.
• I wish that you can customize the Always-on-display because currently, it’s a very simple layout. Not customizable to your choosing.
• Currently I can’t respond to text messages with this watch with my iPhone, but you can use this feature on an Android.
• I notice that Fitbit doesn’t have a payment system of their own. When you want to buy an app, you’re going to paying directly to the developer, where they can use any payment system they want. So far this isn’t an issue but it’s something to note in the long run due to security reasons.
• You can’t even store your favorite apps for quick access.
• Up 300 songs you can store on the desktop Fitbit app, but you have to transfer them over WIFI. No wire transfer and depending on your WIFI speed, it will take some time.
• When you get a notification, or ask Alexa a question, you’re going to get a one-sentence answer. Numerous times I found this frustrating because you’re not getting any context to help you, and it just leads you to want more.
• Your phone needs to be with you to fully use this watch. The Versa is an accessory to your phone.
Bottom Line:__________
It’s not a smartwatch for your phone. You have to get on board with this idea before you buy this watch. The point of Fitbit is to have a digital fitness book on you at all times. With the Versa 2, It’s a fitness book that does all the writing, tracking, and you’re only requirement is to workout. This is what Fitbit does a great job in. It provides you as much detail as you need on exercises, your workout routines, and your health. I felt the need to check on my stats every day as it’s one of the few devices that can visually show you that you’re improving. A light device, excellent display, and a great motivation tool.
But you need to put it in your head, it’s not a smartwatch. The Apple Watch is a smartwatch. The Galaxy Watch is a smartwatch, and this isn’t. Unlike other smartwatches, once you buy this, you still need to pay more to have the full experience. Fitbit premium “monthly” services provide a great deal of data and programs to help you out, but you need to pay for it. Even with the payment you still need to have your phone around as Alexa currently isn’t useful enough other than asking for the weather. With no built-in GPS tracking, limited text/notification updates, and Spotify restriction, you can see why this isn’t in the same category with Apple and Samsung.
This is a fitness tool to help you keep your body in shape. Fitbit does a great job in that, but if you’re looking for a smartwatch then go over to Apple and Samsung. Those are smartwatches, this isn’t.
Overall: A virtual fitness book that is a must-have for those who want to get in shape but has too many issues to be called a real smartwatch.
Hope I was a help to you.
Love,
Honest Reviewer
- Amazon Business : For business-only pricing, quantity discounts and FREE Shipping. Register a free business account
